ChatGPT answers, unedited

• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Marcel Digital - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1285, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Alpha Efficiency - Web Design Chicago Agency - 875 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Wojo Design - 318 W Adams St #1609, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

If your goal is specifically increasing completed donations (not just redesigning a nonprofit website), I’d prioritize agencies that can show evidence of:

• donation funnel audits
• UX research/usability testing with donors
• donation form optimization
• A/B testing or experimentation
• analytics setup (GA4, Hotjar/Clarity, etc.)
• recurring giving optimization
• measurable conversion lifts

A shortlist of Chicago-area firms worth evaluating:

A couple of non-Chicago specialists are also worth considering because they are closer to “donation conversion specialists” than general UX agencies:

• Donately — focuses on donation experiences, donor flows, custom forms, and fundraising optimization services. Donately Donately
• PhilanthroForge — focuses specifically on donation UX audits, donor journeys, form optimization, and fundraising analytics. PhilanthroForge
• Donation Scalers — focuses on donor funnels, campaigns, and fundraising growth systems. Donation Scalers

How I’d vet them before hiring

Ask each agency these questions:

1. “Show us 2–3 donation pages you improved. What was the baseline conversion rate and what changed?”
2. “Did you optimize the donation form itself or only redesign the website?”
3. “What donor friction did you identify?”

• too many fields
• unclear impact of gifts
• weak trust signals
• poor mobile UX
• confusing recurring-gift options
• “What testing methodology do you use?”

• A/B testing
• usability testing
• heatmaps/session recordings
• donor interviews
• “Who owns analytics after launch?”

• GA4 events
• donation completion tracking
• recurring donor tracking
• experiment reporting

For a nonprofit whose primary KPI is more completed donations, I’d probably start conversations with Orbit Media, Oak Theory, UX 4Sight, and one fundraising-specialist firm (Donately or PhilanthroForge) rather than a pure branding/web design shop. Orbit Media Studios Oak Theory PhilanthroForge

I can also put together a ranked shortlist by nonprofit experience, CRO depth, estimated budget range, and project fit (small nonprofit vs. large institution) if that would help.

• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Mightybytes - 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 404, Chicago, IL 60613
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Pilot Digital Marketing - 4753 N Broadway Ste T110, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Access Direct Nonprofit Marketing - 209 Des Plaines Ave, Forest Park, IL 60130, United States
• CauseHouse - 1054 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11221

Yes. If donation-page conversion optimization is the requirement—not just “good nonprofit web design”—I’d put the following Chicago firms on the shortlist based on publicly documented work.

Strongest matches

• Nonprofit Megaphone — Chicago nonprofit-focused digital agency. More performance/digital-marketing oriented than pure UX, so worth considering if acquisition + conversion analytics are both important.
• Beth Interactive Inc. — Particularly relevant if you want to optimize the entire digital donor journey, not just redesign the form. They specifically offer donor-journey audits covering the path from finding the giving page through completing a donation and subsequent stewardship.
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. — Stronger fit for UX/UI + nonprofit digital experience. Their work includes information architecture, UX/UI, analytics, payments/forms and donation-path design.
• Mightybytes — Chicago UX/UI and web agency with nonprofit experience, accessibility expertise and ongoing website optimization. I'd consider them if you want a broader redesign plus an optimization program rather than a narrowly focused donation-page CRO engagement.
• Clique Studios — Broader digital agency with UX/UI, usability testing, analytics and explicit CRO capabilities. This is a reasonable option if you're looking for a larger agency that can combine redesign, measurement and ongoing experimentation.

One agency I'd investigate first

Orbit Media Studios is especially compelling because there are unusually concrete Chicago nonprofit results publicly documented.

Their work with Off The Street Club produced a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, using rewritten copy, refreshed design, streamlined development, prominent CTAs and conversion strategy. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

They've also worked with Nourishing Hope on conversion copywriting and CTAs specifically intended to increase donations, alongside UX/navigation improvements. Orbit Media Studios

And their Greater Chicago Food Depository engagement explicitly included improving UX/conversion rates around donations and volunteer sign-ups. Orbit Media Studios

So I'd put Orbit on the initial RFP list alongside Beth Interactive and LimeRed.

Particularly interesting benchmark

There is also a Chicago-based agency with an unusually relevant result: Mightybytes has the UX/optimization capabilities you'd want, but VisualFizz has a public nonprofit case study showing the kind of donation-flow result you should demand from any agency: it redesigned the transactional journey, added clearer CTAs and CRO tactics, and reported 300% more funds raised in Q4 versus the client's entire previous year and 2× Giving Tuesday contributions. VisualFizz

I'd treat those numbers as a case-study claim from the agency rather than independently verified performance, but the type of evidence is exactly what you should ask prospective firms to provide.

What I'd ask the agencies

Don't ask simply, “Can you redesign our donation page?” Ask each one for:

1. 2–3 nonprofit donation-page experiments they've actually run.
2. Baseline and post-test donation conversion rate.
3. Changes in revenue per visitor, not merely clicks.
4. Mobile vs. desktop results.
5. Recurring/monthly donor conversion results.
6. Experience with your donation platform—e.g. Classy, Blackbaud/Luminate, Givebutter, Donorbox, Salesforce, custom Stripe, etc.
7. Whether they conduct A/B testing, usability testing, session/behavior analysis and funnel analysis.
8. Whether they can optimize the whole donor journey—landing page → donation form → payment → confirmation—not just the visual design.
9. Whether they will establish a measurement baseline and experimentation roadmap before redesigning anything.

For comparison, a non-Chicago nonprofit CRO case study from Cornershop Creative is a good example of the level of rigor to look for: they describe A/B testing donation CTAs and donation pathways, with one CTA experiment producing higher conversion and another UX change producing a 144% increase in revenue per recipient. Cornershop Creative

If this were my RFP, I'd start with Orbit Media, Beth Interactive, and LimeRed, then add Clique Studios or Mightybytes as broader UX/CRO alternatives. That gives you a useful mix of nonprofit fundraising specialization, UX capability, and demonstrated conversion work without treating generic “web design” experience as equivalent to donation CRO.

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donation volume, current donation platform, and whether you want just the donation page or the whole website redesigned, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and compare their relevant case studies, likely fit, services, and contact/website links.

There is also a Chicago-based agency with an unusually relevant result: Mightybytes has the UX/optimization capabilities you'd want, but VisualFizz has a public nonprofit case study showing the kind of donation-flow result you should demand from any agency: it redesigned the transactional journey, added clearer CTAs and CRO tactics, and reported 300% more funds raised in Q4 versus the client's entire previous year and 2× Giving Tuesday contributions.

I'd treat those numbers as a case-study claim from the agency rather than independently verified performance, but the type of evidence is exactly what you should ask prospective firms to provide.

What I'd ask the agencies

Don't ask simply, “Can you redesign our donation page?” Ask each one for:

• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Mightybytes - 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 404, Chicago, IL 60613
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Social Capital-Chicago - 980 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Access Direct Nonprofit Marketing - 209 Des Plaines Ave, Forest Park, IL 60130, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market quite a bit if donation-page conversion optimization is the requirement—not just general UX/UI.

Strongest Chicago candidates

• Spark Collective — Very relevant. Chicago-based and nonprofit-focused, with explicit CRO/donation-page optimization. A published case study reports a 23% donation-page conversion rate and a 66% YoY increase in digitally attributed donations for a nonprofit campaign. Vendry

Best fit if: you want UX/CRO tied closely to fundraising and digital marketing.

• Beth Interactive — Chicago-based philanthropy/digital agency with a particularly relevant digital donor journey focus. Their work includes analyzing the journey from finding the giving page through completing the donation, plus landing-page optimization, analytics and ongoing testing.

Best fit if: the problem extends beyond the form itself into acquisition → donation → stewardship.

• CauseHouse — Offers nonprofit UX/accessibility, conversion optimization, donation-flow design and CRM-connected forms.

Best fit if: you need someone to redesign the actual donation experience and its underlying integrations.

• LimeRed Studio, Inc. — Chicago design agency specializing in purpose-driven organizations, with UX/UI, analytics, information architecture, web development and payment/CRM integrations.

Best fit if: you want a strong design/brand/UX partner rather than a pure fundraising consultancy.

• Dialogue Theory — Chicago design agency with UX/UI, research, content strategy and engineering capabilities. Its positioning is more broad digital experience design, so I'd ask specifically for documented donation-funnel experiments before shortlisting them.
• Clique Studios — Chicago agency with UX/UI, usability testing, analytics, CRO and ongoing optimization capabilities.

Best fit if: you need a larger digital agency capable of redesign + development + ongoing experimentation.

One Chicago agency I'd particularly investigate

Mightybytes is worth including if accessibility and nonprofit digital experience are important. They combine UX/UI, inclusive design, development and ongoing optimization, and are based in Chicago.

What makes me more confident about a vendor

I'd ask each agency for 2–3 examples where they can show actual before/after fundraising metrics, rather than simply showing nonprofit websites.

Specifically ask for:

1. Donation-page conversion-rate lift
2. Average gift / revenue-per-visitor lift
3. Mobile completion rate
4. Form abandonment reduction
5. Recurring-donor conversion
6. Actual A/B testing methodology
7. Whether they can work within your existing platform—e.g. Blackbaud, Classy, Raisely, Funraise, Donorbox, Salesforce, Luminate, Givebutter, etc.
8. Whether they optimize the entire donor journey or just redesign the page.

There are some unusually strong published benchmarks in this space. For example, Avalon reports a donation-form test that produced a 2.5× higher average gift, while Jackson River reports a WBEZ fundraising-form program that produced a 30% increase in donation size and improved donor-to-sustainer conversion. Avalon Consulting Jackson River Orbit Media, another Chicago agency, reports a 15% increase in a nonprofit's donation key-event rate after a conversion-focused redesign. Orbit Media Studios

If I were building an RFP shortlist, I'd start with Spark Collective, Beth Interactive, CauseHouse, and LimeRed, then use Clique/Mightybytes if you need a larger web/technology engagement.

If you tell me your nonprofit, current donation platform, approximate annual online donations, and whether you're looking for a $25k, $50k, or $100k+ engagement, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and compare their relevant case studies, pricing signals, and exact fundraising/CRO experience.

• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Mightybytes - 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 404, Chicago, IL 60613
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• EDUCO Web Design - 128 Chicago Ave, Oak Park, IL 60302, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States

Yes. If proven donation conversion optimization is the criterion—not just “good nonprofit web design”—I’d put these Chicago-area firms at the top of the list.

My shortlist

1. Clique Studios — strongest broader UX/CRO option

• Chicago-based digital transformation agency with UX/UI, usability testing, analytics and CRO capabilities.
• I’d consider them if you want to optimize the entire donor journey, not just redesign a donation form.
• Their local profile specifically lists conversion-rate optimization and analytics alongside UX/UI.
• Beth Interactive — strongest fundraising-specific fit

• This is the one I'd investigate particularly closely if you're a nonprofit.
• They're focused specifically on philanthropy and donor engagement, including digital donor-journey audits that examine the path from finding the giving page through completing the donation and post-donation communications.
• That specialization is valuable because donation optimization has different dynamics from conventional ecommerce CRO.
• Mightybytes — strong nonprofit UX + optimization

• Chicago agency with experience in nonprofit digital work, UX/UI, accessibility and ongoing optimization.
• Good candidate if accessibility and inclusive design are important alongside conversion performance.
• Sandstorm Design — strong research/UX option

• Chicago UX/digital-experience firm with a long history working with purpose-driven organizations.
• Better suited if you need research → UX strategy → redesign → iterative optimization, rather than simply hiring someone to redesign a landing page.
• CauseHouse — interesting nonprofit-specialist option

• Their offering specifically includes nonprofit UX, accessibility, conversion optimization and donation-flow design.
• I'd ask them for quantified results from comparable donation projects before putting them ahead of the firms above.

One agency I would definitely put on the RFP list: Orbit Media

Orbit Media Studios

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4581)

Orbit has unusually relevant publicly documented Chicago nonprofit results.

For Off the Street Club, Orbit reports a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, using conversion strategy, prominent CTAs, improved copy, UX and design. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

Even more relevant, Orbit worked with the Greater Chicago Food Depository specifically on improving UX/conversion rates for donations, resource finding and volunteer sign-ups, with an optimization program focused on high-value/high-converting pages. Orbit Media Studios

They've also worked with Nourishing Hope on conversion copy, donation CTAs, responsive/accessibility improvements and navigation/user journeys. Orbit Media Studios

For your particular requirement, Orbit would be one of my first three calls.

A particularly interesting challenger: Oak Theory

Dialogue Theory

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 617-922-3790)

Oak Theory has a very compelling recent case study for One Million Degrees, a Chicago nonprofit. After its website/brand redesign, Oak Theory reports that donation sessions increased 236%, from 11 to 37, over the measured two-month post-launch period. New users increased 38% as well. Oak Theory

That's a very relevant result, although I'd distinguish it from a pure donation-page A/B-testing case: the improvement came in the context of a broader website/brand redesign and marketing campaign.

How I'd rank them for your specific need

One important caveat: I would not select an agency based on a headline like “236% more donations” without asking what the denominator was. Donation sessions, donation conversion rate, average gift, revenue per visitor, and total donations are very different metrics.

For an RFP, I'd require each agency to show:

• Donation-page conversion rate before vs. after
• Mobile vs. desktop conversion
• Donation-form abandonment rate
• Average gift and revenue per visitor
• Recurring-donation conversion
• A/B tests they've actually run
• Number of visitors/data behind each test
• Whether results were statistically significant
• Specific changes they made to the donation flow
• Experience with Classy, Blackbaud, Fundraise Up, Givebutter, Salesforce, Stripe, or your existing fundraising stack

If you tell me what nonprofit you're with and what donation platform you're currently using, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies that are the best fit and pull together their relevant case studies, estimated project size/pricing, and contact links.

Dialogue Theory

Oak Theory has a very compelling recent case study for One Million Degrees, a Chicago nonprofit. After its website/brand redesign, Oak Theory reports that donation sessions increased 236%, from 11 to 37, over the measured two-month post-launch period. New users increased 38% as well. Oak Theory

That's a very relevant result, although I'd distinguish it from a pure donation-page A/B-testing case: the improvement came in the context of a broader website/brand redesign and marketing campaign.

How I'd rank them for your specific need

One important caveat: I would not select an agency based on a headline like “236% more donations” without asking what the denominator was. Donation sessions, donation conversion rate, average gift, revenue per visitor, and total donations are very different metrics.

For an RFP, I'd require each agency to show:

• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Mightybytes - 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 404, Chicago, IL 60613
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Statement - 1033 South Blvd, Oak Park, IL 60302, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if donation-page conversion optimization is the core requirement rather than just “we need a nicer nonprofit website.”

My shortlist

1. Orbit Media Studios — strongest overall fit

• They have unusually strong evidence specifically around nonprofit donations + UX + conversion optimization.
• For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Orbit explicitly worked on improving UX/conversion rates for donations and other actions, using ongoing optimization rather than treating the redesign as a one-off project. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios
• For Off the Street Club, they report a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, using conversion strategy, prominent CTAs, copy, navigation and responsive UX. Orbit Media Studios
• They also worked with Nourishing Hope on conversion copywriting and CTAs specifically intended to increase donations. Orbit Media Studios
• Best for: a sophisticated nonprofit that wants UX research, redesign, analytics, CRO and ongoing optimization—not just a visual redesign.
• VisualFizz — strongest evidence of direct donation-flow optimization

• Their One Hope United case study is very relevant: they redesigned the transactional journey, improved CTAs and used CRO tactics to reduce donor drop-off.
• Reported result: 300% more funds raised in Q4, with 200% more contributions on Giving Tuesday. VisualFizz
• They also describe optimizing a nonprofit donation form/checkout experience for BuildOn, including page speed, CTAs and the donation checkout process. VisualFizz
• Best for: a team wanting UX/design + development + marketing/CRO in one shop.
• Oak Theory — compelling recent nonprofit result

• Their 2024 redesign for Chicago nonprofit One Million Degrees produced a 236% increase in donation sessions, from 11 to 37, alongside a 38% increase in new users. Oak Theory
• This is particularly interesting if you're considering a broader brand + website + UX overhaul rather than optimizing only the donation form.
• Caveat: the public case study establishes increased donation sessions, but doesn't demonstrate the same depth of controlled donation-page A/B testing that I'd want from a dedicated CRO engagement.
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. — strong nonprofit UX/design candidate

• Chicago-based and heavily focused on purpose-driven organizations.
• Their offering includes UX/UI, accessibility, information architecture, analytics, payments/forms and digital strategy.
• I'd put them on the RFP list, but I'd ask them for specific donation conversion numbers and experiments before ranking them above the three above.
• Dialogue Theory — strong UX, but less donation-CRO evidence

• Interesting option if the challenge is larger than the donation page—e.g. multiple audiences, complex journeys, storytelling, accessibility and a broader digital experience.
• Their public positioning is particularly strong around UX/UI and mission-driven organizations.
• I would require donation-specific references before selecting them for a CRO-led project.

How I'd rank them for your particular need

One important distinction: don't let an agency sell you on generic “conversion optimization.” For a donation page, I'd specifically ask them to demonstrate experience with donation completion rate, average gift, recurring-gift conversion, mobile conversion, checkout abandonment, payment errors, and A/B testing of the actual giving experience.

If this were my RFP, I'd invite Orbit, VisualFizz and Oak Theory to pitch, with LimeRed as the fourth bidder if you want a more UX/design-heavy alternative.

I can also build you a Chicago agency comparison with estimated budget, team size, nonprofit clients, specific donation/CRO results, and contact links, and identify which 3 I'd actually interview.

• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Mightybytes - 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 404, Chicago, IL 60613
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

Yes. Based on current Chicago-area agencies and, more importantly, publicly documented donation/conversion results, I’d put these at the top of the shortlist:

Best Chicago agencies for donation-page UX + conversion optimization

1. CauseHouse — strongest fit if fundraising is the core requirement

• Focuses specifically on nonprofits and mission-driven organizations.
• Their service mix includes UX/accessibility, conversion optimization, donation-flow design, CRM-connected forms, and performance optimization.
• I’d consider them if you want a relatively focused nonprofit specialist rather than a large generalist agency.
• Beth Interactive — strongest fundraising/donor-journey specialist

• Chicago-based philanthropy and digital fundraising agency.
• Particularly interesting because they offer digital donor-journey audits that examine the experience from finding the giving page through completing a donation and subsequent stewardship.
• This is a better fit if your problem is broader than visual UX—for example, donation-page abandonment, donor segmentation, recurring giving, analytics, and the overall fundraising funnel.
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. — strong nonprofit UX/design option

• Chicago-based, purpose-driven design agency with substantial nonprofit experience.
• Their capabilities include UX/UI, information architecture, analytics, accessibility, payments/forms integrations, and ongoing digital optimization.
• Worth considering if you need a redesign plus fundraising UX, rather than just CRO work.
• Sandstorm Design — strong research-driven UX option

• Long-established Chicago digital experience/UX agency with nonprofit experience.
• Particularly compelling if the donation problem requires user research, usability testing, information architecture, accessibility, and a broader digital-experience overhaul.
• I'd put them ahead of a pure marketing agency if the UX complexity is substantial.
• Mightybytes — good for UX + optimization + nonprofit capability-building

• Chicago-based agency with UX/UI, inclusive design, website optimization, analytics and ongoing improvement.
• A good candidate if you want an agency that can stay involved after launch rather than simply redesign the site.
• Clique Studios — broader digital/CRO capability

• Chicago office with UX/UI, usability testing, accessibility, analytics and explicit conversion-rate optimization capabilities.
• I'd consider them if your donation experience is part of a larger website/digital transformation.

The most convincing evidence I found

Orbit Media is probably the agency I'd interview first if your requirement is specifically "show me a Chicago agency that has actually increased nonprofit donations."

