3 reasons to build an effective nonprofit website

July 29, 2014

3 reasons to build an effective nonprofit website

Nonprofits utilize websites for a variety of reasons. These include receiving contributions from interested parties that don't live near a nonprofit's headquarters and providing a permanent location to host information about specific programs and a group's overall mission. Outreach to both potential donors and to those served by an organization's services are two more major reasons to have a Web presence. Here are three reasons why charitable groups need to make fresh design and content a priority to get the most out of their online portals:

Increasing the chances for education and contributions: Mobile devices continue to grow in popularity, but haven't yet hit a saturation point in the market. More people are buying and using smartphones and tablets on a regular basis. Having a website that is receptive to the limitations of mobile browsers – small screens, the lack of a mouse, and other considerations – can help remove the barriers for those who want to donate or simply learn more. The last thing a nonprofit wants is to lose the interest of someone using a mobile device because of an unresponsive design.
A focus on the essentials gets better results: Nonprofit technology blog NTEN pointed out that the front page of a website can't offer everything at once. The focus of design efforts shouldn't be on providing small pieces of information about every facet of operations, but instead, the outreach and calls to action that drive operations. Having dropdown menus that host more detailed information and other secondary considerations is a good idea, but the majority of front page real estate should focus on getting contact information and contributions.
Size is completely subjective on the web: A webpage isn't a printed newspaper, flyer or annual report. It can certainly provide all of these functions, but it carries the advantage of having functionally unlimited space, at least for the needs of a majority of nonprofits. Nonprofit marketing blog Frogloop provided the reminder that "scrolling is normal" and organizations should focus more on strong organization and making it easy for visitors to find what they're looking for.

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3 reasons to build an effective nonprofit website