2 pieces of mobile advice for nonprofits

July 21, 2014

Nonprofits often have to deal with long hours and hard work to both bring in donations and make sure that the mission of the organization is being served. These high workloads can lead to resistance when it comes to adapting information to for a new medium of communication. As GuideStar pointed out, many charitable groups are reluctant to fully adapt their materials for mobile display just as they were initially hesitant to fully embrace social media. However, nonprofits can't ignore the growing use of mobile devices and the increasing size of an audience that has its main interaction with the Internet come through smartphones and tablets.

Approximately 58 percent of Americans have a smartphone, according to the Pew Research Center, and 42 percent have a tablet computer. Overall, the number of people who own and use mobile devices is growing to accommodate their increased demand for the Internet access. With that in mind, here are two pieces of advice for having a strong, successful mobile strategy:

Have a plan and don't rush it: Making sure that the landing page for a website can be viewed easily on mobile devices is key, according to GuideStar. There are other considerations, such as creating a mobile app and even having mobile-native content, that can be approached as well. The most important thing for nonprofits is to create a plan for reaching out to potential contributors through mobile devices and recognizing the related technical and operational changes. Instead of focusing all available time and resources on completing a mobile transition all at once, and possibly creating and compounding mistakes, it may make more sense to move through the process slowly and purposefully.
Clarity is key: Having an immersive website that calls attention to the issue a nonprofit group is addressing along with providing examples of specific projects can go a long way toward convincing potential donors to contribute. This is still possible in a mobile environment, but the much smaller screen size needs to be addressed as well. Having to scroll and scale to read text and see images is one of the quickest ways to discourage visitors using a smartphone or tablet. When a mobile site is designed or updated, keep paragraphs short and don't cram too much visual or written information into a small space.

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