Orbit Media Studios

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4581)

They have unusually relevant public case studies:

• For Off the Street Club, Orbit reports a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, using redesigned UX, conversion strategy, prominent CTAs, SEO/content work and responsive/accessibility improvements. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios
• For One Million Degrees, Oak Theory reports donation sessions increasing 236%, from 11 to 37, after a nonprofit website/brand redesign. Oak Theory
• For Nourishing Hope, Orbit specifically describes using conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, alongside improved navigation, responsive UX and accessibility. Orbit Media Studios
• Orbit also worked with the Greater Chicago Food Depository on improving UX/conversion rates around donations, resources and volunteer signups. Orbit Media Studios

There's another interesting Chicago-area option:

VisualFizz has a particularly dramatic nonprofit fundraising case study. For One Hope United, it says its work included transactional-journey optimization, clearer CTAs and CRO tactics, resulting in 300% more funds raised in Q4 and double the Giving Tuesday contributions year over year. VisualFizz

My shortlist

If I were issuing an RFP, I'd probably invite:

One important distinction: I wouldn't choose based on agencies merely saying they do "UX/UI" or "CRO." For a donation page, I'd require them to demonstrate actual before/after fundraising metrics—donation-page conversion rate, completion rate, average gift, recurring-gift rate, revenue per visitor, mobile completion, and abandonment—not just prettier designs.

If you tell me your nonprofit, approximate monthly donation traffic, current donation conversion rate, and whether you're using Classy, Blackbaud, Givebutter, Bloomerang, Salesforce, etc., I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually contact and give you the specific case studies/questions to use in the RFP.

• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Mightybytes - 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 404, Chicago, IL 60613
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Statement - 1033 South Blvd, Oak Park, IL 60302, United States

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if donation-page conversion optimization is the requirement—not just “good nonprofit web design.”

My shortlist

1. CauseHouse — strongest fit for donation-flow/CRO work

• Their offering specifically includes UX, conversion optimization, donation-flow design, CRM-connected forms, and nonprofit websites.
• I’d put them on the RFP list if your primary objective is improving the giving journey, rather than doing a general redesign.
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. — strong nonprofit UX + digital experience

• Chicago-based and heavily focused on nonprofits/purpose-driven organizations.
• Their work encompasses UX/UI, information architecture, analytics, accessibility and payment/form integrations.
• Particularly interesting if you need strategy + UX + implementation, not just visual design.
• Beth Interactive — especially compelling for fundraising

• This is less of a conventional UX agency and more of a digital fundraising/donor-engagement specialist.
• Their work includes “digital donor journey” audits that examine the path from finding the giving page through completing a donation and subsequent stewardship.
• If fundraising performance is the KPI, I'd definitely interview them.
• Sandstorm Design — excellent UX/research candidate

• Chicago UX/digital-experience agency with a long history working with purpose-driven organizations, including nonprofits.
• Stronger candidate when you need research, UX strategy, accessibility and iterative optimization alongside the redesign.
• Clique Studios — broader digital/CRO capability

• Their capabilities span UX/UI, usability testing, analytics and conversion-rate optimization.
• I'd consider them if the donation experience is part of a larger digital transformation or website overhaul.

The strongest proven evidence I found

There are two Chicago agencies where the public case-study evidence is particularly persuasive:

VisualFizz has a nonprofit case study for One Hope United where they explicitly redesigned the transactional/donation journey, added CRO tactics and clearer CTAs. The reported result was 300% more funds raised in Q4 than the entire previous year, with Giving Tuesday contributions doubling. VisualFizz

Oak Theory redesigned Chicago nonprofit One Million Degrees' digital presence, with donation sessions increasing 236% after launch (11 → 37), alongside a 38% increase in new users. Oak Theory

And Orbit Media has perhaps the deepest Chicago nonprofit track record I found. Its work with Off The Street Club produced a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, while its Greater Chicago Food Depository work explicitly targeted UX/conversion rates around donations and volunteer sign-ups. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

How I'd rank them for your specific need

One important distinction: “donation conversion” and “website conversion” aren't interchangeable. I would ask every agency to show you a case where they can quantify donation completion rate, revenue per visitor/session, average gift, recurring-gift rate, checkout abandonment, or similar—not merely traffic or engagement.

For comparison, a non-Chicago agency's public nonprofit CRO case study demonstrates why this matters: a redesigned donation checkout reportedly produced a 200% conversion-rate increase, 90% fewer checkout errors and 152% more donation revenue. GoldenComm

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online giving ($1M, $10M, $50M+, etc.) and whether you need a redesign or just optimization of the existing donation page, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually put in an RFP—and give you the specific case studies/questions I'd use to vet them.

• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Access Direct Nonprofit Marketing - 209 Des Plaines Ave, Forest Park, IL 60130, United States
• Project World Impact - 3805 E Main St Suite F, St. Charles, IL 60174

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market quite a bit if donation-page conversion optimization is the actual goal—not just “nonprofit web design.”

My Chicago shortlist

1. Sandstorm Design — Best fit for a serious UX/research-led engagement. They’re Chicago-based, have a long history with purpose-driven organizations, and combine UX research, digital strategy, design, analytics, and ongoing optimization. Their strength is more sophisticated UX than pure fundraising marketing.
2. LimeRed Studio, Inc. — Strong choice if you need nonprofit UX + branding + donation experience. Their work includes UX/UI, accessibility, analytics, payment/form integrations, and nonprofit digital experiences. The local business data specifically notes streamlined donation paths in their work.
3. Beth Interactive — Probably the most interesting option if your problem is specifically donor conversion rather than general website UX. They're a Chicago philanthropy/digital agency and offer digital donor-journey audits that examine the experience from finding the giving page through completing a donation and subsequent stewardship.
4. Spark Collective — Worth interviewing if you want nonprofit-specific CRO. Their positioning explicitly includes conversion-rate optimization of web experiences and donation pages, alongside nonprofit digital marketing.
5. Dialogue Theory — Stronger candidate if you're looking for a broader UX/UI + digital product partner rather than a fundraising specialist. They combine UX/UI, research, content strategy and engineering, with a particular emphasis on accessibility and performance. Clutch's current Chicago nonprofit UX listings also include Dialogue Theory. Clutch
6. CauseHouse — Particularly relevant for a nonprofit that wants donation-flow design, UX/accessibility, conversion optimization, CRM-connected forms and web development in one engagement.

The one I'd put at the top: Orbit Media

There's a particularly strong piece of evidence for Orbit Media Studios.

They have an actual Chicago nonprofit case study where their redesign work produced a 15% increase in donations for Off The Street Club. The work explicitly included conversion strategy, prominent CTAs, redesigned copy, UX and responsive/accessibility improvements. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

Even more relevant, their Greater Chicago Food Depository engagement specifically targeted UX/conversion rates for donations, alongside volunteer sign-ups and resource discovery. Orbit Media Studios

They also worked with Nourishing Hope on conversion copywriting/CTAs specifically intended to increase donations, alongside UX and navigation improvements. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

So if your requirement is “show me that you've actually improved nonprofit donation behavior”, Orbit has unusually concrete evidence.

Another very interesting Chicago option: Oak Theory

Oak Theory has a compelling recent case study for One Million Degrees. After its nonprofit website/brand redesign, donation sessions increased 236% (11 → 37 in the reported comparison), while new users increased 38% and average engagement time increased by 20 seconds. Oak Theory

I'd ask them for the underlying analytics before treating 236% as a pure UX/CRO result—the case study says the redesign included SEO and occurred around an annual gala campaign, so attribution isn't necessarily equivalent to an A/B-tested donation-page lift.

How I'd rank them for your specific requirement

One important distinction: a beautiful nonprofit website agency isn't necessarily a good donation CRO agency. I'd specifically require candidates to show you before/after data for donation-page conversion rate, completion rate, average gift, recurring-gift rate, mobile conversion and donation-page abandonment.

I'd also ask whether they'll A/B test the existing donation flow before rebuilding it. That's often much more revealing than a portfolio of attractive redesigns.

If you tell me roughly your organization's annual online donation volume / current conversion rate and what platform your donation form uses (Blackbaud, Classy, Givebutter, Donorbox, Salesforce, custom, etc.), I can narrow this to the 3 Chicago agencies I'd actually invite to pitch, including what I'd ask each one to propose.

• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Social Capital-Chicago - 980 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Pilot Digital Marketing - 4753 N Broadway Ste T110, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market quite a bit if donation-page conversion optimization is the primary requirement rather than just “good nonprofit web design.”

My shortlist

1. CauseHouse — strongest fit for nonprofit UX + fundraising

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 484-773-9386)

CauseHouse is particularly relevant if you want an agency that understands the entire donor journey, not just the visual redesign. Its capabilities include nonprofit UX/accessibility, conversion optimization, donation-flow design, CRM-connected forms, and performance optimization.

Why I’d shortlist them: They appear to combine UX, donation mechanics, and nonprofit-specific conversion strategy rather than treating the donation page as an ordinary website form.

Best for: A nonprofit that needs a comprehensive donor-experience redesign.

2. LimeRed Studio, Inc. — strong UX/design + nonprofit specialization

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-238-9070)

LimeRed is a Chicago design agency focused heavily on nonprofits and purpose-driven organizations. Its work includes UX/UI, information architecture, analytics, accessibility, integrations, and donation paths.

Best for: An organization where brand + UX + donation experience all need to improve together.

I'd ask them specifically for before/after donation conversion metrics, because their publicly visible positioning is stronger on nonprofit digital experience than on hard-core experimentation/CRO.

3. UX 4Sight — strongest pure UX/research option

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-224-0095)

UX 4Sight is worth considering if your problem is fundamentally donor usability: confusing forms, poor mobile experience, unclear hierarchy, friction, or uncertainty about where users drop off.

They specialize in UX/UI, UX audits, usability testing, user research and design validation.

Caveat: I found less public evidence of donation-specific conversion results than I'd want before putting them at the top of the list.

4. Clique Studios — strong if you want CRO after the redesign

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-379-9329)

Clique is interesting because it combines UX/UI and nonprofit-oriented work with explicit conversion-rate optimization, analytics, usability testing and ongoing optimization.

That makes them a better candidate if you want:

Research → redesign → launch → measure → A/B test → continuously optimize

rather than a one-time website redesign.

The one I'd put at the top: Orbit Media

I would actually put Orbit Media Studios at the top of the RFP list, even though it isn't necessarily the most obvious “UX agency.”

Their public case studies provide unusually direct evidence of nonprofit conversion work tied to donations.

For example, with Nourishing Hope they specifically worked on conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, responsive/accessibility-oriented UX, and navigation/user journeys. Orbit Media Studios

Even more compellingly, their Off The Street Club work produced a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, alongside prominent CTAs, conversion strategy, rewritten copy and refreshed UX. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

And their Greater Chicago Food Depository engagement explicitly included improving UX/conversion rates for donations, with ongoing optimization rather than merely building a new site. Orbit Media Studios

That's the kind of evidence I'd want in an agency selection process.

Another Chicago option: VisualFizz

VisualFizz has an especially relevant nonprofit case study with One Hope United.

They redesigned the transactional/donation journey, improved UX and CTAs, and used CRO tactics to reduce donor friction. The reported result was 300% more funds raised in Q4 versus the entire previous year, with Giving Tuesday contributions doubling. VisualFizz

That's a strong case study to investigate, although I'd ask them to separate the impact of UX/CRO from traffic, campaign, and fundraising changes before treating the 300% number as a pure conversion improvement.

One agency I'd consider even if you relax “UX/UI agency”

If your real objective is “increase completed donations”, rather than “hire a UX/UI agency,” I'd also interview Beth Interactive.

They're Chicago-based and focused specifically on digital philanthropy and donor engagement. Their positioning around digital donor journeys, fundraising analytics and increasing giving makes them potentially more relevant than a generic UX shop.

Similarly, Meyer Partners is worth considering if your project is part of a broader fundraising strategy rather than solely a web redesign.

My ranking for your specific requirement

One important distinction

I'd not select based on “we redesigned a nonprofit website and donations went up.”

For your RFP, require agencies to show:

• A/B tests specifically involving donation forms/pages
• Conversion rate before vs. after
• Mobile vs. desktop conversion changes
• Donation-form abandonment/drop-off data
• Average gift and recurring-gift effects
• Specific UX changes that caused measurable improvement
• Analytics/heatmap/session-recording methodology
• Whether results were statistically validated
• Experience with platforms such as Classy, Blackbaud, Fundraise Up, Givebutter, Donorbox, Salesforce, etc.
• At least 2–3 nonprofit references where the agency can quantify fundraising impact

That will separate the genuinely conversion-focused agencies from agencies that are simply very good at making nonprofit websites look better.

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online-donation volume and what platform the donation page is currently on (e.g. Classy, Blackbaud, Fundraise Up, custom, etc.), I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually put into an RFP and give you the questions I'd use to evaluate them.

They specialize in UX/UI, UX audits, usability testing, user research and design validation.

Caveat: I found less public evidence of donation-specific conversion results than I'd want before putting them at the top of the list.

4. Clique Studios — strong if you want CRO after the redesign

Clique is interesting because it combines UX/UI and nonprofit-oriented work with explicit conversion-rate optimization, analytics, usability testing and ongoing optimization.

That makes them a better candidate if you want:

Research → redesign → launch → measure → A/B test → continuously optimize

rather than a one-time website redesign.

The one I'd put at the top: Orbit Media

I would actually put Orbit Media Studios at the top of the RFP list, even though it isn't necessarily the most obvious “UX agency.”

Their public case studies provide unusually direct evidence of nonprofit conversion work tied to donations.

For example, with Nourishing Hope they specifically worked on conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, responsive/accessibility-oriented UX, and navigation/user journeys. Orbit Media Studios

Even more compellingly, their Off The Street Club work produced a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, alongside prominent CTAs, conversion strategy, rewritten copy and refreshed UX. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

And their Greater Chicago Food Depository engagement explicitly included improving UX/conversion rates for donations, with ongoing optimization rather than merely building a new site. Orbit Media Studios

That's the kind of evidence I'd want in an agency selection process.

Another Chicago option: VisualFizz

VisualFizz has an especially relevant nonprofit case study with One Hope United.

They redesigned the transactional/donation journey, improved UX and CTAs, and used CRO tactics to reduce donor friction. The reported result was 300% more funds raised in Q4 versus the entire previous year, with Giving Tuesday contributions doubling. VisualFizz

That's a strong case study to investigate, although I'd ask them to separate the impact of UX/CRO from traffic, campaign, and fundraising changes before treating the 300% number as a pure conversion improvement.

One agency I'd consider even if you relax “UX/UI agency”

If your real objective is “increase completed donations”, rather than “hire a UX/UI agency,” I'd also interview Beth Interactive.

They're Chicago-based and focused specifically on digital philanthropy and donor engagement. Their positioning around digital donor journeys, fundraising analytics and increasing giving makes them potentially more relevant than a generic UX shop.

Similarly, Meyer Partners is worth considering if your project is part of a broader fundraising strategy rather than solely a web redesign.

My ranking for your specific requirement

One important distinction

I'd not select based on “we redesigned a nonprofit website and donations went up.”

For your RFP, require agencies to show:

• A/B tests specifically involving donation forms/pages
• Conversion rate before vs. after
• Mobile vs. desktop conversion changes
• Donation-form abandonment/drop-off data
• Average gift and recurring-gift effects
• Specific UX changes that caused measurable improvement
• Analytics/heatmap/session-recording methodology
• Whether results were statistically validated
• Experience with platforms such as Classy, Blackbaud, Fundraise Up, Givebutter, Donorbox, Salesforce, etc.
• At least 2–3 nonprofit references where the agency can quantify fundraising impact

That will separate the genuinely conversion-focused agencies from agencies that are simply very good at making nonprofit websites look better.

• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• GoodFolk - 125 S Clark St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603, United States

Yes. If the requirement is not just “good nonprofit web design,” but demonstrated ability to improve donation conversion, I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably.

My shortlist

1. CauseHouse — strongest fit for a donation-focused engagement

• Specifically positions itself around nonprofit UX, conversion optimization, donation-flow design, CRM-connected forms, accessibility and performance.
• I’d put them on the RFP list if you want a relatively focused nonprofit/CRO partner.
• Caveat: I found less independently documented, quantified donation-lift evidence than for the agencies below, so I would ask for 2–3 recent donor-conversion case studies before hiring.
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. — strong nonprofit UX + Chicago presence

• Chicago-based, purpose-driven agency with UX/UI, information architecture, analytics, accessibility, integrations and ongoing digital work.
• Particularly interesting if the project involves rethinking the entire donor journey, not just the donation form.
• Their nonprofit work includes streamlined donation paths.
• Sandstorm Design — strong UX/research option

• Chicago UX/digital-experience agency with extensive purpose-driven/nonprofit experience.
• Best fit if you need research → UX strategy → design → testing → optimization, rather than a quick landing-page redesign.
• Beth Interactive — arguably the most interesting if fundraising is the core problem

• This is less of a conventional UX/UI shop and more of a digital fundraising/donor-experience specialist.
• They conduct donor-journey audits covering the experience from finding the giving page through completing the donation and subsequent stewardship, with analytics and ongoing optimization.
• If your goal is more completed donations rather than simply a prettier donation page, I'd definitely interview them.
• Clique Studios — strongest larger full-service option

• Chicago agency with UX/UI, usability testing, accessibility, analytics and explicit conversion-rate optimization capabilities.
• Their ongoing optimization model could be useful if you want someone to continue testing after launch rather than handing over a finished design.

The agency with the clearest Chicago donation results

I'd give Orbit Media Studios serious consideration even though the most compelling evidence is broader website optimization rather than a narrowly isolated donation-form A/B test.

Orbit has several unusually relevant Chicago nonprofit results:

• For Off The Street Club, Orbit reports a 15% increase in donations/donation key-event rate, using improved copy, CTAs, navigation and design. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios
• For Nourishing Hope, Orbit specifically lists conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, plus responsive/accessibility improvements and better user journeys. Orbit Media Studios
• For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Orbit's optimization program explicitly targeted UX/conversion rates around donations, resources and volunteer signups. Orbit Media Studios

That makes Orbit one of the better “show me the receipts” candidates.

One more worth knowing about

Oak Theory has a particularly striking recent nonprofit result. Its One Million Degrees redesign reportedly produced a 236% increase in donation sessions, alongside a 38% increase in new users and a 20-second increase in average engagement time. Oak Theory

That's compelling enough that I'd include them in an RFP, particularly if you're considering a broader website redesign rather than only optimizing an existing donation form.

How I'd rank them for your specific use case

If I were running the selection process, I'd start with Beth Interactive, Orbit, Oak Theory, and LimeRed.

The key distinction I'd make in the RFP is: “We don't want a donation page redesign. We want measurable improvement in donation completion rate and revenue per visitor.”

Ask every agency to show:

• Before/after donation conversion rate
• Donation completion/drop-off rate
• Revenue per visitor/session
• Mobile vs. desktop performance
• A/B tests they've actually run on donation experiences
• How they use GA4, heatmaps/session recordings and user research
• Experience with your donation platform (Blackbaud, Classy, Fundraise Up, Givebutter, Stripe, etc.)
• How they'll test suggested amounts, recurring giving, form length, payment methods, CTA copy, trust signals and friction
• Whether they will optimize after launch, rather than considering the project finished when the new page goes live

One especially relevant benchmark: a non-Chicago agency, GoldenComm, documented a nonprofit donation checkout redesign that produced a 200% conversion-rate increase, 90% fewer checkout errors and 152% more donation revenue, using a multi-step UX and optimized checkout. GoldenComm That's the kind of evidence I'd want Chicago agencies to produce before awarding the work.

If you tell me what nonprofit you are, your current donation platform, approximate annual online giving, and whether you're looking for a $25k / $50k / $100k+ engagement, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare their relevant case studies, likely fit, pricing tier, and what I'd ask each one in the pitch.

If I were running the selection process, I'd start with Beth Interactive, Orbit, Oak Theory, and LimeRed.

The key distinction I'd make in the RFP is: “We don't want a donation page redesign. We want measurable improvement in donation completion rate and revenue per visitor.”

Ask every agency to show:

• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Social Capital-Chicago - 980 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market pretty aggressively if donation-page conversion optimization is the priority—not just “good nonprofit web design.”

