Nonprofits, like other organizations, must realize the value of having a website.
A nonprofit website for your NPO (Nonprofit Organization), if well marketed, can bring your institution or charity out of obscurity and increase the potential for more funding.
As this website could be crucial to meeting your organizational targets, it is very important to carefully consider its design and structure.
It needs to be simpler to use than the average corporate website, as one of the principle aims is simply to attract donations.
When designing nonprofit websites, these are the 6 key elements to consider: 1.
Donor-friendliness Your website needs to prominently display the link for the donations page on the homepage.
Remember, first-time donors have to see the 'donate' button or a clearly visible navigation link (or even a banner) so as to make their donations.
The donation process itself needs to be straightforward and with all unnecessary processes cut out.
If you are going to process their credit cards or receive donations via PayPal, make it a one or two-step process only.
2.
Volunteer-friendliness It is also just as necessary to make it easy for volunteers to contact you for directions on how they can get involved in your mission.
While you are seeking donations, you'll probably also welcome volunteers to join.
As these are people that are already willing to help, the process through which they can get involved - or in touch - needs to be straightforward as well.
3.
Media-friendliness There's no doubt that getting some media coverage could raise you profile by a great margin.
You'll therefore want to make it quite easy for journalists to find your contact information plus some background information on the key people in the organization - the founder for instance.
A nonprofit website should also allow journalists to use your website material for their news coverage without the need to contact the organization for permission.
4.
Clarity of purpose Many websites fail to immediately make known their purpose.
Nonprofits cannot afford to do this; their mission should always come out clear.
One way of accomplishing this would be putting up your mission statement clearly on the homepage.
You may also include a nice, simple illustration that clearly states the purpose.
5.
Brand consistency The logo, as well as the look and feel of your website should ideally be built to appear consistent with the rest of your promotional materials.
This helps increase brand identity.
Remember also to edit your website content in order to project a credible, professional image.
6.
News/blog section Including a blog section where you regularly update news on your organization is highly beneficial in that it gives people a reason to visit your website again.
Some blogs may also quote content from your site, increasing the amount of exposure for your website.
Finally, fresh content on your website will also improve its search engine visibility.
Designs for a nonprofit website may vary, but provided you incorporate all these design and usability elements, the chances of your website - and the organization - performing well and in line with your mission can only improve.