For small nonprofits, it’s easy to think of your website as a simple marketing tool—one that can help you gain new donors and volunteers. And while this is absolutely true, your nonprofit website can do so much more than just promote your cause and keep people up-to-date on the latest news. In fact, it can actually serve as the foundation for your entire fundraising campaign! If you’re ready to take the next step in using technology to grow your nonprofit, here are four must-haves for any organization looking for a major boost in impact:
Responsive Design and Layout
Responsive design is a web design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling—across a wide range of devices (from desktop computer monitors to mobile phones).
If you’re thinking about designing a responsive site, you’ve probably already heard the term “mobile first.” That’s because responsive design is all about designing your site for mobile before you think about what it will look like on larger screens. This way, when you do get to the desktop version of your site, you’ll have everything well-organized and easy-to-navigate. Here’s how it works:
First, you’ll create a fluid grid that allows full-width images and video content to be displayed in their natural state without having to resize them for mobile devices. Next, make sure that every single element on your site is coded using CSS3 Media Queries so that they can easily be manipulated depending on whether they’re being viewed on a desktop or mobile device. Finally (and most importantly), use semantic HTML5 tags so that search engines can easily interpret the meaning behind each individual page element without having to rely on scripting or programming languages
Nonprofits can’t afford to lose out on potential donors or volunteers by not creating a responsive website. Donors & volunteers want to find information on your site quickly and easily; they don’t want to have to pinch or zoom in order for their phone screen size to fit your site’s content correctly. You’ll also want clear and concise header-and-footer navigation so that visitors can navigate through the site easily without being distracted by ads or other links that aren’t relevant.
Securely Process Donor Contributions Online
As we mentioned earlier, donations are the lifeblood of any nonprofit organization. A well-designed and functional donation page will increase your number of donations by making it easy for donors to give their money to your cause. Donation pages are a vital part of any charity’s website because they are where people can donate money to your cause. They are also an important part of the fundraising process in general because they help you collect information about donors and their interests so that you can better target them with future campaigns.
It’s important that your donation processing solution offers two key features: security and speed. It should be secure so that you never have to worry about hackers stealing the information of those who donate money through your website—this could potentially damage your reputation and make people reluctant to donate in the future. You also want a solution that processes payments in real time because donors want to know their money is going straight into helping those in need as quickly as possible.
High Visibility Calls to Action
You may not realize it, but your call to action button color is one of the most important parts of your website. The next time you’re on a nonprofit website and see a call to action button that looks like this:
- Click here for more information on our [event/campaign]
- Learn more about [our cause] by clicking here
- Don’t forget to check out our recent blog post about [topic]!
The text in those buttons is pretty generic, but at least it makes sense for the context of whatever it’s promoting. However, these buttons are also usually black or some other dark color—which means they blend right into the background and become almost invisible when viewed against other elements on the page (like images). And while this might seem insignificant at first glance, research shows that people are much more likely to click on a button if they can actually see it!
In fact, a study by the Nielsen Norman Group found that buttons with text that’s easy to read have a click-through rate of 15.6%, while buttons with less legible text only get clicked 7% of the time. So if your nonprofit doesn’t have a dedicated designer on staff, it’s important to choose call-to-action button colors that stand out from both their background and any other elements on your website.
Publish Blogs and Videos Relevant to Nonprofit’s Mission
One of the best ways to spread awareness about your nonprofit and its mission is by publishing blogs or articles. Blog posts can be informative, educational, and engaging. Make sure that your content is unique and relevant to your nonprofit’s mission. It should be easily readable as well as shareable across your social media platforms. It’s also good practice to update blog posts on a regular basis (typically weekly or biweekly). Blog posts are great for donors who want to get involved with the cause, so it’s important that they know what they’re getting themselves into when giving money!
Another way to raise awareness about your nonprofit is by creating videos. Videos are a great medium for sharing information about your nonprofit and its mission, as well as how people can get involved. The best types of videos are short and sweet, around one or two minutes long.
You can also try creating a video that features both your nonprofit and a beneficiary of your work. Videos are great for donors who want to get involved with the cause, so it’s important that they know what they’re getting themselves into when giving money! Another way to raise awareness about your nonprofit is through social media.
The key takeaway here is that all the items listed above can be found in one of the many free or pay-for-service options available. You don’t have to invest a million dollars into a new website, but you do need to invest some time into researching your options and making sure that they’ll do what they’re supposed to do: help you reach people who want to help increase your organization’s impact!