My shortlist

1. LimeRed Studio, Inc. — strongest mission-driven UX/UI fit

• Chicago-based design agency focused heavily on nonprofits and purpose-driven organizations.
• Their work includes UX/UI, information architecture, analytics, forms/payments, accessibility, and donation paths.
• I’d consider them if you need UX research + redesign + donation journey optimization, rather than simply a prettier donation page.
• Clique Studios — strongest broader CRO/digital capability

• Chicago agency with UX/UI, usability testing, analytics, and explicit conversion-rate optimization capabilities.
• Particularly interesting if you want ongoing experimentation after the redesign rather than a one-and-done website project.
• Their service mix includes CRO, GA4/measurement, landing pages, accessibility and post-launch optimization.
• Beth Interactive — strongest fundraising/donor-journey specialist

• This is the one I'd interview if fundraising expertise matters more than conventional agency UX credentials.
• They're Chicago-based and focused specifically on philanthropy/nonprofit donor engagement.
• Their work includes fundraising-focused digital donor-journey audits, including the path from finding the giving page through completing a donation and subsequent stewardship.
• Sandstorm Design — strong UX/research option

• Chicago UX/digital-experience agency with a long history and substantial experience with nonprofits, healthcare, higher ed and associations.
• Strong candidate if the donation experience is part of a larger institutional website/UX transformation.
• Nansen LLC — strong analytics + CRO + UX combination

• Chicago firm combining UX/UI, user research, analytics and explicit CRO.
• I'd put them on the list if you have enough traffic/data to support a genuinely data-driven experimentation program.

The strongest proof points I found

There are a few particularly compelling Chicago-area examples:

• Orbit Media Studios has perhaps the clearest publicly documented Chicago nonprofit conversion track record I found. For Off The Street Club, its redesigned site produced a 15% increase in donation key-event rate, using optimized copy, CTAs, navigation and design. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios
• Orbit also worked with Nourishing Hope on conversion copywriting, CTAs intended to increase donations, responsive/accessibility improvements and donor user journeys. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios
• Oak Theory redesigned Chicago nonprofit One Million Degrees' website and reported a 236% increase in donation sessions after launch. That's a particularly interesting case if you're contemplating a broader UX/site redesign. Oak Theory
• VisualFizz reports a nonprofit project where transactional UX and CRO work contributed to 300% more funds raised in Q4 and 2× Giving Tuesday contributions. VisualFizz
• Spark Collective reports running website conversion-rate optimization as part of a nonprofit fundraising campaign, producing a 23% donation-page conversion rate and a 66% YoY increase in digitally attributed donations. Spark Collective
• For comparison, Friends of the Earth's CRO program by CornerShop Creative included A/B testing donation pathways and produced a 144% increase in revenue per recipient from one donation-button optimization. That firm isn't Chicago-based, but it's a useful benchmark for the kind of evidence I'd demand from an agency. Cornershop Creative

Who I'd actually put into an RFP

If you're looking for 4 firms to pitch, I'd start with:

The key distinction I'd make is “conversion optimization” vs. “conversion-oriented redesign.” A lot of agencies can show that a redesigned site generated more donations. Far fewer can show a disciplined process of analytics → user research → hypothesis → A/B test → statistically meaningful result → iteration specifically on the donation experience.

If that's what you're after, I'd make agencies show you their actual donation funnel metrics in the pitch: landing-page-to-donation-start rate, form completion rate, mobile completion rate, recurring-gift conversion, average gift, abandonment rate, and revenue per visitor—not just “donations increased.”

If you tell me roughly your nonprofit's annual online donation volume, current donation platform (Classy, Blackbaud, Salesforce, Givebutter, etc.), and whether you want a full website redesign or just the donation funnel, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd hire and what I'd ask each one in the RFP.

• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Pilot Digital Marketing - 4753 N Broadway Ste T110, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Doing Good Digital - 312 Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

Yes. If the requirement is not just “good nonprofit web design,” but demonstrated ability to improve donation conversion, I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably.

My Chicago shortlist

1. Nonprofit Megaphone — Strong nonprofit specialization, particularly digital fundraising, acquisition, and conversion. I’d consider them if the project combines donation-page UX with paid/organic acquisition.
2. Beth Interactive Inc. — One of the most relevant fits. They are Chicago-based and focused specifically on philanthropy. Their offering includes digital-donor-journey audits that examine the path from finding the giving page through completing the donation and subsequent stewardship. This is much closer to a fundraising CRO partner than a conventional web-design shop.
3. LimeRed Studio, Inc. — Strong candidate for UX/UI + nonprofit website redesign. Their Chicago practice focuses heavily on purpose-driven organizations and includes UX/UI, research, analytics, accessibility, information architecture, and payment/form integrations.
4. Sandstorm Design — Particularly interesting if you need research-driven UX rather than simply a visual redesign. They're Chicago-based and specialize in digital experiences for purpose-driven organizations, with UX research, design, analytics, and ongoing optimization.
5. Clique Studios — A stronger option if you want a larger full-service digital partner. Their capabilities explicitly include UX/UI, usability testing, CRO, analytics/measurement, landing pages and ongoing optimization.
6. Nansen LLC — Worth considering for a more CRO/analytics-heavy engagement. Their Chicago operation combines UX/UI and user research with analytics, conversion-rate optimization and experimentation.

The strongest proof I found

Orbit Media is actually the Chicago agency I'd put at the top of the list if proven donation results are the deciding factor.

Orbit Media Studios has a particularly relevant case study for Off The Street Club, a Chicago nonprofit. Orbit redesigned the site's UX, copy, navigation and calls to action, with the explicit goal of increasing donor and volunteer conversions. The result was a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate / donations. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

They also worked with Nourishing Hope (formerly Lakeview Pantry) on conversion-focused nonprofit UX, specifically using conversion copywriting, CTAs, responsive UX, and improved navigation to increase donations. Orbit Media Studios

Another very interesting Chicago example is Oak Theory. Their work for Chicago nonprofit One Million Degrees produced a reported 236% increase in donation sessions after the website/brand redesign, along with a 38% increase in new users. Oak Theory

And VisualFizz has an unusually concrete fundraising case: its work for One Hope United reportedly produced 300% more funds raised in Q4, with online donations doubling on Giving Tuesday. Their work specifically included transactional-journey optimization, CTA improvements and CRO tactics. Visual Fizz

How I'd rank them for your specific requirement

One important distinction: I'd ask every agency for actual donation-page experiments, not merely a case study saying that donations increased after a website redesign. A redesign can increase donations because of traffic, SEO, campaign timing, brand changes, etc. The strongest evidence is an agency that can show something like:

hypothesis → UX change → A/B test → statistical/resulting lift → revenue impact

That's especially important if your objective is to optimize an existing donation page rather than replace the entire website.

If you tell me roughly what kind of nonprofit you are, your annual online donation volume, and whether you're looking to redesign the whole site or just optimize the donation funnel, I can narrow this to 3 agencies I'd actually invite to an RFP, including the specific case studies I'd ask each one to discuss.

• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Doing Good Digital - 312 Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Heller Consulting - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 622, Chicago, IL 60604

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if the goal is not just “better UX/UI,” but measurable improvement in donation-page conversion.

Based on current case studies and agency capabilities, these are the strongest candidates:

My shortlist

1. Nonprofit Megaphone — strongest fundraising/CRO orientation

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-887-0050)

This is worth considering if your primary KPI is more completed donations, rather than a general website redesign. They specialize in nonprofit digital marketing and conversion-focused optimization, including landing pages and campaigns.

Best for: donation acquisition, landing-page optimization, paid traffic → donation conversion.

Caveat: They're more of a nonprofit digital-growth agency than a traditional UX/UI product-design studio.

2. Sandstorm Design — strongest UX + nonprofit combination

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4200)

Sandstorm is probably the best pure UX/design fit on this list. They explicitly combine user-centered design, conversion strategy and technology for nonprofits, with research, testing and ongoing optimization. Their nonprofit work includes measurable conversion improvements. Sandstorm Design

Best for: redesigning the entire donor experience while retaining a rigorous UX/research process.

I'd especially consider them if your donation page problems involve information architecture, accessibility, mobile UX, trust, messaging and form friction, rather than simply changing a CTA.

3. Clique Studios — strong UX + CRO + technical execution

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-379-9329)

Clique is attractive if you need a sophisticated digital agency rather than a small design shop. Their capabilities span UX/UI, usability testing, accessibility, analytics and CRO, with ongoing optimization after launch.

Best for: larger nonprofit websites where the donation experience is one part of a broader digital transformation.

The downside is that I found stronger general CRO evidence than direct public evidence of donation-page conversion lifts, so I'd make them prove the fundraising-specific experience during the pitch.

4. Beth Interactive — excellent if fundraising expertise matters more than visual design

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+17733324022)

This one is particularly interesting. Beth Interactive is a Chicago-based digital philanthropy agency, not simply a web-design agency. Its services include digital donor-journey audits, landing-page optimization, analytics and fundraising communications.

Best for: organizations that want someone to understand donor psychology + fundraising strategy + digital experience, rather than treating the donation page like a generic ecommerce checkout.

I'd put them high on the list if you're dealing with recurring giving, donor segmentation, email → donation journeys, or fundraising campaigns.

5. Glantz Design — interesting boutique option

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 847-864-8003)

Glantz is in nearby Evanston and explicitly lists donation flows, UX/UI, analytics, testing and ongoing optimization among its web capabilities.

Best for: a smaller organization wanting a hands-on design partner rather than a large agency.

I'd ask them for specific before/after donation conversion numbers before putting them ahead of the firms above.

The standout case-study evidence

There are two Chicago agencies I'd put particularly high because I found hard donation-related results, rather than generic claims about “improving engagement.”

Orbit Media Studios

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4581)

Orbit has unusually strong nonprofit evidence.

For Off The Street Club, Orbit reports a 15% increase in donations/donation key-event rate, driven by improved copy, navigation, CTAs and design. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

Even more relevant, its work for Nourishing Hope explicitly involved conversion copywriting and CTAs intended to increase donations, alongside responsive/accessibility improvements and better user journeys. Orbit Media Studios

And its Greater Chicago Food Depository work specifically targeted UX/conversion rates for donations, among other user actions. Orbit Media Studios

My take: Orbit would be one of my first calls if you want a Chicago agency that can demonstrate that its UX/web work actually moved nonprofit fundraising metrics.

Sandstorm Design

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4200)

Sandstorm's positioning is unusually close to what you're describing: UX research + conversion strategy + nonprofit digital experiences + continuous optimization. Sandstorm Design

The distinction I'd make is:

• Orbit: stronger publicly documented evidence of actual donation/conversion outcomes
• Sandstorm: stronger positioning around UX research, experience design and optimization methodology

I'd interview both.

One more agency I'd investigate: Oak Theory

Oak Theory has an especially compelling recent nonprofit result.

For One Million Degrees, its 2024 website/brand redesign reportedly produced a 236% increase in donation sessions, a 38% increase in new users and a 20-second increase in average engagement time. Oak Theory

That's not the same thing as saying the donation-form conversion rate increased 236%—it's a very important distinction. But it's still a strong signal that their nonprofit website work can materially change donor behavior.

How I'd rank them for your specific objective

One important qualification

I would not hire an agency simply because it says "conversion optimization."

For a donation page, I'd ask every finalist for:

1. A real donation-page case study — not an ecommerce or lead-gen example.
2. Baseline → post-launch conversion rate.
3. Revenue per visitor, not just conversion rate.
4. Average gift and recurring-gift rate before/after.
5. Whether results came from A/B testing or a redesign.
6. What donation platform they optimized — Blackbaud, Classy, Engaging Networks, Fundraise Up, Givebutter, custom Stripe, etc.
7. How they handle mobile donation UX.
8. Whether they can test gift amounts, recurring defaults, payment methods, form length, social proof, urgency and messaging.
9. How they distinguish a genuine conversion improvement from changes in traffic mix.
10. Whether they will continue testing after launch.

That last point is particularly important. A beautiful donation page that launches with a 20% improvement is nice; an agency that can build a continuous experimentation program around your donor funnel is much more valuable.

If you tell me what kind of nonprofit you are, your approximate annual online donations, current donation-page conversion rate, and what platform the donation form uses, I can narrow this to 3 agencies I'd actually invite to pitch, including estimated agency size/budget fit and the specific case studies I'd bring up with each.

I'd put them high on the list if you're dealing with recurring giving, donor segmentation, email → donation journeys, or fundraising campaigns.

5. Glantz Design — interesting boutique option

Glantz is in nearby Evanston and explicitly lists donation flows, UX/UI, analytics, testing and ongoing optimization among its web capabilities.

Best for: a smaller organization wanting a hands-on design partner rather than a large agency.

I'd ask them for specific before/after donation conversion numbers before putting them ahead of the firms above.

The standout case-study evidence

There are two Chicago agencies I'd put particularly high because I found hard donation-related results, rather than generic claims about “improving engagement.”

Orbit Media Studios

Orbit has unusually strong nonprofit evidence.

For Off The Street Club, Orbit reports a 15% increase in donations/donation key-event rate, driven by improved copy, navigation, CTAs and design. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

Even more relevant, its work for Nourishing Hope explicitly involved conversion copywriting and CTAs intended to increase donations, alongside responsive/accessibility improvements and better user journeys. Orbit Media Studios

And its Greater Chicago Food Depository work specifically targeted UX/conversion rates for donations, among other user actions. Orbit Media Studios

My take: Orbit would be one of my first calls if you want a Chicago agency that can demonstrate that its UX/web work actually moved nonprofit fundraising metrics.

Sandstorm Design

Sandstorm's positioning is unusually close to what you're describing: UX research + conversion strategy + nonprofit digital experiences + continuous optimization.

The distinction I'd make is:

• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613
• VisualFizz - 875 N Michigan Ave 31st floor, Chicago, IL 60611
• Digital Authority Partners - 420 W Huron St Fl 1, Chicago, IL 60654
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604
• Comrade Digital Marketing Agency - 332 S Michigan Ave #900, Chicago, IL 60604
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606
• Loud Interactive, LLC - 220 W Huron St 6th floor, Chicago, IL 60654
• Flamingo Agency - 3752 N Southport Ave, Chicago, IL 60613
• Uncap - 8770 W Bryn Mawr Ave #1300, Chicago, IL 60631
• Charu Interactive, Inc. - 1765 N Elston Ave #211, Chicago, IL 60642
• 10com Web Development - 205 N Michigan Ave Suit 810, Chicago, IL 60601
• Digital Third Coast - 2540 W North Ave, Chicago, IL 60647
• One Chicago SEO Company - 20 N Clark St #2140, Chicago, IL 60602

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago field quite a bit if donation-page conversion optimization is the priority—not just general UX/UI.

My Chicago shortlist

• Orbit Media Studios — strongest overall fit

• Chicago-based and has unusually relevant nonprofit work.
• For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Orbit specifically worked on UX/conversion rates for donations, volunteer sign-ups, and resource discovery. Orbit Media Studios
• For Off the Street Club, its work produced a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, alongside prominent CTAs and conversion strategy. Orbit Media Studios
• For Nourishing Hope, Orbit used conversion copywriting/CTAs specifically to increase donations, plus responsive/accessibility improvements. Orbit Media Studios
• Verdict: Probably the first agency I'd interview if you want UX + content + CRO rather than just a prettier donation page.
• VisualFizz — strongest proven donation-results case

• Their One Hope United nonprofit case is directly relevant: they redesigned the transactional journey, added CRO tactics and clearer CTAs, and report 300% more funds raised in Q4 and 200% more contributions on Giving Tuesday. VisualFizz
• Verdict: Very worth talking to if fundraising performance and the entire donor journey matter as much as visual UX.
• Digital Authority Partners — consider for CRO/data-heavy work

• Chicago-based digital agency with UX/digital optimization capabilities.
• I would put them behind Orbit and VisualFizz, though, because I found much stronger publicly documented donation-specific results for those two.

One important wildcard

Oak Theory is also worth a conversation even though it didn't surface in the local-business results. Its Chicago nonprofit case for One Million Degrees is particularly compelling: after the website/brand redesign, donation sessions increased 236%. Oak Theory

That makes Oak Theory interesting if you're looking for UX/UI + brand/messaging + fundraising conversion, rather than a narrowly scoped CRO engagement.

How I'd rank them

One caveat: I would not hire an agency merely because it says "CRO" or "UX." For a donation page, I'd specifically require evidence that they've improved completed donations, not merely engagement, time on page, or general website conversion.

For your RFP/interviews, I'd ask each agency to show:

1. A donation-page case study with baseline → result (conversion rate, revenue/donation, average gift, recurring-gift rate).
2. Examples of A/B tests on donation forms, not just homepage tests.
3. Experience reducing mobile donation abandonment.
4. How they handle recurring vs. one-time giving.
5. Experience with platforms such as Classy, Blackbaud, Salesforce, Givebutter, Donorbox, Engaging Networks, etc.
6. How they distinguish a genuine conversion lift from seasonality/campaign effects.
7. Whether they can instrument the funnel in GA4/analytics and run ongoing experiments after launch.

If you tell me your nonprofit, approximate annual online donation volume, current donation platform (e.g. Classy/Blackbaud/custom), and whether you want a full redesign or just CRO of the existing page, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually put into an RFP—and find their most relevant donation-page case studies and contact pages.

How I'd rank them

One caveat: I would not hire an agency merely because it says "CRO" or "UX." For a donation page, I'd specifically require evidence that they've improved completed donations, not merely engagement, time on page, or general website conversion.

For your RFP/interviews, I'd ask each agency to show:

1. A donation-page case study with baseline → result (conversion rate, revenue/donation, average gift, recurring-gift rate).
2. Examples of A/B tests on donation forms, not just homepage tests.
3. Experience reducing mobile donation abandonment.
4. How they handle recurring vs. one-time giving.
5. Experience with platforms such as Classy, Blackbaud, Salesforce, Givebutter, Donorbox, Engaging Networks, etc.
6. How they distinguish a genuine conversion lift from seasonality/campaign effects.
7. Whether they can instrument the funnel in GA4/analytics and run ongoing experiments after launch.

If you tell me your nonprofit, approximate annual online donation volume, current donation platform (e.g. Classy/Blackbaud/custom), and whether you want a full redesign or just CRO of the existing page, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually put into an RFP—and find their most relevant donation-page case studies and contact pages.

• Mightybytes, Inc. - 1725 W Balmoral Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Doing Good Digital - 312 Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
• CauseHouse - 1054 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11221
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Lipman-Hearne - 200 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60604
• Cybernautic Web Design - 515 N State St #14-126, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Social Capital-Chicago - 980 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Pilot Digital Marketing - 4753 N Broadway Ste T110, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Heller Consulting - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 622, Chicago, IL 60604
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if donation-page conversion optimization is the primary requirement—not just general nonprofit web design.

Based on the agencies’ published case studies and current Chicago presence, these are the strongest candidates:

Two I'd put at the top of the RFP

1. Orbit Media Studios — strongest publicly documented Chicago donation optimization evidence

Orbit isn't the most obvious "UX agency" label, but its nonprofit work is unusually relevant. For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Orbit explicitly worked on UX/conversion rates involving donations, and for Off the Street Club it reports a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate after improving navigation, CTAs, copy and conversion strategy. It also worked with Nourishing Hope on conversion copy, CTAs designed to increase donations, responsive/accessibility improvements and user journeys. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

That's the kind of evidence I'd want to see before hiring someone to touch a high-value donation funnel.

2. Oak Theory — strongest recent quantified donation result

Dialogue Theory redesigned the website for One Million Degrees, a Chicago nonprofit, and reports a 236% increase in donation sessions after launch, alongside a 38% increase in new users and increased engagement. The case study dates the project to 2024. Oak Theory

That makes Oak Theory particularly worth interviewing if you're contemplating a broader website/UX redesign rather than just a donation-form experiment.

One important distinction

I'd separate agencies into three buckets:

• Donation/CRO specialists: best if your existing site is basically good and you want to increase completed gifts, average gift, recurring gifts, and reduce abandonment.
• UX/web agencies with nonprofit donation proof: best if the donation experience is suffering because of broader IA, messaging, mobile UX, accessibility, or site architecture problems.
• Fundraising agencies: best if donation conversion is only one piece of a larger acquisition/retention problem.

