You might be fighting for the best cause imaginable. You might have the best people, and the best programs in the nonprofit world. You might even have celebrities on your side, and run the best public events.
All of that won’t matter if your website looks like it was designed in 1998. First impressions are vital, and for many of the people your organization wants to touch, your website is their first point of contact. Their opinion of you can be negatively affected by an underwhelming site. Worse still is the prospect of a potential donor wanting to give to your nonprofit online, but not having an easy way to do so on your site.
Let us not forget that many older websites look terrible on smartphone and tablets. Those devices, not desktop computers, are increasingly where the interaction, and, ultimately, the donations, are going to be generated.
So, what does your website need?
- A modern design that is optimized for smartphones and tablets.
- A compelling story to tell. Imagine being a donor. What would you want to see on the site? Dry statistics and blocks of boilerplate text, or a narrative filled with photos and video about your mission and the good works you do?
- An easy way to donate, that takes no more than two clicks, on every page of your site. Look at how commercial sites like Amazon and Best Buy handle their checkout process. They’ve spent millions figuring out how to make it as easy as possible for people to make payments without getting discouraged and leaving their shopping carts behind. Your payment system should also provide the option for the visitor to make recurring monthly donations.
- Social media sharing buttons on every page, so your visitors can easily spread your message. When they donate, have a nice “thank you” page that enables them to share news of their donation and encourage others to do the same.
- Information and real-life stories about how the hard-earned money the visitor might donate will be put to work. In the business world, they call this “Return on Investment,” and every businessperson wants to see it. So do donors.
Always remember as you make updates to your site to view it with fresh eyes, as if you were a potential donor. If your site is not compelling or usable to those fresh eyes, the level of your online donations will likely not be as high as it could be.
Want some website advice for your nonprofit? Contact us, we’ve got some!
Joe Paone is a content strategist at DonorLynk who loves informing nonprofits.