The digital aspect of non-profit marketing presents a challenge because there are so many tools and platforms to choose from that it can overwhelm large organizations. The problem is made worse if your support staff has a high turnover rate.

WooCommerce is a way to streamline and combine your online marketing efforts. WooCommerce is a great tool for expanding your business, even if you are already using it.

WooCommerce allows your nonprofit to sell merchandise, hold and manage events, accept donations, and set up email automation.

We’ll be discussing some ways WooCommerce can help you get more from it, as well as some examples of nonprofits that have already used some of its powerful features.

First, let’s look at the top reasons that both nonprofits and businesses prefer WooCommerce to monetize their online activities.

WooCommerce empowers non-profits

WooCommerce is free and WordPress is completely free. This means that you can have two of the core foundations for your nonprofit’s online presence at no cost. Other eCommerce platforms, however, charge a monthly fee which can be increased based on how much traffic you receive.

This foundation is free of charge and allows you to buy the plugins and extensions you need to help your non-profit get the most out of its website. WooCommerce and WordPress offer:

• Site backups that protect your data are owned by the owners.

• You have control over your SEO.

• More than 300 extensions have been created specifically for eCommerce.

• Every year, a community of developers and site owners meets in 400 different cities.

• You can customize everything.

WordPress’ open-source nature allows you to modify code to suit your goals. However, if you don’t want to change the code, there is an option to not.

Also, you get unlimited product variants. What does this mean?

WooCommerce is a great tool for nonprofits to sell merchandise like hats and mugs or custom-made products that are related to your mission.

T-shirts come in many sizes and sometimes in multiple colors. Every combination of size or color can result in a unique variation. WooCommerce allows you to offer unlimited variations. Other eCommerce platforms may limit these variations or charge more for higher amounts.

Here’s how nonprofits who already use WooCommerce can make even more of it.

Seven ways to get the most from WooCommerce

1. Name your price

WooCommerce offers an extension called Name your Price that can be used in many ways.

It can take donations and allows donors to set their prices, making it ideal for open-ended donation requests.

The extension also allows you to let your supporters set their prices, such as a suggested donation. To ensure that you don’t lose any money, you can set a minimum donation amount.

2. Subscribe to recurring donations

You can also enable patrons to make recurring donations with the WooCommerce Extension. This extension is compatible with Name your Price. It allows donors to set a monthly donation amount and charges them monthly. The extension sends automatic renewal notifications to ensure that donors are not surprised by repeated charges.

Priority One Worldwide, a non-profit that accepts recurring donations of any amount, combines both these. These extensions can be seen in action on the donation page.

3. Sell event tickets

WooCommerce Box Office makes selling tickets easy, no matter if you are hosting fundraising events online or in person.

You can include coupon codes to get early bird pricing or other discounts. You can create different pricing packages for individual or table tables, as well as VIP packages that include a gift.

4. Add-on donations are allowed for product purchases 

This alternative to the “name your pricing” approach for merchandise is called the “Product Add-Ons extension”. You can set prices for products and give customers the option to add a donation using the Product Extension.

This extension allows you to customize merchandise. For example, if you are running a 5k, you could offer shirts with personalized names and your branding to each team. A business sponsor could also get mugs and shirts with their logo on them.

5. Your checkout page can be customized with recommendations for products

You can also do the same thing with merchandise as you do on other eCommerce websites’ checkout pages. You can use the Product recommendation extension to add products to your checkout page that might interest the buyer or donor.

A person might visit your site to donate, for example. They may see your merchandise on the checkout page and decide to purchase something. You can also set it up so that a donation becomes the recommendation for the product.

6. Simplify your donation process

Many nonprofit donation pages can be very confusing, requiring donors to go through multiple pages to make a gift. This means that you could lose some people at each step.

With WooCommerce Single Page Checkout people can complete their transactions in one page. This reduces the likelihood of donors giving up after completing the process. This is what the business world calls “cart abandonment”, but it’s just as serious a problem for nonprofits. This extension will decrease your “donation abandonment.”

7. Boost your online marketing efforts

WooCommerce allows you to boost your SEO, email, and social media marketing, as well as create and publish content all from one platform.

Get inspired, and then take action

WooCommerce is used by the World Wildlife Fund to sell its merchandise. You can view their carefully-crafted products by visiting their website.

WordPress and WooCommerce can be used by your nonprofit as well. There is no better place than WordPress and WooCommerce to be your online home.