Interview with Matt Cromwell

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

On the third episode of WordPress for Nonprofits, I interview Matt Cromwell.

Who you are and what you do

Matt is the head of support at WordImpress, and he built the Give donation plugin.

Why use WordPress over another website content management system?

Self-hosted WordPress is a great way to own your own data rather than sharing it with a third-party platform.

More about Give

Give is a donation plugin that allows you to own your data on your own website. Most WordPress e-commerce solutions are not ideal for the donor experience, and Give allows for a real donation form instead of simply a shopping cart.

Story of someone who used Give

WordPress developer Jesse Petersen used Give to raise money so that he and his family could adopt. Read his adoption story.

Why use Give over a crowdfunding platform for personal funding?

• Your data is private on Give since it’s on your own website and not hosted by a third party
• Since it’s on your website, it’s completely customizable to your needs. For example, you can’t host a blog on most crowdfunding sites.
• People will fund you based on your story, so it’s the donation form’s job to get out of the way

What other systems does Give integrate with?

• Payment gateways such as Paypal, Authorize.Net, Stripe, WePay, and Braintree
• Mailchimp and Constant Contact
• The Zapier add-on allows you to integrate with everything Zapier integrates with

Top plugins recommended

• iThemes Security
• Yoast SEO
• Jetpack – including the simple share buttons and image content delivery network called Photon
• Beaver Builder

WordPress themes – commercial or custom?

Organic Themes – their Nonprofit Theme has native Give styles integrated in with it, so the donation form will look like the rest of the website

Contact info and a parting piece of guidance

You can find Matt on Twitter, Facebook, WordImpress, Give, and his website.

Spend as much time on your website as you possibly can. It is one of your most important assets as far as fundraising. Make it a priority, and invest time, money, and resources into it.