For example, VisualFizz has a particularly relevant nonprofit case: it redesigned One Hope United's transactional journey, added clearer CTAs and CRO tactics, and reports 300% more funds raised in Q4, with Giving Tuesday contributions doubling. VisualFizz

And outside Chicago, there are agencies with even more rigorous donation A/B-testing evidence. For example, CornerShop Creative reports ongoing UX testing of Friends of the Earth's donation pathways and a test that produced a 144% increase in revenue per recipient. Cornershop Creative That's a useful benchmark for what I'd ask Chicago agencies to demonstrate.

My recommended shortlist

If I were running the selection process, I'd invite 5 firms:

1. Oak Theory — quantified recent nonprofit donation result.
2. Orbit Media — strongest body of Chicago nonprofit + donation/conversion case studies.
3. Mightybytes — strongest UX research/testing + mission-driven digital combination.
4. Clique Studios — strongest larger-scale UX/CRO/analytics capability.
5. Glantz Design — boutique alternative with explicit donation-flow and optimization capabilities.

I would not select based on who has the prettiest nonprofit portfolio. I'd make each agency answer the same five questions:

• Show us 2–3 donation-page experiments where you can disclose the before/after conversion metrics.
• What was the baseline donation conversion rate and what did it become?
• Did you optimize completed donations, revenue per visitor, average gift, recurring-gift rate, or just clicks?
• What A/B-testing/user-research methodology did you use?
• Can you audit our existing donation funnel before proposing a redesign?

That last one is especially important. A 236% increase in donation sessions isn't necessarily a 236% increase in donations, so I'd want agencies to distinguish traffic, donation starts, completed gifts, conversion rate, and revenue.

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donation volume, current donation platform (Classy, Blackbaud, Givebutter, Donorbox, etc.), and whether you want a full website redesign or just the donation funnel, I can narrow this to the 3 best-fit Chicago agencies and compare their relevant case studies, likely project scope, and questions to ask in the RFP.

That makes Oak Theory particularly worth interviewing if you're contemplating a broader website/UX redesign rather than just a donation-form experiment.

One important distinction

I'd separate agencies into three buckets:

• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Mightybytes, Inc. - 1725 W Balmoral Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Advocate Creative - 320 N Damen Ave d301, Chicago, IL 60612, United States
• Pilot Digital Marketing - 4753 N Broadway Ste T110, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Cybernautic Web Design - 515 N State St #14-126, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Mightybytes - 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 404, Chicago, IL 60613
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market to agencies that can show actual donation/fundraising outcomes, not just generic UX/CRO work.

My shortlist

1. Dialogue Theory — best UX-first option

• Chicago studio focused on UX/UI, digital strategy and development for mission-driven organizations.
• Particularly interesting if you need to rethink the donor journey, information architecture, messaging and interaction design, rather than simply redesign the form.
• I’d ask them specifically for a recent case where UX changes were tied to measurable donation conversion or revenue.
• Beth Interactive Inc. — best fundraising-specialist option

• Chicago-based and specifically focused on philanthropy, donor engagement and increasing giving.
• Their work includes web/digital audits examining user behavior and conversion barriers, plus donor-journey audits that run from landing on the giving page through donation completion and stewardship.
• This is probably the first agency I'd interview if your primary KPI is more completed donations, rather than general website UX.
• Sandstorm Design — strong UX + nonprofit combination

• Chicago UX/digital-experience agency with a long history of work for purpose-driven organizations, including nonprofits.
• Good candidate if you need research → UX → UI → development → ongoing optimization, particularly where accessibility and complex organizational requirements matter.
• Mightybytes, Inc. — strong mission-driven digital partner

• Chicago agency specializing in purpose-led organizations, with strategy, UX/design, development, analytics and ongoing optimization.
• I'd consider them particularly if the donation experience is part of a larger nonprofit website/platform overhaul rather than an isolated landing-page optimization.
• Nansen LLC — best analytics/CRO-heavy candidate

• Chicago firm combining UX/UI, user research, analytics and conversion-rate optimization.
• Worth considering if you already have substantial donation traffic and want a data-driven CRO program rather than primarily a creative redesign.
• Marcel Digital — best performance/CRO option

• Chicago agency with explicit CRO + UX capabilities and an emphasis on turning existing traffic into conversions.
• I'd put them higher if you're looking for analytics, experimentation, landing-page optimization and measurement alongside UX.

The strongest proven donation evidence I found

There are a few particularly compelling benchmarks:

• Orbit Media Studios has multiple Chicago nonprofit examples. For Off The Street Club, its conversion strategy and site work produced a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate. For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Orbit explicitly worked on improving UX/conversion rates around donations and volunteer sign-ups. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios
• For Nourishing Hope, Orbit specifically used conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, alongside responsive/accessibility-focused UX and improved user journeys. Orbit Media Studios
• Oak Theory reports that its redesign for Chicago nonprofit One Million Degrees increased donation sessions 236%, from 11 to 37, after launch. That's a very interesting case if your problem is getting users to the donation experience in the first place. Oak Theory
• VisualFizz reports a particularly strong fundraising result for One Hope United: 300% more funds raised in Q4, with Giving Tuesday contributions doubling year over year. Its work included UX, transactional-journey optimization, CTAs and CRO. VisualFizz
• Outside Chicago, Cornershop Creative has one of the clearest examples of actual donation-page experimentation: ongoing UX testing and A/B testing for Friends of the Earth produced a 144% increase in revenue per recipient from a donation-button-language optimization. Cornershop Creative

Who I'd interview first

If I were running an RFP, I'd probably invite 4 firms:

And I'd add Nansen or Marcel Digital if you specifically want an ongoing experimentation/CRO program after the redesign.

One important caveat: "donation sessions," "donation key events," and "donation-page conversion rate" aren't interchangeable metrics. When evaluating agencies, I'd insist they show the actual denominator and baseline—for example, unique donation-page visitors → completed gifts, plus average gift size and revenue per visitor. That will prevent an agency from presenting a traffic or button-click improvement as a fundraising win.

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donation volume, current donation-page conversion rate, and whether you need a redesign or just CRO, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually send an RFP to, including estimated agency size/fit and the specific questions I'd ask each one.

• Mightybytes - 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 404, Chicago, IL 60613
• Gulo Solutions - 4256 N Ravenswood Ave #110, Chicago, IL 60613
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Lipman-Hearne - 200 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60604
• Doing Good Digital - 312 Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• GoodFolk - 125 S Clark St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Advocate Creative - 320 N Damen Ave d301, Chicago, IL 60612, United States
• Cybernautic Web Design - 515 N State St #14-126, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

Yes. If the requirement is specifically “Chicago agency + strong UX/UI + demonstrated ability to increase donation conversion,” I’d narrow the field considerably rather than choosing a generic web-design shop.

My shortlist

The one I'd put at the top: Orbit Media

There is an important agency I would add even though it didn't surface as a local-business result: Orbit Media Studios.

Their publicly documented nonprofit work is unusually close to what you're describing.

For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Orbit explicitly worked on UX/conversion rates, donations and volunteer sign-ups, including optimization of high-value pages. Orbit Media Studios

Even more relevant, their Off The Street Club case study reports a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, alongside conversion strategy, prominent CTAs, accessibility and responsive design. Orbit Media Studios

And for Nourishing Hope, they specifically used conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, along with responsive UX, navigation improvements and SEO. Orbit Media Studios

That combination—actual nonprofit donation experience + UX + measurable conversion work—makes Orbit one of the first firms I'd interview.

Another interesting Chicago option: Oak Theory

Oak Theory is also worth a conversation. Their One Million Degrees nonprofit redesign reportedly produced a 236% increase in donation sessions after launch, along with increased users and engagement. Oak Theory

That's a particularly compelling case if your project involves a broader website redesign rather than just optimizing an existing donation form.

The caveat: “donation sessions” isn't the same metric as donation-page conversion rate, so I'd ask them to show the underlying funnel metrics before treating the 236% as a CRO result.

How I'd rank them for your specific project

If your primary KPI is completed donations / revenue per visitor, I'd interview:

1. Orbit Media — strongest publicly documented Chicago evidence of donation UX + conversion optimization.
2. Beth Interactive — unusually deep fundraising/donor-journey specialization.
3. Gulo Solutions — attractive if you want a more traditional UX/CRO/analytics engagement.
4. Oak Theory — compelling if you're considering a broader nonprofit website redesign.
5. Mightybytes — strong mission-driven UX/accessibility credentials, but I'd require donation-specific evidence.
6. LimeRed Studio — strong purpose-driven design/UX option, again requiring more proof around donation CRO.

What I'd ask every agency before hiring

I'd actually make the RFP much more specific than “redesign our donation page.” Ask each agency for:

• 2–3 nonprofit donation-page case studies
• Before/after donation conversion rate
• Change in average gift size
• Change in revenue per visitor/session
• Change in mobile conversion
• Change in recurring-gift rate
• Examples of A/B tests they've run on donation flows
• How they identify abandonment/friction
• Experience with your donation platform (Blackbaud, Classy, Givebutter, Funraise, Engaging Networks, Salesforce, etc.)
• Whether they can implement experiments themselves or only provide designs
• How they distinguish more traffic from better conversion
• What analytics/behavioral tools they use (GA4, Hotjar, FullStory, VWO, Optimizely, etc.)

The last distinction is especially important. An agency saying “donations increased 40%” isn't necessarily a CRO success if traffic increased 80%.

If I were choosing purely on demonstrated evidence, I'd start with Orbit + Beth Interactive + Gulo, and add Oak Theory if you're contemplating a complete website redesign.

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donation volume, current donation-page conversion rate, donation platform, and whether you want a page optimization vs. full website redesign, I can narrow this to the 3 best-fit Chicago agencies and compare their likely strengths, weaknesses, and pricing tier.

That combination—actual nonprofit donation experience + UX + measurable conversion work—makes Orbit one of the first firms I'd interview.

Another interesting Chicago option: Oak Theory

Oak Theory is also worth a conversation. Their One Million Degrees nonprofit redesign reportedly produced a 236% increase in donation sessions after launch, along with increased users and engagement. Oak Theory

That's a particularly compelling case if your project involves a broader website redesign rather than just optimizing an existing donation form.

The caveat: “donation sessions” isn't the same metric as donation-page conversion rate, so I'd ask them to show the underlying funnel metrics before treating the 236% as a CRO result.

How I'd rank them for your specific project

If your primary KPI is completed donations / revenue per visitor, I'd interview:

1. Orbit Media — strongest publicly documented Chicago evidence of donation UX + conversion optimization.
2. Beth Interactive — unusually deep fundraising/donor-journey specialization.
3. Gulo Solutions — attractive if you want a more traditional UX/CRO/analytics engagement.
4. Oak Theory — compelling if you're considering a broader nonprofit website redesign.
5. Mightybytes — strong mission-driven UX/accessibility credentials, but I'd require donation-specific evidence.
6. LimeRed Studio — strong purpose-driven design/UX option, again requiring more proof around donation CRO.

What I'd ask every agency before hiring

I'd actually make the RFP much more specific than “redesign our donation page.” Ask each agency for:

• 2–3 nonprofit donation-page case studies
• Before/after donation conversion rate
• Change in average gift size
• Change in revenue per visitor/session
• Change in mobile conversion
• Change in recurring-gift rate
• Examples of A/B tests they've run on donation flows
• How they identify abandonment/friction
• Experience with your donation platform (Blackbaud, Classy, Givebutter, Funraise, Engaging Networks, Salesforce, etc.)
• Whether they can implement experiments themselves or only provide designs
• How they distinguish more traffic from better conversion
• What analytics/behavioral tools they use (GA4, Hotjar, FullStory, VWO, Optimizely, etc.)

The last distinction is especially important. An agency saying “donations increased 40%” isn't necessarily a CRO success if traffic increased 80%.

If I were choosing purely on demonstrated evidence, I'd start with Orbit + Beth Interactive + Gulo, and add Oak Theory if you're contemplating a complete website redesign.

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donation volume, current donation-page conversion rate, donation platform, and whether you want a page optimization vs. full website redesign, I can narrow this to the 3 best-fit Chicago agencies and compare their likely strengths, weaknesses, and pricing tier.

• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Gulo Solutions - 4256 N Ravenswood Ave #110, Chicago, IL 60613
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Advocate Creative - 320 N Damen Ave d301, Chicago, IL 60612, United States
• Pilot Digital Marketing - 4753 N Broadway Ste T110, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Clique Studios - 20 N Wacker Dr, Ste 1075, Chicago, IL 60606
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• EDUCO Web Design - 128 Chicago Ave, Oak Park, IL 60302, United States
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601

If the goal is increasing completed donations (not just redesigning a pretty nonprofit site), I’d prioritize agencies that can show experience with donor journeys, donation-form UX, analytics, A/B testing, landing pages, and conversion rate optimization (CRO).

Here are Chicago-area agencies I’d put on a shortlist:

My suggested shortlist by scenario

If you are a nonprofit with an existing donation funnel and want more gifts

1. Orbit Media Studios
2. Beth Interactive Inc.
3. Sandstorm Design

If you need a full website redesign plus donation conversion improvements

1. Orbit Media Studios
2. Dialogue Theory
3. Gulo Solutions

If you already have traffic but donors abandon the page

Look for an agency that will do:

• donation funnel analytics review
• heatmaps/session recordings
• mobile donation testing
• form-field reduction
• suggested gift optimization
• recurring-gift UX testing
• trust/social-proof improvements
• A/B tests after launch

A good vendor should be able to answer:

1. “Show us a donation page you improved and the before/after metrics.”
2. “What was the baseline conversion rate?”
3. “What experiments did you run?”
4. “How do you measure completed gifts versus button clicks?”
5. “What analytics stack do you use (GA4, Hotjar/Contentsquare, Optimizely/VWO, etc.)?”

I would be cautious with agencies that only show beautiful nonprofit websites but cannot discuss donation completion rates, funnel drop-off, testing methodology, or revenue impact.

• Gulo Solutions - 4256 N Ravenswood Ave #110, Chicago, IL 60613
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Doing Good Digital - 312 Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• CauseHouse - 1054 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11221
• Lipman-Hearne - 200 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60604
• Advocate Creative - 320 N Damen Ave d301, Chicago, IL 60612, United States
• Heller Consulting - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 622, Chicago, IL 60604
• Cybernautic Web Design - 515 N State St #14-126, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Doing Good Digital - 668 N Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if donation-page conversion optimization is the requirement rather than simply “nonprofit web design.”

My shortlist

The standout: Orbit Media

I would actually put Orbit Media Studios at the top of the RFP list, even though the structured local search didn't return it.

The reason is unusually strong publicly documented evidence.

Orbit has worked with multiple Chicago nonprofits specifically on UX + conversion + donations. For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, its optimization program explicitly targeted “finding resources, donations and volunteer sign-ups.” Orbit Media Studios

Even more relevant, its Off the Street Club redesign produced a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, alongside conversion-focused CTAs and UX improvements. Orbit Media Studios

And for Nourishing Hope, Orbit specifically used conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, combined with responsive/accessibility-focused UX and improved navigation. Orbit Media Studios

Its broader nonprofit practice also reports experience with online donations, UX/UI development and conversion improvements. Orbit Media Studios

That's much closer to the evidence I'd want to see before hiring an agency to optimize a donation page.

Another agency worth investigating: Oak Theory

Oak Theory has a particularly relevant Chicago nonprofit case study: One Million Degrees.

After its website redesign, donation sessions increased 236%, while new users increased 38% and average engagement time increased. The project involved UX/web design, development, branding and SEO. Oak Theory

The caveat: that's a post-redesign donation-session result, not a controlled donation-page A/B test. I'd therefore rank it below Orbit if your primary objective is CRO experimentation rather than a broader website transformation.

One important distinction

I'd separate the agencies into two categories:

If you need a donation-page CRO program:

1. Orbit Media
2. Gulo Solutions
3. Beth Interactive
4. Sandstorm Design

If you need a broader nonprofit website redesign that should improve donations:

1. Orbit Media
2. Oak Theory
3. Sandstorm Design
4. Dialogue Theory

The distinction matters because a beautiful nonprofit redesign isn't necessarily good donation conversion optimization.

For your RFP, I'd specifically require each agency to show:

• At least 2–3 donation-flow experiments they've actually run
• Baseline → test → control results, not just post-launch traffic
• Donation completion rate, not merely clicks to the donate page
• Average gift and recurring-gift impact
• Mobile donation performance
• Form abandonment/drop-off analysis
• A/B testing methodology
• Analytics instrumentation (GA4, donor platform, CRM)
• Experience with your particular donation platform
• Accessibility/WCAG considerations
• Examples where they didn't rebuild the whole site, but improved the existing giving experience

One especially strong benchmark is the Friends of the Earth work by Cornershop Creative: their testing of donation CTAs and UX changes reportedly produced a 144% increase in revenue per recipient. That's not Chicago-based, but it's the type of actual fundraising experimentation evidence I'd use as a benchmark when interviewing Chicago firms. Cornershop Creative

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online giving, donation platform (Blackbaud, Classy, Givebutter, Salesforce, WordPress, etc.), and whether you're looking for a $25k, $50k, $100k+ engagement, I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually invite to pitch and give you a scoring matrix for the RFP.

Its broader nonprofit practice also reports experience with online donations, UX/UI development and conversion improvements. Orbit Media Studios

That's much closer to the evidence I'd want to see before hiring an agency to optimize a donation page.

Another agency worth investigating: Oak Theory

Oak Theory has a particularly relevant Chicago nonprofit case study: One Million Degrees.

After its website redesign, donation sessions increased 236%, while new users increased 38% and average engagement time increased. The project involved UX/web design, development, branding and SEO. Oak Theory

The caveat: that's a post-redesign donation-session result, not a controlled donation-page A/B test. I'd therefore rank it below Orbit if your primary objective is CRO experimentation rather than a broader website transformation.

One important distinction

I'd separate the agencies into two categories:

If you need a donation-page CRO program:

1. Orbit Media
2. Gulo Solutions
3. Beth Interactive
4. Sandstorm Design

If you need a broader nonprofit website redesign that should improve donations:

1. Orbit Media
2. Oak Theory
3. Sandstorm Design
4. Dialogue Theory

The distinction matters because a beautiful nonprofit redesign isn't necessarily good donation conversion optimization.

For your RFP, I'd specifically require each agency to show:

• At least 2–3 donation-flow experiments they've actually run
• Baseline → test → control results, not just post-launch traffic
• Donation completion rate, not merely clicks to the donate page
• Average gift and recurring-gift impact
• Mobile donation performance
• Form abandonment/drop-off analysis
• A/B testing methodology
• Analytics instrumentation (GA4, donor platform, CRM)
• Experience with your particular donation platform
• Accessibility/WCAG considerations
• Examples where they didn't rebuild the whole site, but improved the existing giving experience

One especially strong benchmark is the Friends of the Earth work by Cornershop Creative: their testing of donation CTAs and UX changes reportedly produced a 144% increase in revenue per recipient. That's not Chicago-based, but it's the type of actual fundraising experimentation evidence I'd use as a benchmark when interviewing Chicago firms.

• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Gulo Solutions - 4256 N Ravenswood Ave #110, Chicago, IL 60613
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Mightybytes - 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 404, Chicago, IL 60613
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Forum One - 2451 Crystal Dr Ste 600, Arlington, VA 22202, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• GoodFolk - 125 S Clark St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Doing Good Digital - 312 Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
• CauseHouse - 1054 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11221

Yes. If donation-page conversion optimization is the key requirement—not just “we build nice nonprofit websites”—I’d put the Chicago market into a fairly short list.

My Chicago shortlist

The two I'd interview first

1. Spark Collective — strongest evidence for fundraising conversion

This is probably the first call I'd make if your primary KPI is more completed donations rather than simply a better-looking website.

They explicitly describe website conversion-rate optimization as part of their nonprofit fundraising work. In one case, their client achieved a 23% donation-page conversion rate, compared with a stated 17% industry benchmark, while digitally attributed donations increased 66% year over year. Spark Collective Vendry

They also have a Chicago nonprofit case study where their campaign generated an 8.9% donation-page conversion rate, versus a stated 2% industry average, and $23,539 in digitally attributed donations. Spark Collective

2. Beth Interactive — strongest donor-journey specialization

I'd put Beth Interactive high on the list if you're looking for someone who understands fundraising behavior, not just UX conventions. Their services include digital donor-journey audits, web analytics, landing-page optimization, conversion barriers and fundraising communications. Beth Interactive Inc.

That's particularly attractive if your problem is something like:

Lots of people arrive at the donation page, but too few actually finish—and we don't know exactly where/why they're dropping out.

One more agency I'd seriously investigate: Orbit Media

Orbit Media Studios isn't as narrowly fundraising-focused as Spark, but they have very relevant Chicago nonprofit conversion work.

For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Orbit specifically worked on improving UX/conversion rates around donations and volunteer sign-ups. Orbit Media Studios

They also worked with Off the Street Club on conversion strategy, prominent CTAs and UX, producing a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate. Orbit Media Studios

And their Nourishing Hope project explicitly incorporated conversion copywriting/CTAs to increase donations, along with responsive/accessibility-focused UX and improved user journeys. Orbit Media Studios

So if you want a larger, established Chicago web agency that can handle strategy → UX → content → development → optimization, I'd put Orbit into the RFP.

How I'd rank them for your specific objective

If I were selecting three firms to pitch:

1. Spark Collective — strongest publicly demonstrated donation-CRO/fundraising results.
2. Beth Interactive — strongest donor-experience/fundraising specialization.
3. Orbit Media — strongest combination of Chicago nonprofit website work + UX + demonstrated donation conversion improvements.

Then I'd add Gulo Solutions or Sandstorm Design as the fourth bidder if you want a more UX/CRO-heavy alternative.

One important distinction

I'd be careful about hiring a conventional UX/UI agency for this. A beautiful redesign can actually have little effect on donations.

For the RFP, I'd require the agency to demonstrate experience with:

• Donation-form abandonment analysis
• Mobile donation conversion
• One-time vs. recurring gift optimization
• Donation amount/ask-array testing
• CTA and messaging A/B testing
• Form-field reduction
• Payment/checkout friction
• Trust signals and social proof
• Analytics/event instrumentation
• Heatmaps/session recordings
• Post-click donor journey analysis
• Statistical A/B testing—not just before/after analytics
• Measuring revenue per visitor, not merely conversion rate

I'd also ask each agency for two actual donation-page experiments they've run, including the hypothesis, control/variant, sample size, conversion-rate change, and—most importantly—revenue impact.

That question will separate the genuine CRO specialists from agencies that simply use “conversion optimization” as a service-page buzzword.

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donations, current donation-page conversion rate, platform (Classy, Blackbaud, Givebutter, Engaging Networks, Salesforce, custom, etc.), and whether you're looking for a redesign or ongoing A/B testing, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and build a side-by-side RFP shortlist with likely fit, evidence, and questions to ask each one.

2. Beth Interactive — strongest donor-journey specialization

I'd put Beth Interactive high on the list if you're looking for someone who understands fundraising behavior, not just UX conventions. Their services include digital donor-journey audits, web analytics, landing-page optimization, conversion barriers and fundraising communications. Beth Interactive Inc.

That's particularly attractive if your problem is something like:

Lots of people arrive at the donation page, but too few actually finish—and we don't know exactly where/why they're dropping out.

One more agency I'd seriously investigate: Orbit Media

Orbit Media Studios isn't as narrowly fundraising-focused as Spark, but they have very relevant Chicago nonprofit conversion work.

For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Orbit specifically worked on improving UX/conversion rates around donations and volunteer sign-ups. Orbit Media Studios

They also worked with Off the Street Club on conversion strategy, prominent CTAs and UX, producing a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate. Orbit Media Studios

And their Nourishing Hope project explicitly incorporated conversion copywriting/CTAs to increase donations, along with responsive/accessibility-focused UX and improved user journeys. Orbit Media Studios

So if you want a larger, established Chicago web agency that can handle strategy → UX → content → development → optimization, I'd put Orbit into the RFP.

How I'd rank them for your specific objective

If I were selecting three firms to pitch:

1. Spark Collective — strongest publicly demonstrated donation-CRO/fundraising results.
2. Beth Interactive — strongest donor-experience/fundraising specialization.
3. Orbit Media — strongest combination of Chicago nonprofit website work + UX + demonstrated donation conversion improvements.

Then I'd add Gulo Solutions or Sandstorm Design as the fourth bidder if you want a more UX/CRO-heavy alternative.

One important distinction

I'd be careful about hiring a conventional UX/UI agency for this. A beautiful redesign can actually have little effect on donations.

For the RFP, I'd require the agency to demonstrate experience with:

• Donation-form abandonment analysis
• Mobile donation conversion
• One-time vs. recurring gift optimization
• Donation amount/ask-array testing
• CTA and messaging A/B testing
• Form-field reduction
• Payment/checkout friction
• Trust signals and social proof
• Analytics/event instrumentation
• Heatmaps/session recordings
• Post-click donor journey analysis
• Statistical A/B testing—not just before/after analytics
• Measuring revenue per visitor, not merely conversion rate

I'd also ask each agency for two actual donation-page experiments they've run, including the hypothesis, control/variant, sample size, conversion-rate change, and—most importantly—revenue impact.

That question will separate the genuine CRO specialists from agencies that simply use “conversion optimization” as a service-page buzzword.

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donations, current donation-page conversion rate, platform (Classy, Blackbaud, Givebutter, Engaging Networks, Salesforce, custom, etc.), and whether you're looking for a redesign or ongoing A/B testing, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and build a side-by-side RFP shortlist with likely fit, evidence, and questions to ask each one.

• Doing Good Digital - 312 Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Teal Media - 306 S Washington Ave #218, Royal Oak, MI 48067, United States
• Yeeboo Digital - 288 Bloomfield Main St, Bloomfield, ON K0K 1G0, Canada
• Search Nonprofit - 424 Belmont Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102
• Constructive - 82 Nassau St, New York, NY 10038, United States
• Elevation - 100 M St SE #600, Washington, DC 20003, United States
• Pilot Digital Marketing - 4753 N Broadway Ste T110, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Doing Good Digital - 668 N Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651, United States
• Bark Design - 4330 N California Ave Store Front, Chicago, IL 60618, United States
• LIMIT8 | Nonprofit Web Design Experts - 350 Central Prk W, New York, NY 10025, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market pretty aggressively, because “nonprofit web design” is not the same thing as proven donation conversion optimization.

Based on publicly documented case studies, these are the strongest candidates I found:

1. Doing Good Digital — strongest Chicago fit overall

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 310-913-5656)

Orbit is the first agency I’d interview if you want UX + conversion optimization + nonprofit experience, rather than simply a website redesign.

Their work with the Greater Chicago Food Depository is particularly relevant: their optimization program explicitly targeted UX/conversion rates for finding resources, donations, and volunteer sign-ups. They also have a case study for Off the Street Club showing a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate after improving navigation, copy, CTAs, and conversion strategy. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

They've also worked with Nourishing Hope, where the redesign specifically included conversion copywriting and CTAs intended to increase donations, responsive/accessibility work, and improved user journeys. Orbit Media Studios

Why I'd shortlist them: unusually good combination of Chicago nonprofit knowledge, UX, content, SEO, analytics, and ongoing optimization.

orbitmedia.com

2. Beth Interactive Inc. — strongest fundraising/donor-experience specialist

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-675-1185)

This is the one I'd seriously consider if your primary KPI is raising more money, rather than building a beautiful new website.

Beth Interactive is Chicago-based and focuses specifically on philanthropy and donor engagement. Their capabilities include web/digital audits, analytics, fundraising creative, testing, and what they call digital donor journey audits—looking at the experience from landing on the giving page through donation completion and stewardship.

That specialization makes them particularly interesting for a project where the question is:

“How do we increase completed donations and lifetime donor value?”

rather than:

“How do we redesign our nonprofit website?”

Best fit: healthcare foundations, higher ed, nonprofits, and organizations with an established fundraising operation that want to optimize the donor funnel.

3. Glantz Design — interesting UX/design + donation-flow option

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 847-864-8003)

Glantz is in Evanston and is another one I'd put on the shortlist if you want a design-led agency that also understands conversion and optimization.

Their capabilities include UX/UI, information architecture, donation flows, analytics, testing/validation and ongoing optimization.

The caveat: I found stronger general donation/optimization capability evidence than a highly specific public case study showing a large donation-page conversion lift. So I'd ask them for 2–3 examples with actual before/after fundraising metrics.

4. Dialogue Theory — strong UX/UI candidate, but verify donation CRO

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 617-922-3790)

Dialogue Theory is a Chicago design/development firm with a strategy → research → UX/UI → development → iteration model.

I'd consider them if the project is broader than the donation page—for example, reworking the entire supporter journey, information architecture, storytelling, and donation experience.

However, compared with Orbit and Beth Interactive, I found less publicly documented evidence specifically around donation conversion-rate experiments. I'd make that a qualification question before hiring.

One non-Chicago agency I'd also interview

If you're willing to hire remotely, GoldenComm has perhaps the most compelling publicly documented quantitative donation-flow result I found.

For a nonprofit donation system, they report:

• 200% increase in conversion rate
• 152% increase in donation revenue
• 90% reduction in donation checkout errors
• redesigned multi-step UI/UX
• analytics, error tracking, and payment integrations

The case study specifically attributes the improvement to a more optimized donation experience. GoldenComm

goldencomm.com

That's not Chicago, but I'd absolutely include them in the RFP if donation conversion is the central business objective.

My ranking

One important distinction

If your goal is specifically “increase the donation conversion rate of our existing traffic”, I would not issue an RFP that simply says “redesign our donation page.”

I'd ask each agency to propose a donation-funnel optimization program, including:

1. Analytics/funnel audit
2. Donor/user research
3. Mobile donation UX analysis
4. Form-field and payment-friction analysis
5. Gift-amount/recurring-giving optimization
6. A/B testing plan
7. Landing-page and CTA testing
8. Abandonment measurement
9. Accessibility/performance testing
10. Measurement of completed gifts and revenue per visitor, not just clicks

That's important because the best publicly documented example I found—Brad Cecil & Associates—demonstrates how relatively small donation-page UX changes can produce an 86% revenue increase without increasing traffic or average gift size. Cecil Communication

If you give me your approximate annual online donation volume, CMS/fundraising platform (e.g. WordPress + Classy/Blackbaud/EveryAction/Engaging Networks/Givebutter), and whether you want a full site redesign or just the donation funnel, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare their likely fit, pricing tier, relevant case studies, and what I'd put in the RFP.

“How do we redesign our nonprofit website?”

Best fit: healthcare foundations, higher ed, nonprofits, and organizations with an established fundraising operation that want to optimize the donor funnel.

3. Glantz Design — interesting UX/design + donation-flow option

Glantz is in Evanston and is another one I'd put on the shortlist if you want a design-led agency that also understands conversion and optimization.

Their capabilities include UX/UI, information architecture, donation flows, analytics, testing/validation and ongoing optimization.

The caveat: I found stronger general donation/optimization capability evidence than a highly specific public case study showing a large donation-page conversion lift. So I'd ask them for 2–3 examples with actual before/after fundraising metrics.

4. Dialogue Theory — strong UX/UI candidate, but verify donation CRO

Dialogue Theory is a Chicago design/development firm with a strategy → research → UX/UI → development → iteration model.

I'd consider them if the project is broader than the donation page—for example, reworking the entire supporter journey, information architecture, storytelling, and donation experience.

However, compared with Orbit and Beth Interactive, I found less publicly documented evidence specifically around donation conversion-rate experiments. I'd make that a qualification question before hiring.

One non-Chicago agency I'd also interview

If you're willing to hire remotely, GoldenComm has perhaps the most compelling publicly documented quantitative donation-flow result I found.

For a nonprofit donation system, they report:

• 200% increase in conversion rate
• 152% increase in donation revenue
• 90% reduction in donation checkout errors
• redesigned multi-step UI/UX
• analytics, error tracking, and payment integrations

The case study specifically attributes the improvement to a more optimized donation experience.

• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Gulo Solutions - 4256 N Ravenswood Ave #110, Chicago, IL 60613
• Alpha Digital Marketing - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• DonationXchange - 118 N Clinton St, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Lipman-Hearne - 200 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60604
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• Social Capital-Chicago - 980 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• CCS Fundraising - 155 N Wacker Dr #1790, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Sixth City Marketing - 620 N La Salle Dr Ste 415, Chicago, IL 60654, United States

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if the goal is UX/UI work specifically aimed at increasing completed donations, rather than simply hiring a good nonprofit web-design agency.

My shortlist

The one I'd put at the top

Spark Collective is probably the most directly aligned with what you're describing.

Their publicly documented work isn't merely "we redesigned a nonprofit website." They show actual fundraising outcomes:

• 66% increase in digitally attributed donations year-over-year
• 23% donation-page conversion rate in one engagement
• Another campaign produced an 8.9% donation-page conversion rate versus a stated 2% industry benchmark
• Their service mix includes website optimization/CRO, fundraising campaigns, email, copywriting and digital strategy. Vendry Spark Collective

sparkcollective.net

Orbit is the strongest "UX + optimization" alternative

Alpha Digital Marketing is particularly compelling if you want a broader website redesign plus ongoing experimentation/optimization, rather than just optimizing the donation form.

Their Greater Chicago Food Depository engagement specifically included improving UX/conversion rates for donations, and their Off the Street Club work reports a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate. Their Nourishing Hope work also included conversion-focused copy/CTAs intended to increase donations. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios

orbitmedia.com

A wildcard worth interviewing

Running Start Digital has a very explicit Chicago CRO practice that calls out nonprofits and fundraising and specifically says many nonprofits drive traffic to campaigns without testing the donation pages themselves. Their CRO process includes behavioral analysis, heatmaps, session recordings and conversion tracking. Running Start Digital

That could be particularly interesting if you already have a reasonably good site and don't need a wholesale redesign.

What I'd ask during the pitch

I'd avoid asking agencies simply, "Have you done nonprofit UX?"

Instead, give them your current donation funnel and ask them to explain:

1. Where do you think donors are dropping off?
2. What evidence would you collect before redesigning anything?
3. How would you A/B test the donation form?
4. How would you optimize one-time vs. monthly giving?
5. How would you test suggested gift amounts?
6. How would you handle mobile donation UX?
7. What donation-platform integrations have you worked with?
8. Can you show us an actual before/after donation conversion result?
9. How do you distinguish a higher conversion rate from simply acquiring lower-quality donors?
10. Will you continue testing after launch, or does the engagement end with the redesign?

That last question is important. A beautiful donation page isn't necessarily a high-converting donation page.

My initial ranking for a serious RFP would be:
1. Spark Collective → 2. Orbit Media → 3. Beth Interactive → 4. Dialogue Theory → 5. Gulo Solutions.

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donation volume, current donation platform (e.g. Blackbaud, Classy, Givebutter, Salesforce, WordPress, etc.), and whether you want a redesign or just CRO, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare their relevant case studies, likely project scope, and what I'd ask each one to bid on.

Running Start Digital has a very explicit Chicago CRO practice that calls out nonprofits and fundraising and specifically says many nonprofits drive traffic to campaigns without testing the donation pages themselves. Their CRO process includes behavioral analysis, heatmaps, session recordings and conversion tracking. Running Start Digital

That could be particularly interesting if you already have a reasonably good site and don't need a wholesale redesign.

What I'd ask during the pitch

I'd avoid asking agencies simply, "Have you done nonprofit UX?"

Instead, give them your current donation funnel and ask them to explain:

1. Where do you think donors are dropping off?
2. What evidence would you collect before redesigning anything?
3. How would you A/B test the donation form?
4. How would you optimize one-time vs. monthly giving?
5. How would you test suggested gift amounts?
6. How would you handle mobile donation UX?
7. What donation-platform integrations have you worked with?
8. Can you show us an actual before/after donation conversion result?
9. How do you distinguish a higher conversion rate from simply acquiring lower-quality donors?
10. Will you continue testing after launch, or does the engagement end with the redesign?

That last question is important. A beautiful donation page isn't necessarily a high-converting donation page.

My initial ranking for a serious RFP would be:
1. Spark Collective → 2. Orbit Media → 3. Beth Interactive → 4. Dialogue Theory → 5. Gulo Solutions.

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donation volume, current donation platform (e.g. Blackbaud, Classy, Givebutter, Salesforce, WordPress, etc.), and whether you want a redesign or just CRO, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare their relevant case studies, likely project scope, and what I'd ask each one to bid on.

• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Invesp - 222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Marcel Digital - 20 N Wacker Dr Ste 1285, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Marcel Digital - 445 W Erie St #200, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Nansen LLC - 300 W Hubbard St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• UX 4Sight - 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604, United States
• Alpha Digital Marketing - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Praella - eCommerce Agency - 203 N LaSalle St Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60601, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• Design In Chicago - 159 N Sangamon St Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Solid Digital - 100 N LaSalle St #1400, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
• The Office of Experience, LLC - 980 N Michigan Ave Ste 1090, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Angle180 - 141 W Jackson Blvd #4236, Chicago, IL 60604, United States

If your priority is donation-page conversion optimization (not just a pretty nonprofit website), I’d shortlist agencies that can show evidence of:

• donor journey/user research
• donation form optimization
• A/B testing or experimentation
• analytics instrumentation (GA4, heatmaps, funnels)
• nonprofit fundraising experience
• measurable conversion lifts

Here are Chicago-area agencies I’d consider:

Strongest nonprofit + donation UX fits

Orbit Media Studios

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4581)

Best fit: nonprofit website redesigns where donations are a core KPI.

Why consider them:

• Chicago-based agency with a strong UX/content/conversion background.
• Published nonprofit work includes Nourishing Hope, where they focused on conversion copywriting, CTAs, UX, and donation-related improvements. Orbit Media
• Good option if you need strategy + UX + development + ongoing optimization.

Ask them:

“Can you show donation funnel metrics before/after, including donation completion rate, average gift size, and recurring donor conversion?”

Sandstorm Design

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4200)

Best fit: larger nonprofits needing research-driven UX.

Why consider them:

• They specialize in nonprofit UX and web development. Sandstorm Design
• Their nonprofit work emphasizes user research, donor journeys, accessibility, and measurable outcomes. Sandstorm Design
• They report conversion improvements from nonprofit projects, including a case study with a reported 4× conversion increase. Sandstorm Design

Ask them:

“Which donation experiences have you optimized, and what testing methodology did you use?”

CRO specialists that can pair well with a UX agency

Invesp

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 248-626-2129)

Best fit: organizations that already have traffic and want systematic experimentation.

Why consider them:

• They focus specifically on conversion rate optimization, experimentation, landing pages, usability testing, and analytics-driven improvements.
• Less nonprofit-specific, but stronger than many design firms at rigorous CRO programs.

Good pairing:

• Invesp = testing strategy, experiments, funnel analysis
• nonprofit UX agency = storytelling, accessibility, donor experience

Marcel Digital

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-255-8044)

Best fit: nonprofits that need analytics + CRO + marketing integration.

Why consider them:

• Chicago agency with CRO, analytics, UX, SEO, and web development capabilities.
• Their CRO approach emphasizes identifying friction points and improving conversions through data.

Fundraising-specific specialists (not pure UX agencies)

Donately

Best fit: if the problem is specifically donation forms, campaigns, and fundraising flows.

Why consider them:

• Their services include custom donation forms, campaign pages, donor journeys, integrations, and reporting. Donately
• They are more fundraising-tech focused than a traditional UX agency.

My recommended shortlist by scenario

Questions I’d use in the RFP

1. “Show 2–3 donation pages you optimized and the measurable results.”
2. “What was the baseline donation conversion rate and what changed afterward?”
3. “How do you test donation page hypotheses?”
4. “Have you optimized recurring giving flows?”
5. “How do you measure donor trust, friction, and abandonment?”
6. “Will you run experiments after launch, or only deliver a redesign?”

A caution: many UX agencies say “conversion-focused” but mean better navigation and aesthetics. For donation pages, you want evidence of completed gifts, recurring gifts, average donation value, and reduced abandonment, not just engagement metrics.

• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Sandstorm Design - 4422 N Ravenswood Ave #50, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Gulo Solutions - 4256 N Ravenswood Ave #110, Chicago, IL 60613
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Maven Digital - 23 N Racine Ave, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• LimeRed Studio, Inc. - 4611 N Ravenswood Ave, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Mightybytes - 4001 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste 404, Chicago, IL 60613
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Statement - 1033 South Blvd, Oak Park, IL 60302, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• CauseHouse - 1054 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11221
• Doing Good Digital - 312 Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
• GoodFolk - 125 S Clark St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60603, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• EDUCO Web Design - 128 Chicago Ave, Oak Park, IL 60302, United States

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if donation-page conversion optimization is the primary requirement rather than simply “good nonprofit UX.”

Based on the case studies and capabilities I found, these are the strongest candidates:

The one I'd put at the top of the list: Orbit Media

There's an important agency I found that didn't surface prominently in the local-business results but has the strongest publicly documented evidence for your exact question: Orbit Media Studios.

Their nonprofit work is unusually relevant to donation conversion:

• For Off The Street Club, Orbit reports a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, using conversion strategy, prominent CTAs, UX/design improvements, copywriting and SEO. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios
• For Nourishing Hope (formerly Lakeview Pantry), they specifically cite conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, improved navigation/user journeys, responsive UX and accessibility. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios
• For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Orbit explicitly describes optimizing UX/conversion rates around finding resources, donations and volunteer sign-ups. Orbit Media Studios

That makes Orbit my #1 Chicago shortlist candidate if you want an agency that can demonstrate actual nonprofit conversion work rather than simply saying “we do UX.”

orbitmedia.com

My ranking for your specific use case

If the brief is something like “redesign our donation experience and materially increase completed donations”, I'd shortlist:

1. Orbit Media — strongest publicly documented Chicago nonprofit donation-CRO track record.
2. Beth Interactive — strongest fundraising/donor-journey specialization.
3. Gulo Solutions — strongest combination of UX + CRO + analytics.
4. Sandstorm Design — strongest UX/research-oriented option.
5. Dialogue Theory — compelling mission-driven UX/design option.
6. Mightybytes — strong purpose-driven digital partner, especially if accessibility/performance are important.
7. LimeRed Studio — solid nonprofit/purpose-driven UX + implementation option.

One caveat: don't let agencies sell you a "donation page redesign"

I'd specifically ask each agency for evidence of these five things:

• Actual donation completion-rate improvements, not just overall website conversions.
• Experience optimizing mobile donation flows.
• A/B testing or experimentation involving amount selection, recurring giving, form length, CTA language, trust signals and payment friction.
• Experience with your fundraising platform — e.g. Classy, Fundraise Up, Blackbaud, EveryAction, Engaging Networks, Givebutter, Donorbox, Salesforce, etc.
• Ability to establish a baseline funnel and measure: landing-page → donation-start → form completion → payment success → recurring-donor conversion.

That last point is important. A beautiful nonprofit website isn't necessarily going to produce more donations.

For comparison, the benchmark for what I'd want an agency to demonstrate is much closer to cases like Friends of the Earth, where an agency used ongoing UX testing and donation-path experimentation and reported a 144% increase in revenue per recipient from one donation CTA optimization. Cornershop Creative

There's also a useful Chicago-adjacent benchmark from GoldenComm: its nonprofit donation-flow redesign reportedly produced a 200% increase in conversion rate, a 90% reduction in checkout errors and a 152% increase in donation revenue. That's not a Chicago agency, but it's the caliber of evidence I'd ask Chicago firms to produce. GoldenComm

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donation volume, current donation-page conversion rate, and donation platform (e.g. Classy/Fundraise Up/Blackbaud), I can narrow this to the 3 agencies I'd actually invite to an RFP and give you a set of interview questions designed to separate real donation-CRO expertise from generic UX agencies.

• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Gulo Solutions - 4256 N Ravenswood Ave #110, Chicago, IL 60613
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• One North, A TEKsystems Company - 227 W Monroe St #3500, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Next/Now - 1200 W Lake St #2, Chicago, IL 60607, United States
• Rightpoint - 29 N Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Artversion - 205 N Michigan Ave 8th Floor, Chicago, IL 60601
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• YourPortal - 2211 N Elston Ave Ste 208, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
• Advocate Creative - 320 N Damen Ave d301, Chicago, IL 60612, United States
• Ice Nine Online - 444 W Lake St Ste 1700, Chicago, IL 60606, United States
• Cybernautic Web Design - 515 N State St #14-126, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• ArtVersion® Creative Agency - 211 W Wacker Dr Ste 1130, Chicago, IL 60606, United States

If your goal is specifically improving donation-page conversion rates (not just getting a prettier nonprofit website), I’d prioritize agencies that can show evidence of:

• donor journey analysis
• UX research/testing
• donation-form optimization
• analytics instrumentation (GA4, heatmaps, funnels)
• A/B testing or experimentation
• nonprofit fundraising experience

Based on those criteria, these Chicago-area agencies are worth evaluating:

Strongest fits for donation UX + conversion optimization

Orbit Media Studios

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-348-4581)

Best fit: nonprofit website redesigns with measurable conversion goals

Why consider them:

• Deep nonprofit specialization.
• They have documented nonprofit redesign work focused on improving donor actions, including a case study where Off The Street Club saw a reported increase in donation key-event conversion after a redesign. Orbit Media Studios
• They combine UX, content strategy, SEO, analytics, and conversion strategy rather than treating donation pages as isolated screens. Orbit Media Studios

Good for:

• Mid-size nonprofits
• Organizations needing a full website + donation funnel overhaul

Beth Interactive

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+17733324022)

Best fit: fundraising-first optimization

Why consider them:

• Their work is specifically centered around philanthropy and nonprofit growth.
• They offer donor journey audits, analytics reviews, and optimization of the path from landing page through donation completion.

Good for:

• Annual giving programs
• Fundraising teams that already have traffic but want higher donation yield

Gulo Solutions

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:(773) 276-8066)

Best fit: CRO + UX + website performance

Why consider them:

• Their positioning includes conversion rate optimization, analytics, and user experience improvements.
• They may be a better fit if you need broader digital optimization beyond just fundraising.

Good for:

• Nonprofits with a marketing team that wants ongoing CRO support
• Organizations needing testing, measurement, and technical improvements

Strong UX agencies to consider (verify donation-specific case studies)

Dialogue Theory

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 617-922-3790)

Best fit: mission-driven UX/UI and complex digital experiences

Why consider them:

• They work with mission-driven organizations and focus on UX strategy, design systems, and digital experiences.
• I would specifically ask them for examples of donation funnels and conversion testing before selecting them.

One North, A TEKsystems Company

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 312-469-1740)

Best fit: enterprise nonprofit or institution-level digital transformation

Why consider them:

• Strong UX, research, design, and digital experience capabilities.
• Better suited for larger organizations with complex platforms, integrations, and stakeholder groups.

Agencies with particularly relevant fundraising/donation optimization experience (not necessarily Chicago-based)

If you are open to a non-Chicago specialist, these may be worth comparing:

• WANDR Studio — They position their nonprofit practice around donor UX audits, donation-flow redesign, and measurable donation improvements. Wandr Studio Wandr Studio
• Sandstorm Design — Their nonprofit UX work emphasizes user research, conversion strategy, and measurable improvements for mission-driven organizations. Sandstorm Design

How I would shortlist them

For a nonprofit donation-page optimization project, I’d probably start conversations with:

1. Orbit Media — strongest Chicago nonprofit website + conversion track record. Orbit Media Studios
2. Beth Interactive — strongest fundraising/donor journey alignment.
3. Gulo Solutions — strongest CRO/analytics angle.
4. Dialogue Theory — strongest pure UX/design partner.

When interviewing them, I’d ask:

• “Show us a donation page you improved. What was the baseline conversion rate?”
• “What changed: UX, copy, form length, trust signals, payment flow?”
• “Did you run experiments after launch?”
• “How did recurring gifts change?”
• “Can you instrument and report donor funnel metrics monthly?”

Those answers will separate true conversion optimization specialists from agencies that mainly do redesigns.

• Orbit Media Studios - 4043 N Ravenswood Ave #316, Chicago, IL 60613, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• Gulo Solutions - 4256 N Ravenswood Ave #110, Chicago, IL 60613
• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Doing Good Digital - 312 Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
• CauseHouse - 1054 Bushwick Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11221
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• SWIDIA - Growth Marketing Agency - 2089 W Wabansia Ave, Chicago, IL 60647, United States
• Advocate Creative - 320 N Damen Ave d301, Chicago, IL 60612, United States
• Doing Good Digital - 668 N Coast Hwy, Laguna Beach, CA 92651, United States
• Cybernautic Web Design - 515 N State St #14-126, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Heller Consulting - 53 W Jackson Blvd, Ste 622, Chicago, IL 60604

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if donation-page conversion optimization is the primary requirement rather than general nonprofit web design.

My Chicago shortlist

1. Orbit Media — my first call

orbitmedia.com

This is the strongest match I found for your exact combination of Chicago + UX/UI + nonprofit + measurable conversion optimization.

The particularly relevant evidence is their work for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, where their optimization work explicitly included improving UX/conversion rates around donations and volunteer sign-ups. Orbit Media Studios

Even more compelling, their work for Off the Street Club produced a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, alongside prominent CTAs and conversion strategy. Orbit Media Studios

They also worked with Nourishing Hope on conversion copy and CTAs specifically intended to increase donations, alongside responsive/accessibility improvements and navigation changes. Orbit Media Studios

I'd ask Orbit for: a dedicated donation-page audit rather than starting with a full website redesign. Give them your analytics and ask them to identify the highest-impact friction points first.

2. Beth Interactive — potentially the best fundraising specialist

bethinteractive.com

If your organization is primarily concerned with raising more money rather than simply improving the website, Beth Interactive deserves a serious conversation.

Their Chicago operation is specifically focused on nonprofit digital fundraising. Their work includes digital donor-journey audits, examining the experience from the initial landing on a giving page through donation completion, along with analytics and conversion-barrier analysis.

That's a somewhat different proposition from a traditional UX agency: they're closer to a digital fundraising optimization partner.

I'd put them high on the list if you're looking at things like:

• Donation-form abandonment
• One-time → monthly-giving conversion
• Gift-array optimization
• Mobile donation completion
• Campaign landing pages
• Donor journey/funnel optimization
• Email → landing page → donation conversion
• Fundraising analytics

3. Gulo Solutions — good hybrid UX/CRO option

Gulo Solutions

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:(773) 276-8066)

Gulo is interesting if you want a firm that's more traditionally web/UX + CRO rather than exclusively fundraising-focused. Their offering includes UX, analytics, CRO, customer-journey analysis and ongoing optimization.

I'd put them behind Orbit and Beth Interactive for this particular use case because I found less publicly documented evidence of donation-page-specific conversion lifts.

4. Dialogue Theory — strong UX candidate

Dialogue Theory

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 617-922-3790)

Dialogue Theory is particularly interesting if your donation problem is intertwined with a broader information architecture / UX / storytelling problem.

They're Chicago-based and work with mission-driven organizations, with UX/UI and digital strategy at the center of their offering.

I'd interview them if the project is something like:

"Our donation page isn't converting because the entire donor journey—from understanding our impact to deciding to give—isn't working."

I'd be more cautious if the brief is narrowly:

"We already have a good site. We need someone to A/B test the donation form and increase completed gifts."

In that case, Orbit/Beth are more directly evidenced.

5. Glantz Design — smaller-agency alternative

Glantz Design

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 847-864-8003)

Glantz, based in Evanston, is worth considering if you want a smaller team. Their capabilities explicitly include donation flows, UX/UI, analytics, testing/validation and ongoing optimization.

I would, however, ask them for concrete before/after fundraising metrics before putting them ahead of the firms above.

One important distinction

There are actually two different agency profiles you're looking for:

A. UX/CRO agency

They'll investigate:

traffic → landing page → donation form → checkout → confirmation

using analytics, usability research, heatmaps, A/B tests, UX changes, copy and form optimization.

B. Digital fundraising agency

They'll investigate the entire fundraising system:

acquisition → campaign → story/impact → donation → recurring gift → retention

For a nonprofit whose immediate goal is "increase completed donations on our existing donation page," I'd lean toward A, but I'd want demonstrated nonprofit fundraising experience.

My recommended RFP shortlist

If I were running the agency selection, I'd invite these three to pitch:

1. Orbit Media — strongest combination of Chicago, UX/CRO and documented nonprofit donation results. Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios Orbit Media Studios
2. Beth Interactive — strongest fundraising/donor-journey specialization.
3. Gulo Solutions — useful independent comparison from the more conventional UX/CRO side.

I'd make the RFP deliberately narrow: "Improve donation conversion before we redesign anything."

Ask each agency to provide:

• 2–3 actual donation-page case studies
• Baseline and resulting donation conversion rate
• Change in revenue per visitor
• Change in average gift
• Change in monthly/recurring-gift conversion
• Mobile vs. desktop results
• What they A/B tested
• What analytics/testing platform they used
• Whether results were statistically significant
• How they handle donation-platform constraints (Blackbaud, Engaging Networks, Classy, Fundraise Up, Donorbox, etc.)
• A sample of the first 30-day audit/testing plan

The last point is important: don't let an agency win this project simply by showing you beautiful nonprofit websites. For your objective, the strongest evidence is a case where they can say "the donation conversion rate was X, we changed Y, and it became Z."

One especially useful benchmark is that there are agencies outside Chicago publishing very specific donation experiments—for example, Cornershop Creative reports a 144% increase in revenue per recipient from a relatively small donation-CTA UX change for Friends of the Earth. Cornershop Creative That is the level of specificity I'd ask Chicago agencies to demonstrate in their pitches.

"We already have a good site. We need someone to A/B test the donation form and increase completed gifts."

In that case, Orbit/Beth are more directly evidenced.

5. Glantz Design — smaller-agency alternative

Glantz Design

Glantz, based in Evanston, is worth considering if you want a smaller team. Their capabilities explicitly include donation flows, UX/UI, analytics, testing/validation and ongoing optimization.

I would, however, ask them for concrete before/after fundraising metrics before putting them ahead of the firms above.

One important distinction

There are actually two different agency profiles you're looking for:

A. UX/CRO agency

They'll investigate:

traffic → landing page → donation form → checkout → confirmation

using analytics, usability research, heatmaps, A/B tests, UX changes, copy and form optimization.

B. Digital fundraising agency

They'll investigate the entire fundraising system:

acquisition → campaign → story/impact → donation → recurring gift → retention

For a nonprofit whose immediate goal is "increase completed donations on our existing donation page," I'd lean toward A, but I'd want demonstrated nonprofit fundraising experience.

My recommended RFP shortlist

If I were running the agency selection, I'd invite these three to pitch:

• Dialogue Theory - 1932 S Halsted St #509, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Beth Interactive - 4657 N Ravenswood Ave, Ste B, Chicago, IL 60640
• Gulo Solutions - 4256 N Ravenswood Ave #110, Chicago, IL 60613
• Glantz Design - 1881 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201, United States
• Nonprofit Megaphone - 1230 W 34th St, Chicago, IL 60608, United States
• Meyer Partners - 8745 W Higgins Rd Suite 110, Chicago, IL 60631, United States
• Doing Good Digital - 312 Arizona Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401, United States
• Beth Interactive Inc. - 4541 N Ravenswood Ave #303, Chicago, IL 60640, United States
• CharityGiving - 118 N Clinton St Ste 301, Chicago, IL 60661, United States
• Advocate Creative - 320 N Damen Ave d301, Chicago, IL 60612, United States
• Project World Impact - 3805 E Main St Suite F, St. Charles, IL 60174
• Cybernautic Web Design - 515 N State St #14-126, Chicago, IL 60611, United States
• Access Direct Nonprofit Marketing - 209 Des Plaines Ave, Forest Park, IL 60130, United States
• Zora Digital - WeWork, 20 W Kinzie St 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654, United States
• Lipman-Hearne - 200 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60604

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market quite a bit if the goal is donation-page conversion, rather than simply “a good nonprofit web designer.”

Based on current case studies and local agency profiles, these are the strongest candidates I’d investigate:

My Chicago shortlist

1. Spark Collective — strongest evidence for donation-page CRO

DirectionsWebsite

This is probably the first agency I’d interview.

Spark Collective is nonprofit-focused and has unusually direct evidence of donation conversion work. One published case study reports a 23% donation-page conversion rate vs. a stated 17% industry average, along with a 66% year-over-year increase in digitally attributed donations. Their work included website conversion-rate optimization as part of a broader digital fundraising program. Spark Collective

Why I'd consider them:

• Nonprofit fundraising is core to their practice.
• Actual donation-page conversion metrics, not just generic “UX improvements.”
• They appear comfortable combining UX, messaging, fundraising strategy, email and digital campaigns.
• Particularly interesting if you want ongoing CRO, rather than a one-time redesign.

Best fit: An organization that wants an agency accountable for donations and fundraising performance, not just the website.

2. Dialogue Theory — strongest UX/UI-oriented option

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 617-922-3790)

Dialogue Theory is a Chicago design/development studio working with mission-driven organizations, nonprofits and civic organizations. Its core strength is closer to UX strategy + UI + digital experience design than traditional fundraising agency work.

I would put them high on the list if your donation-page problem is fundamentally an experience/design problem—information architecture, trust, mobile UX, accessibility, storytelling, form friction, etc.

Caveat: I found less public evidence of donation-page A/B testing specifically than with Spark Collective. I'd therefore make that a major question in the pitch process.

Best fit: You need a substantially better donor experience and want a sophisticated UX/UI partner.

3. Beth Interactive — very strong nonprofit fundraising specialization

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+17733324022)

Beth Interactive is particularly interesting because it sits at the intersection of digital fundraising, donor communications, analytics and donor-journey optimization.

Their services include digital donor-journey audits that evaluate the experience from the initial landing on giving pages through donation completion, plus analytics and optimization.

That's exactly the kind of capability I'd want if you're trying to answer:

“Why are people arriving at our donation page but not completing their gift?”

rather than merely:

“Can someone redesign our donation page?”

Best fit: Mature nonprofit fundraising operation where donor journey, segmentation, email, analytics and digital giving all need to work together.

4. Gulo Solutions — good CRO/UX hybrid

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:(773) 276-8066)

Gulo is a Chicago-based web agency with an explicit conversion-rate optimization, analytics and UX orientation. Their positioning emphasizes usability and conversion-focused UX, and their local profile indicates nonprofit/foundation experience.

I'd consider them if you want a more conventional web + UX + CRO agency rather than a fundraising-specialist shop.

Best fit: You want to redesign the site/donation experience while also establishing an ongoing analytics/CRO program.

5. Glantz Design — interesting boutique option

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 847-864-8003)

Glantz is in Evanston rather than Chicago proper, but close enough that I'd include them in the search.

Their capabilities specifically include UX/UI, donation flows, analytics, testing/validation and ongoing optimization.

This is interesting because it combines the design side with actual donation-flow optimization rather than treating the donation page as an afterthought.

Best fit: A smaller, senior-led design partner where you want hands-on UX/UI and iterative optimization.

6. Nonprofit Megaphone — fundraising/performance option

DirectionsWebsite[Call](tel:+1 773-887-0050)

Nonprofit Megaphone is more of a nonprofit digital marketing/performance agency than a pure UX studio. Their work includes conversion-focused optimization and landing pages.

I'd consider them if the donation page is only one component of the problem—for example, you're also trying to improve Google Ad Grants, paid acquisition, SEO and the traffic feeding the donation funnel.

One agency outside Chicago I'd seriously consider

If proven donation CRO experience matters more than geographic proximity, I'd actually widen the search beyond Chicago.

Cornershop Creative has an especially compelling publicly documented case with Friends of the Earth. They conducted A/B tests around donation CTAs and pathways, including testing “Donate Now” against “Donate.” One CTA optimization reportedly produced a 144% increase in revenue per recipient. Cornershop Creative

That's the type of evidence I'd prioritize over a portfolio full of beautiful nonprofit websites.

Similarly, Marketade has published nonprofit UX/A/B-testing work showing a conversion increase from 27% to 71% on a nonprofit flow, and the case explicitly discusses applying the methodology to donation forms. Marketade

And Cro Metrics has demonstrated donation/landing-page experimentation for Everytown, including redesigning campaign landing pages and optimizing the donor journey, with a reported 45% reduction in cost per donation. Cro Metrics

How I'd rank them for your specific objective

What I'd demand in the RFP

I wouldn't ask agencies simply for “examples of nonprofit websites.” I'd ask each one:

1. Show us 2–3 donation-page experiments you've run.
2. What was the baseline conversion rate?
3. What hypothesis were you testing?
4. What changed in the UX/copy/form?
5. What was the statistically significant lift?
6. Did you measure revenue per visitor, not just conversion rate?
7. How did the change affect average gift size and recurring-gift conversion?
8. How do you handle mobile vs. desktop?
9. What analytics/testing stack do you use—GA4, Hotjar/Contentsquare, VWO, Optimizely, etc.?
10. What would you test first on our donation page, and why?

That last question is particularly revealing. A strong CRO agency should be able to look at your existing funnel and immediately identify 3–5 testable hypotheses, rather than proposing a generic redesign.

If you give me your nonprofit's website/donation-page URL, I can also audit it and then identify the 5–10 Chicago agencies that are the best fit specifically for your conversion problem, including their relevant case studies, estimated price tier, and who I'd contact first.

Gulo is a Chicago-based web agency with an explicit conversion-rate optimization, analytics and UX orientation. Their positioning emphasizes usability and conversion-focused UX, and their local profile indicates nonprofit/foundation experience.

I'd consider them if you want a more conventional web + UX + CRO agency rather than a fundraising-specialist shop.

Best fit: You want to redesign the site/donation experience while also establishing an ongoing analytics/CRO program.

5. Glantz Design — interesting boutique option

Glantz is in Evanston rather than Chicago proper, but close enough that I'd include them in the search.

Their capabilities specifically include UX/UI, donation flows, analytics, testing/validation and ongoing optimization.

This is interesting because it combines the design side with actual donation-flow optimization rather than treating the donation page as an afterthought.

Best fit: A smaller, senior-led design partner where you want hands-on UX/UI and iterative optimization.

6. Nonprofit Megaphone — fundraising/performance option

Nonprofit Megaphone is more of a nonprofit digital marketing/performance agency than a pure UX studio. Their work includes conversion-focused optimization and landing pages.

I'd consider them if the donation page is only one component of the problem—for example, you're also trying to improve Google Ad Grants, paid acquisition, SEO and the traffic feeding the donation funnel.

One agency outside Chicago I'd seriously consider

If proven donation CRO experience matters more than geographic proximity, I'd actually widen the search beyond Chicago.

Cornershop Creative has an especially compelling publicly documented case with Friends of the Earth. They conducted A/B tests around donation CTAs and pathways, including testing “Donate Now” against “Donate.” One CTA optimization reportedly produced a 144% increase in revenue per recipient. Cornershop Creative

That's the type of evidence I'd prioritize over a portfolio full of beautiful nonprofit websites.

Similarly, Marketade has published nonprofit UX/A/B-testing work showing a conversion increase from 27% to 71% on a nonprofit flow, and the case explicitly discusses applying the methodology to donation forms. Marketade

And Cro Metrics has demonstrated donation/landing-page experimentation for Everytown, including redesigning campaign landing pages and optimizing the donor journey, with a reported 45% reduction in cost per donation. Cro Metrics

How I'd rank them for your specific objective

What I'd demand in the RFP

I wouldn't ask agencies simply for “examples of nonprofit websites.” I'd ask each one:

1. Show us 2–3 donation-page experiments you've run.
2. What was the baseline conversion rate?
3. What hypothesis were you testing?
4. What changed in the UX/copy/form?
5. What was the statistically significant lift?
6. Did you measure revenue per visitor, not just conversion rate?
7. How did the change affect average gift size and recurring-gift conversion?
8. How do you handle mobile vs. desktop?
9. What analytics/testing stack do you use—GA4, Hotjar/Contentsquare, VWO, Optimizely, etc.?
10. What would you test first on our donation page, and why?

That last question is particularly revealing. A strong CRO agency should be able to look at your existing funnel and immediately identify 3–5 testable hypotheses, rather than proposing a generic redesign.

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if donation-page conversion optimization is the requirement—not just “good nonprofit web design.”

My shortlist

The strongest evidence I found

1. Sandstorm Design — probably my first call for a UX-led engagement.

Sandstorm explicitly says its nonprofit work combines user-centered design, conversion strategy and scalable technology, with ongoing UX research/testing and optimization. Its published nonprofit results include one global think tank that increased conversion rate 4×, and another nonprofit that increased club registrations 110% while supporting tens of millions in online donations. www.sandstormdesign.com

Sandstorm Design nonprofit work

2. Beth Interactive — potentially the best if the problem is specifically the donor journey.

This is less of a conventional UX agency and more of a digital philanthropy/fundraising specialist. Its Chicago practice includes donor-journey audits that examine the experience from arriving on the giving page through completing a donation, plus analytics and ongoing optimization. Beth Interactive Inc.

I'd particularly consider them if you already have a decent website and need to improve donation conversion, recurring giving, donor segmentation, forms and fundraising journeys rather than rebuild everything.

3. Gulo Solutions — interesting CRO/UX hybrid.

Gulo Solutions positions itself around high-performing websites, CRO, analytics and customer-journey optimization. That's attractive if you want an agency that will actually measure behavior rather than simply redesign the donation page aesthetically.

4. Orbit Media — not in the business results above, but one of the strongest Chicago references I found.

This one is worth adding to your RFP. Orbit has unusually direct evidence with Chicago nonprofits:

• For Greater Chicago Food Depository, Orbit specifically worked on UX/conversion rates involving donations and volunteer sign-ups. www.orbitmedia.com
• For Off The Street Club, its redesign produced a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, using conversion strategy, prominent CTAs, rewritten copy and streamlined development. www.orbitmedia.com
• For Nourishing Hope, Orbit implemented conversion copywriting/CTAs specifically intended to increase donations. www.orbitmedia.com

Orbit Media nonprofit work

One important distinction

If your objective is “redesign our donation page and increase completed donations”, I'd prioritize agencies in this order:

Sandstorm → Beth Interactive → Orbit Media → Gulo → LimeRed → Clique

If the objective is “increase the entire fundraising funnel”—paid traffic → landing page → donation → recurring donation → stewardship—I'd move Beth Interactive and Nonprofit Megaphone higher.

And I would not select an agency based on a generic “CRO” claim. For your RFP, I'd require them to show:

1. A nonprofit donation-page case study
2. Baseline and post-change donation conversion rate
3. Donation abandonment rate
4. Mobile vs. desktop performance
5. Average gift / revenue-per-visitor impact
6. Recurring-donation conversion
7. Actual A/B or usability testing methodology
8. Experience with your donation platform (Classy, Blackbaud, EveryAction, Givebutter, Donorbox, Salesforce, etc.)
9. How they distinguish traffic-quality problems from UX problems
10. What analytics/event instrumentation they would implement before redesigning anything

One especially useful benchmark: VisualFizz, another Chicago agency, reports a nonprofit case where its redesign/CRO work produced 300% more funds raised in Q4 and doubled Giving Tuesday contributions. That's compelling enough to put them on the longer interview list, although I'd ask for more granular donation-page conversion data before putting them ahead of the agencies above. www.visualfizz.com

VisualFizz nonprofit case study

If you tell me your nonprofit's size, current donation platform (e.g. Classy/Blackbaud/Givebutter), and approximate annual online donations, I can narrow this to 3 Chicago agencies and compare them on proven donation CRO results, likely fit, pricing tier, and what I'd ask each one in the RFP.

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if donation-page conversion optimization is the primary requirement rather than simply “nonprofit web design.”

My shortlist

The two I'd put at the top

1. Orbit Media Studios — best overall fit

Orbit has unusually relevant Chicago nonprofit evidence. Its Off the Street Club engagement specifically reports a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, while its Greater Chicago Food Depository work included improving UX/conversion rates around donations. It also has experience with conversion copy, CTA strategy, accessibility, analytics and ongoing optimization. www.orbitmedia.com

That's much more compelling to me than an agency simply saying “we do UX.”

2. Spark Collective — best if fundraising performance is the center of the brief

Their case study is particularly relevant because they explicitly worked on website conversion-rate optimization and donation-page performance, reporting a 23% donation-page conversion rate and a 66% YoY increase in digitally attributed donations. www.sparkcollective.netwww.orbitmedia.com

I'd favor them if you're looking for an agency that thinks about the whole fundraising funnel, rather than just redesigning the page.

One non-Chicago agency I'd seriously benchmark

Even though you asked for Chicago, I'd get one proposal from Cornershop Creative as a benchmark. Their Friends of the Earth engagement is almost exactly the type of work you're describing: ongoing UX testing, donation-path optimization and A/B testing. One change to donation-button language reportedly produced a 144% increase in revenue per recipient. cornershopcreative.com

That's the kind of evidence I'd want every prospective agency to provide.

What I'd ask agencies before hiring

I'd avoid asking, “Have you done nonprofit UX?” That's too easy to answer yes to.

Instead, ask each one:

1. Show us 2–3 donation-page projects where you can quantify the before/after conversion result.
2. What was the baseline donation conversion rate?
3. Did you optimize the actual donation form, or only the page preceding it?
4. What did you change—ask amounts, recurring giving, form fields, CTA language, trust signals, payment UX, mobile experience, etc.?
5. Did you run A/B tests, and what was statistically validated?
6. How do you distinguish improvements caused by UX from improvements caused by traffic mix or campaign changes?
7. Can you instrument the funnel in GA4/GTM and connect donation completion back to acquisition source?
8. Can you optimize mobile donation conversion separately?
9. What donation platform/CRM integrations have you worked with?
10. What would your first 30 days of CRO work look like before proposing a redesign?

That last question is important. If they immediately propose a beautiful new homepage without first wanting your donation funnel data, abandonment points, device breakdown, traffic sources and existing conversion rate, I'd be cautious.

If this were my shortlist, I'd start with Orbit, Spark Collective, and Beth Interactive, then add Gulo or Dialogue Theory if the project requires a more substantial UX/product redesign. The first three have the strongest combination of nonprofit context and fundraising/conversion expertise from what I could verify. www.sparkcollective.netwww.orbitmedia.com

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donations, current donation-page conversion rate, donation platform (Blackbaud, Classy, Givebutter, Stripe, etc.), and whether you want a redesign or just CRO, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare their likely fit, relevant case studies, and engagement model.

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if donation-page conversion optimization is the primary requirement rather than general nonprofit web design.

My shortlist

But there are two agencies I'd put at the top of the list based on publicly documented results:

1. Orbit Media — probably the strongest Chicago fit

Orbit Media Studios

Orbit has unusually relevant Chicago nonprofit evidence. For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, its optimization team explicitly worked on UX/conversion rates around donations and volunteer sign-ups, alongside SEO and content optimization. www.orbitmedia.com

Even more compelling, Orbit's work for Off The Street Club produced a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate through optimized copy, design, navigation and prominent CTAs. www.orbitmedia.com

For Nourishing Hope, Orbit specifically lists conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, responsive/accessibility work, and improvements to user journeys. www.orbitmedia.com

Why I'd shortlist them: they're not just saying "we make nonprofit websites." There's a demonstrated combination of UX + copy + analytics/SEO + conversion optimization + Chicago nonprofit experience.

2. VisualFizz — strongest quantified donation result I found

VisualFizz

VisualFizz has a particularly relevant case study for One Hope United, where they redesigned the transactional journey, added clearer CTAs and CRO tactics specifically to prevent donors from getting lost in the checkout process.

Their reported result: 300% more funds raised in Q4, with Giving Tuesday contributions doubling versus the prior year. www.visualfizz.com

That's the kind of case study I'd want to see when evaluating a donation-page agency: there's an explicit connection between UX → checkout journey → CRO → fundraising outcome, rather than simply "the new site looked better."

One non-Chicago option I'd seriously consider

If you're willing to hire outside Chicago, Cornershop Creative deserves to be in the conversation.

Cornershop Creative

Their Friends of the Earth engagement is unusually close to what you're asking for: A/B testing donation CTAs and pathways, testing with VWO, optimizing donation visibility, and measuring revenue impact. One CTA optimization reportedly generated a 144% increase in revenue per recipient. cornershopcreative.com

That's much closer to a true fundraising CRO practice than a conventional website redesign.

How I'd rank them for your specific need

If your brief is "Take our existing donation page and materially increase completed donations", rather than "redesign our nonprofit website," I'd start with:

1. Orbit Media — best overall Chicago combination of nonprofit + UX + measurable conversion work
2. VisualFizz — strongest quantified donation/checkout case study I found
3. Beth Interactive — particularly compelling if fundraising/donor strategy is as important as UX
4. Gulo Solutions — interesting if you want a more conventional CRO/analytics engagement
5. LimeRed / Mightybytes / Dialogue Theory — strong mission-driven UX agencies, but I'd demand more donation-specific evidence before selecting them

One important caveat: I would not take an agency's general "CRO" experience as proof that they know donation conversion. Donation forms have unusual issues around recurring giving, suggested amounts, payment friction, trust, tax language, tribute/memorial giving, employer matching, mobile checkout, payment failures, and campaign-specific urgency.

What I'd ask every agency before hiring

Ask them for 2–3 examples where they can show the actual before/after numbers for:

• donation-page conversion rate
• donation completion/drop-off rate
• average gift
• recurring-gift conversion
• revenue per visitor/session
• mobile vs. desktop conversion
• specific A/B tests they ran
• donation-form abandonment
• results attributable specifically to UX/CRO rather than increased traffic

And I'd ask: "If we give you our GA4/CRM/fundraising-platform data, what would you analyze in the first 30 days?"

That question will separate a genuine fundraising-CRO team from a web design agency very quickly.

If you tell me what kind of nonprofit you are, your approximate annual online giving, and whether you're on Blackbaud, Classy, Givebutter, Engaging Networks, Salesforce, WordPress, etc., I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare them on likely fit, capabilities, case studies, and expected engagement model.

Yes. If the goal is specifically “improve the UX of our donation pages and prove that the changes increase completed donations,” I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably. A lot of UX agencies can redesign a nonprofit site; fewer can show evidence of donation-specific conversion optimization.

My Chicago shortlist

One agency I'd put at the top: Orbit Media

Orbit Media Studios is probably the strongest all-around Chicago candidate if you want a substantial UX/site engagement rather than merely optimizing a form.

Their nonprofit work is unusually well documented. For Off The Street Club, they redesigned the site around conversion, including navigation, copy, CTAs and UX, and report a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate. www.orbitmedia.comwww.sandstormdesign.com

They also explicitly offer conversion optimization, UX analysis, conversion-oriented copy and analytics—not just visual web design. www.orbitmedia.com

Orbit Media Studios

Another particularly interesting option: Sandstorm

Sandstorm is worth interviewing if you're looking for a research-heavy UX partner rather than a conventional nonprofit marketing agency.

They say they've conducted 5,000+ hours of user research, specifically discuss understanding what motivates donors and what gets in their way, and combine user-centered design with conversion strategy and continuous optimization. Their nonprofit portfolio reports, among other results, a 4× increase in conversion rate for one global think tank. www.sandstormdesign.com

Sandstorm

How I'd rank them for your particular need

If I were running the agency selection:

1. Orbit Media — strongest combination of Chicago nonprofit experience + UX + documented donation conversion result
2. Spark Collective — strongest publicly documented donation-page conversion result
3. Beth Interactive — strongest fundraising/donor-journey expertise
4. Sandstorm — strongest research/UX rigor, particularly for a more sophisticated redesign
5. Gulo Solutions — good CRO/technical alternative

The distinction between #1 and #2 is important: Spark has the cleaner evidence for donation-page CRO specifically, while Orbit has a more mature, broader UX/web optimization practice with a documented nonprofit donation result.

What I'd ask them before hiring

I would not ask simply, “Have you done nonprofit UX?” Instead, ask each agency:

1. Show us 2–3 donation-page experiments where you can quantify the lift in completed donations.
2. What was the baseline donation conversion rate?
3. Did you measure form starts → form completion, or only clicks on the Donate button?
4. How did you segment mobile vs. desktop and new vs. returning donors?
5. What did you learn from user research/session recordings/analytics before redesigning?
6. Can you run A/B tests, rather than making a redesign and declaring it better?
7. How do you optimize for average gift, recurring-gift rate and total revenue per visitor, not just conversion rate?
8. What donation platform have you optimized—Blackbaud, Classy, Givebutter, Engaging Networks, Fundraise Up, custom forms, etc.?
9. Will you continue optimization for 3–6 months after launch?
10. Can you give us the raw experiment results, including unsuccessful tests?

That last point is particularly valuable. A serious CRO agency should be able to tell you what they tested that didn't work, not just show you their prettiest redesigns.

For context, current nonprofit CRO practice increasingly emphasizes reducing form fields, keeping checkout on-site, mobile performance, payment options, recurring-gift UX and continuous A/B testing—not simply improving the visual appearance of the donation page. fundraiseup.com

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donation volume, current donation platform (e.g. Blackbaud/Classy/Fundraise Up), and whether you want a full redesign or just CRO of the existing page, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare their likely fit, pricing tier, relevant case studies, and who I'd actually put on the RFP.

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if the goal is UX/UI work specifically tied to increasing donation conversion, rather than simply finding a good nonprofit web-design shop.

My Chicago shortlist

The one I would put at the top: Orbit Media

There's an especially compelling Chicago option that surfaced in the case-study research: Orbit Media Studios.

Orbit has unusually direct evidence connecting UX/design + nonprofit donations + measurable conversion improvement:

• For Off The Street Club, Orbit redesigned the nonprofit's site with conversion-focused copy, prominent CTAs, responsive/accessibility improvements and UX work, resulting in a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate. www.orbitmedia.com
• For Nourishing Hope, Orbit specifically implemented conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, along with responsive UX, navigation improvements and user-journey work. www.orbitmedia.com
• For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Orbit's optimization program explicitly targeted UX/conversion rates around donations, alongside technical and content optimization. www.orbitmedia.com

That combination makes Orbit one of the clearest fits I've found for your requirement.

If proven donation-page CRO is the #1 criterion

I'd actually evaluate the agencies in roughly this order:

1. Orbit Media — strongest publicly documented Chicago combination of nonprofit + UX + donation conversion.

2. Beth Interactive — potentially even better if you're looking for a fundraising/donor-experience specialist rather than a traditional UX agency. Their work includes digital donor-journey audits, landing-page optimization, analytics and ongoing fundraising optimization.

3. Gulo Solutions — attractive if you want UX + CRO + analytics + development under one roof.

4. Spark Collective — worth considering if the project is primarily about fundraising conversion optimization, rather than a large UX/UI redesign.

5. Sandstorm Design / Dialogue Theory — I'd put these higher if your biggest problem is the overall donor experience, information architecture, usability or visual design, and lower if you specifically need a team with a deep library of donation-page A/B tests.

One important distinction

There are agencies that say they do "conversion optimization," and there are agencies that can demonstrate:

donation page → hypothesis → UX change → A/B test → statistically meaningful result → increased completed gifts/revenue

Those are very different capabilities.

For comparison, I found a non-Chicago nonprofit CRO case study from Brad Cecil & Associates where a donation-page layout A/B test produced an 86% increase in revenue without increasing traffic or average gift size. cecilcommunication.com Another nonprofit digital agency reports taking donation-page conversion from 5% to 13% after optimizing the donation platform and form. bdiagency.com

I'd use that level of specificity as the bar when interviewing Chicago agencies.

What I'd ask each agency

Rather than asking "Do you do CRO?", I'd send them these five questions:

1. Show us 2–3 nonprofit donation-page projects where you can quantify the conversion/revenue improvement.
2. What was the baseline donation conversion rate and what did it become?
3. Which UX/UI changes actually caused the improvement?
4. Did you A/B test the changes, or is the result simply pre/post redesign performance?
5. How would you diagnose our current donation funnel before recommending a redesign?

That will separate the genuine fundraising-CRO specialists from agencies that primarily do attractive nonprofit websites.

If you tell me your nonprofit's approximate annual online donation volume, current donation-platform (Blackbaud, Classy, Givebutter, Engaging Networks, etc.), and whether you're looking for a redesign or optimization of the existing page, I can narrow this to 3 Chicago agencies I'd actually put on the RFP list, including estimated fit, likely strengths/weaknesses, and relevant case studies.

Yes. Based on publicly documented case studies, I’d put two Chicago agencies clearly at the top of the shortlist for a nonprofit that specifically wants UX/UI + donation conversion optimization, rather than just a pretty website.

My shortlist

The first two stand out considerably.

1. Orbit Media — my first call

Orbit Media Studios

Orbit has an unusually relevant portfolio for this exact problem.

For Off the Street Club, Orbit redesigned the nonprofit's site around conversion, including clearer CTAs, improved copy, responsive design and navigation. The result was a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate. www.orbitmedia.com

They've also worked with Nourishing Hope, where the scope explicitly included conversion copywriting and CTAs intended to increase donations, along with UX improvements and clearer user journeys. www.orbitmedia.com

And their Greater Chicago Food Depository work is particularly relevant if you're dealing with multiple audiences. They addressed confusing navigation, competing conversion paths and outdated UX while trying to make it easier for donors and people seeking services to find the right path. www.orbitmedia.com

They've also worked on Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicago & Northwest Indiana, with explicit goals of increasing conversions and donations, using conversion-optimized design/copy and streamlined navigation. www.orbitmedia.com

Why I'd shortlist them: they're not just saying "we do UX." They have several Chicago nonprofit examples where donor behavior/conversion was an explicit business objective.

2. VisualFizz — strongest alternative

VisualFizz

VisualFizz has perhaps the most dramatic publicly reported fundraising result I found.

For One Hope United, they redesigned a problematic donation/Wishbook landing experience. The case study says the old interface was causing donors to abandon the process; VisualFizz redesigned the experience, improved load performance, optimized the transactional journey and introduced clearer CTAs and CRO tactics. The reported results were:

• 300% more funds raised in Q4
• 200% increase in Giving Tuesday contributions
• 30 $1,000+ Wishbooks sold
• Online donations doubled over the following year, according to the client testimonial. www.visualfizz.com

They also explicitly position CRO as part of their web-development practice, including CTA placement, forms and other conversion-focused UX elements. www.visualfizz.com

They have another Chicago-relevant nonprofit example involving BuildOn, where they worked on page speed, CTAs, the donation form and checkout process specifically to make giving smoother. www.visualfizz.com

Why I'd shortlist them: if your primary KPI is donations completed / revenue per visitor, VisualFizz looks very compelling.

3. UX 4Sight — interview, but ask for fundraising proof

UX 4Sight
UX 4Sight
Web
Address: 111 W Jackson Blvd Unit 1700, Chicago, IL 60604
Phone: +13122240095

They are a Chicago UX/design agency and could be interesting if you need substantial research, usability testing, information architecture or interaction design.

However, I would not rank them above Orbit or VisualFizz for this particular project based on the evidence I could find. The key thing I'd ask them is:

"Show us three donation or fundraising experiences where you personally measured conversion before and after your UX work."

If they can produce strong examples that aren't publicly documented, they could move up the list.

How I'd rank them for your specific need

If the assignment is "We have an existing donation funnel and want to materially increase completed donations", I'd go:

1. Orbit Media — 9/10
Best combination of nonprofit experience + UX + conversion strategy + Chicago track record.

2. VisualFizz — 8.5/10
Particularly compelling if you're looking for hands-on redesign/development of the donation journey and measurable fundraising improvement.

3. UX 4Sight — 6.5/10
Potentially excellent UX partner, but I don't see enough publicly documented donation-conversion evidence to put them ahead of the first two.

4. Nonprofit Megaphone — 6/10
Worth considering if acquisition/fundraising marketing is as important as the actual UX.

One important distinction

I'd not hire an agency merely because it says "CRO" or "UX/UI." For a donation page, I'd specifically require them to demonstrate experience with:

• donation-form abandonment
• one-time vs. recurring gift optimization
• suggested gift amounts
• mobile donation conversion
• payment/checkout friction
• impact messaging
• CTA and ask-string testing
• A/B testing methodology
• analytics/event instrumentation
• donor segmentation
• recurring-gift conversion
• page speed/accessibility
• integrations with your fundraising platform

And I'd ask each agency for actual before/after numbers, not just screenshots.

If you tell me what nonprofit you are, your current donation platform (Blackbaud, Classy, Fundraise Up, Givebutter, Donorbox, custom, etc.), and roughly how much annual online giving you do, I can narrow this to 3–5 agencies and compare them on proven donation CRO, UX capability, nonprofit experience, likely budget, and relevant case studies.

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if donation-page conversion optimization is the primary requirement rather than simply “good nonprofit web design.”

My shortlist

1. Spark Collective — strongest evidence for donation conversion

This is probably the first agency I’d interview. Spark has unusually specific fundraising results publicly documented: one nonprofit case reports a 23% donation-page conversion rate, while another Chicago nonprofit campaign produced an 8.9% donation-page conversion rate versus a stated 2% industry benchmark. Their work includes digital audits, fundraising strategy, UX/conversion improvements, email and campaign execution. www.vendry.io

Best for: If you want an agency that thinks about the whole fundraising funnel, not just the UI.

2. Sandstorm Design — strongest UX/research + nonprofit combination

Sandstorm is particularly interesting if the problem is that your donation experience needs UX research, information architecture, usability testing and redesign, rather than simply changing button colors. They explicitly work with nonprofits on donation growth and describe continuous UX research, testing and optimization as part of their approach. Their nonprofit work includes measurable conversion improvements. www.sandstormdesign.com

Best for: A substantial donation-experience redesign where UX rigor matters.

3. Mightybytes, Inc. — strong mission-driven UX + optimization option

Mightybytes is Chicago-based and works specifically with mission-driven organizations. Their capabilities span strategy, UX/design, development, analytics and ongoing optimization; Clutch also currently lists them with UX/UI design and conversion optimization among their services. clutch.co

Best for: A broader website/digital-experience project where donation conversion is one of several KPIs.

4. Beth Interactive — excellent if fundraising expertise matters more than pure UX

Beth Interactive is a Chicago digital philanthropy agency rather than a conventional UX shop. That's actually an advantage if you're dealing with sophisticated fundraising. They conduct digital donor-journey audits, looking at the experience from landing on a giving page through donation completion and stewardship, along with analytics, testing and optimization.

Best for: Hospitals, universities, major nonprofits and organizations with established fundraising programs.

5. Gulo Solutions — good CRO/UX hybrid

Gulo combines website UX, analytics and CRO, with experience working with nonprofits/foundations. Their positioning is more general-purpose than Spark or Beth, but they could be a good fit if you want rigorous CRO without hiring a specialized fundraising consultancy.

One agency I would put near the top: Orbit Media

Orbit Media Studios is worth including even though its positioning is broader than “donation optimization.”

They have multiple Chicago nonprofit case studies with actual conversion outcomes. For example:

• Greater Chicago Food Depository — specifically optimized UX/conversion rates around donations, volunteer signups and resource finding. www.orbitmedia.com
• Nourishing Hope — used conversion copywriting, CTAs, responsive UX and navigation improvements specifically to increase donations. www.orbitmedia.com
• Off The Street Club — achieved a 15% increase in donation key-event rate through SEO, copy, CTAs, UX and design improvements. www.orbitmedia.com

Best for: A full nonprofit website + donation conversion engagement, especially if SEO and content are also important.

How I'd rank them for your specific objective

The important distinction I'd make is “has redesigned nonprofit websites” vs. “has actually optimized the donation conversion funnel.” The latter is much rarer. Spark, Beth Interactive, Orbit and Sandstorm have the most compelling evidence I found.

If your goal is specifically “we already have a donation page and want to increase completed donations by, say, 20–50% through UX/CRO”, I'd start with Spark + Sandstorm + Beth Interactive, rather than issuing an RFP to 10 generic Chicago web agencies.

I can also do a deeper competitive-vetting pass on these 6—pricing/size, notable nonprofit clients, exact donation-page case studies, A/B-testing capabilities, platform expertise (Blackbaud, Classy, Raiser's Edge, Salesforce, etc.), and who I'd actually invite to an RFP.

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if donation-page conversion optimization is the requirement—not just “good nonprofit UX.”

My shortlist

But there are two agencies I'd put ahead of most of that list based on the specific evidence you asked for:

1. Orbit Media — probably the strongest overall Chicago candidate

Orbit Media Studios has unusually strong evidence tying UX + nonprofit websites + conversion optimization + donations together.

For Off The Street Club, Orbit reports a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, achieved through redesigned UX, copy, navigation, CTAs and conversion strategy. www.orbitmedia.com

They've also worked with the Greater Chicago Food Depository, specifically targeting UX/conversion rates for donations, volunteer signups and other actions, with an ongoing optimization program rather than simply delivering a redesign. www.orbitmedia.com

And their Nourishing Hope work explicitly included conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, responsive UX and improved user journeys. www.orbitmedia.com

Orbit Media

Why I'd shortlist them: They appear to understand the distinction between website redesign and measurable conversion optimization. That's important if you're trying to increase completed gifts rather than simply make the donation page prettier.

2. VisualFizz — strongest quantified donation UX case

VisualFizz has perhaps the most directly relevant public case study I found.

For One Hope United, they redesigned the donation/Wishbook experience because donors were abandoning the existing interface. Their work included UX, transactional-journey optimization, CTA improvements and CRO tactics. The reported result was 300% more funds raised in Q4 and 200% more contributions on Giving Tuesday. www.visualfizz.com

They also worked with BuildOn specifically on improving the donation process, page speed, CTAs, donation form and checkout experience. www.visualfizz.com

VisualFizz

Why I'd shortlist them: If your project is specifically “our donation page has friction and we need to increase completed donations,” their case studies map very closely to that problem.

3. Beth Interactive — particularly interesting if donor behavior is the problem

Beth Interactive Inc. is less of a conventional UX agency and more of a digital fundraising/donor-experience specialist, which could actually be an advantage.

Their work includes digital donor-journey audits examining the experience from landing on a giving page through donation completion, as well as landing-page optimization, analytics and conversion-barrier analysis.

That's a very different proposition from hiring a general-purpose UX shop. If you already have a decent website and primarily need to improve donation completion, recurring giving and donor journeys, I'd interview them.

4. Gulo Solutions — worth including in the RFP

Gulo Solutions is interesting because it combines UX/UI, analytics and CRO rather than treating UX as purely visual design.

I'd put them on the RFP list if you want an agency to own the technical side too—analytics, user journeys, experimentation, performance and implementation.

The caveat is that I found less compelling publicly quantified donation-page evidence than with Orbit or VisualFizz.

5. Mightybytes — strongest if accessibility + mission-driven UX matter

Mightybytes, Inc. is a very credible Chicago option for mission-driven digital work. Their emphasis on accessibility, responsible digital practices and continuous optimization makes them attractive for organizations where the donation experience needs to work exceptionally well across devices and audiences.

I'd choose them over a conventional agency if accessibility, sustainability, privacy and sophisticated UX research are important requirements.

Mightybytes

One important wildcard: Spark Collective

Spark Collective deserves consideration even though I'd categorize them more as a digital fundraising/CRO agency than a traditional UX/UI agency.

Their nonprofit case studies are extremely relevant: one campaign achieved a 23% donation-page conversion rate and a 66% YoY increase in digitally attributed donations; another generated an 8.9% donation-page conversion rate versus a stated 2% industry average. www.sparkcollective.net

Spark Collective

If your priority is “increase donation revenue” rather than “redesign our UI,” I'd absolutely include them in the conversation.

My ranking for your particular requirement

If I were running the agency selection:

1. Orbit Media — best combination of Chicago nonprofit experience + UX + CRO + demonstrated donation results
2. VisualFizz — strongest directly comparable donation UX/CRO case
3. Spark Collective — strongest if fundraising/conversion performance outweighs pure UX design
4. Beth Interactive — excellent donor-journey/fundraising specialist
5. Gulo Solutions — good UX + CRO + technical implementation combination
6. Mightybytes — excellent mission-driven UX/accessibility option

What I'd ask every agency before hiring

Don't accept “we've done nonprofit websites” as evidence. Ask them for:

1. Two donation-page projects where they can show before/after conversion rates.
2. Whether they have run A/B tests on donation forms—not just redesigned them.
3. Their experience with one-time vs. recurring giving optimization.
4. How they diagnose abandonment: analytics, session recordings, usability testing, surveys, etc.
5. Experience with your fundraising platform—e.g. Blackbaud, Classy, Givebutter, Engaging Networks, EveryAction, Salesforce, Luminate, etc.
6. Whether they optimize average gift size and recurring-donor rate, not merely conversion rate.
7. Whether they can show actual experiment results rather than self-reported “improvements.”
8. How they handle mobile donation flows, where a lot of friction tends to occur.

If you tell me what donation platform you use and roughly how much traffic your donation page gets, I can narrow this to 3 agencies and compare them on relevant case studies, likely pricing/engagement model, platform expertise, and exactly who I'd contact first.

Yes. I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably if conversion optimization of the actual donation experience is the priority—not just nonprofit branding or a website redesign.

My shortlist

The two I'd talk to first

1. Spark Collective — strongest evidence for your specific requirement

This is probably the closest match if your question is literally, "Who has demonstrated that they can make a nonprofit donation page convert better?"

Their published nonprofit case study is unusually concrete: they conducted website conversion-rate optimization and produced a 23% donation-page conversion rate, versus a stated 17% industry average. The broader campaign generated a 66% year-over-year increase in digitally attributed donations. www.sparkcollective.net

Spark Collective website

2. Orbit Media — strongest publicly documented Chicago track record

I would actually put Orbit Media on the RFP list even though they're more of a full-service web strategy/design agency than a pure UX boutique.

They have unusually relevant Chicago nonprofit evidence:

• For Off the Street Club, they report a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, alongside UX, responsive design, CTA and conversion strategy work. www.orbitmedia.com
• For Nourishing Hope, they specifically used conversion copywriting and CTAs to increase donations, plus responsive/accessibility improvements and redesigned user journeys. www.sparkcollective.netwww.orbitmedia.com
• For the Greater Chicago Food Depository, they explicitly optimized UX/conversion rates around donations, volunteering and finding resources. www.orbitmedia.com

Orbit Media Studios

One important distinction

If you're looking for an agency to redesign the donation page and prove the redesign increases completed gifts, I'd prioritize:

Spark Collective → Orbit Media → Beth Interactive → Gulo Solutions

If you're looking for someone to diagnose the entire donor funnel—ad/email → landing page → donation form → payment → recurring gift → stewardship—I'd lean:

Spark Collective → Beth Interactive → Orbit Media

Beth Interactive is particularly interesting because its work is explicitly centered on digital philanthropy and donor engagement, including audits of the online giving journey and analysis of conversion barriers.

What I'd require in the RFP

Don't ask agencies simply for "nonprofit UX experience." Ask them to show:

1. 2–3 actual donation-page tests they've run.
2. Baseline → treatment → conversion-rate change.
3. Revenue per visitor/session, not just conversion rate.
4. Average gift and recurring-gift conversion before/after.
5. Mobile vs. desktop performance.
6. Specific form-friction changes they made.
7. Whether they can run A/B tests rather than relying on stakeholder opinions.
8. Experience with your donation platform—e.g. Classy, Blackbaud, Fundraise Up, Engaging Networks, Givebutter, Salesforce, etc.
9. How they handle analytics attribution, including distinguishing a higher conversion rate from simply sending higher-intent traffic.
10. Whether optimization continues after launch.

I'd be especially skeptical of an agency that shows beautiful nonprofit websites but can't give you actual donation conversion/revenue numbers.

If you tell me your current donation platform (Classy, Blackbaud, Fundraise Up, Salesforce, custom, etc.) and approximate annual online giving, I can narrow this to the 3 Chicago agencies I'd actually put on an RFP and compare them on experience, case studies, likely cost, and platform expertise.

Yes. If the requirement is specifically “strong UX/UI + demonstrated ability to increase donation conversion,” I’d narrow the Chicago market considerably rather than choosing a generic web-design shop.

My shortlist

The two I would put at the top

1. Orbit Media Studios — best overall fit

Orbit is probably the strongest Chicago option I found for UX + nonprofit websites + measurable conversion improvement.

They have several unusually relevant Chicago nonprofit examples:

• Off the Street Club: a redesigned site produced a 15% increase in the donation key-event rate, using improved copy, CTAs, navigation, UX and responsive design. www.orbitmedia.com
• Greater Chicago Food Depository: they specifically worked on UX/conversion rates for donations, alongside technical and content optimization. www.orbitmedia.comwww.orbitmedia.comwww.sparkcollective.net
• Nourishing Hope: conversion copywriting and CTAs were explicitly used to increase donations, alongside responsive/accessibility-focused UX. www.orbitmedia.com
• Ronald McDonald House Charities Chicago/NW Indiana: the redesign explicitly targeted increased conversions and donations, with conversion-optimized design/copy and streamlined navigation. www.orbitmedia.com

Orbit also says its nonprofit web practice is built around UX/UI, accessibility, donations and conversion, rather than treating the website as purely a branding exercise. www.orbitmedia.com

Orbit Media nonprofit web design

2. Spark Collective — best fundraising/CRO specialist

Spark is particularly interesting if your objective is “get more people who reach the donation page to actually donate.”

Their public case study is unusually specific: they performed website conversion-rate optimization as part of a nonprofit fundraising program and achieved a 23% donation-page conversion rate, while digitally attributed donations increased 66% YoY. www.sparkcollective.net

They also have another nonprofit case where the donation page achieved an 8.9% conversion rate, compared with their stated 2% industry average. www.sparkcollective.netwww.sparkcollective.net

Their service offering explicitly includes CRO aimed at converting prospective donors and volunteers. www.sparkcollective.net

Spark Collective

A third one I'd seriously interview

Beth Interactive is somewhat different. They're less of a conventional “UX agency” and more of a digital philanthropy/fundraising specialist. Their work includes web/digital audits and analyzing conversion barriers throughout the donor journey.

That makes them particularly attractive if you already have a decent website but suspect the problem is things like:

• donation form abandonment
• poor recurring-gift uptake
• confusing donation choices
• weak mobile conversion
• poor campaign landing pages
• inadequate tracking
• disconnect between acquisition source and donation experience

Also worth looking at: VisualFizz

VisualFizz is another credible Chicago option, although I'd rank it below Orbit/Spark for this particular brief.

Their One Hope United work is very relevant: they redesigned the transactional journey, improved CTAs and used CRO tactics to prevent donors from getting lost in checkout. The result was 300% more funds raised in Q4 than the previous year and 2× contributions on Giving Tuesday. www.visualfizz.com

VisualFizz nonprofit work

My ranking for a donation-page project

If I were running the agency selection, I'd probably invite 4 agencies to pitch:

1. Orbit Media — strongest combination of UX/UI, nonprofit experience and documented donation conversion results.
2. Spark Collective — strongest evidence specifically around donation-page CRO and fundraising performance.
3. Beth Interactive — strongest fundraising/donor-journey specialist.
4. VisualFizz — strong UX + donation-flow implementation with a very compelling fundraising case.

The important distinction is that I wouldn't hire based on “UX/UI” alone. For a donation page, I'd require the agency to demonstrate experience with actual fundraising funnels and statistically defensible conversion improvements.

What I'd ask them in the RFP

I'd make the agencies answer these five questions:

1. Show us 2–3 donation-page or fundraising-flow projects where you can quantify the before/after conversion rate.
2. What did you actually change? Form length, suggested amounts, recurring giving, copy, CTA hierarchy, social proof, mobile UX, payment flow, etc.
3. How did you establish causality? A/B testing, cohort analysis, pre/post comparison, attribution, etc.
4. What donation platforms have you optimized? Classy, Blackbaud, Givebutter, Donorbox, Fundraise Up, Salesforce, custom forms, etc.
5. Can you provide a reference from a nonprofit whose primary KPI was completed donations—not just traffic or engagement?

That last distinction is important. There are plenty of Chicago agencies that can make a donation page look substantially better. The shortlist above is based much more heavily on agencies that can point to evidence that their work actually increased giving/conversion.

Yes. If the requirement is “Chicago agency + strong UX/UI + demonstrated ability to improve donation conversion,” I’d narrow the field considerably rather than choosing a generic web-design shop.

My shortlist