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People might visit your nonprofit's website for any number of reasons: to find out your address, research an issue they're interested in, or just look for free desktop wallpaper. But no matter what brings them to your site, follow the tips below to make sure your visitors don't leave without considering making a donation or getting involved in some other way.
Your website should clearly state what your organization does, where it's located, and every possible way to get in touch with your development and other staff. It's best to provide your address as a footnote at the bottom of every Web page. Also, your "Contact us" link should do more than just pop up an email message box -- this is the place to tell people alternate ways to reach you.
Better yet, depending on your staff size and privacy concerns, you might create a page with staff job titles, biographies, photos, and contact information -- all of which helps your Web visitors feel they're getting to know your organization at a personal level. (One caveat: Posting email addresses opens up the addresses to spammers -- it's best to give out general email addresses, not the personal email addresses you use most regularly.)
In order to build a solid relationship with potential donors, your website needs to convey your organization's personality in a manner that's consistent with your fundraising and other marketing materials. Hopefully, you already have an idea of what image your organization is trying to present -- it may be traditional, scientific, homey, offbeat, ethnic, left, right, or center.
Take a look at the fundraising materials you've been producing, such as letters to donors, grant proposals, newsletters, and annual reports. Ask yourself what personality is emerging through the use of color, graphics, words, or photographs. Then look at your website and make sure it has the same personality.
Treat Web visitors in a manner true to your organization's mission and ideals. An organization that works with the elderly, for example, shouldn't use a tiny text font. An organization working with the disabled should ensure that its website is accessible to its clientele.
The best websites contain substantive information, preferably information that the reader might not get elsewhere. Readers might be interested in your nonprofit's current activities -- ongoing projects, follow-up information on issues they've heard about before, or details and sign-up information for events and classes. If you're more ambitious, you can collect and post information from outside your nonprofit, such as articles about relevant national or local news issues. And if you've got a quick and opinionated writer on your staff, a blog is a good way to keep people coming back for fresh content.
Yes, it's a lot of work -- but studies have shown that readers rate substantive content number one in importance when evaluating a nonprofit's website. If you're able to, go one step farther and offer readers regular email newsletters or news alerts (a great way of collecting email addresses of potential future supporters).
Launching your website is a lot of work -- but too many nonprofits make the initial push, then allow the site to go stale. Unless your website appears current and up-to-date, you'll turn off the very people you were hoping to attract.
Ideally, interesting and timely content will make your website a regular stop for people tracking or researching the issue you cover, thus turning anonymous Web visitors into eventual donors. If that's too much to hope for, given your staffing and budget, at least don't bite off more than you can chew. Cull your annual reports, newsletters, and other materials, and put up stories or information that isn't likely to become dated.
Everything on your website should be easy to find, but links to information about donating or otherwise getting involved must be prominently displayed. At the same time, you don't want to rush people to the payment page without giving them some background information about why, how, and how much to give.
Include donation and volunteer tabs. Your homepage should have a tab saying "Support Us," "Get Involved," "How You Can Help," or something similar. This should lead to an introductory page explaining how donations will be used, how different dollar amounts will help, and any other relevant information about your projects and giving opportunities.
Link to payment page. Then offer a link to a payment page. If you can offer online donation opportunities, great. If not, offer a printable page that contains all the information on your regular reply card, along with information on where to fax or mail the completed form and check.
Where and how supporters' gifts will be spent is a topic worthy of a separate page on your website -- and it's a page that should be easy to find, perhaps as a link from your introductory giving page.
Studies have found that users rank information about how donations are spent high in importance when visiting a charity's website. This portion of your website should also include links to your annual report (if available online) and your Form 990.
If you've been scrambling to find ways to publicly thank your foundation funders and major private donors, a website can really take the pressure off. Many organizations add a simple link to "Our Funders," whether on their homepage or a deeper page within the site.
Mentioning your funders and donors online is also a way to build trust in your organization. You want Web viewers to think, "If the ABC Foundation and So-and-So support this group, they must do good work."
Some nonprofits also post profiles of individual donors, complete with photos and personal accounts of why they give. (You would, of course, have to get permission from the donors first.) Again, this is a way to inspire potential supporters.
It doesn't take particularly advanced technology for your Web designer to add a feature allowing you to keep site traffic statistics. This information will tell you not only how many people are visiting your site but also which websites your visitors came from and where they go within your site -- which links are enticing them to click, which pages they're leaving unviewed, what they're downloading, which page they most commonly exit your website from, and the like.
Once you make a habit of collecting and interpreting your traffic statistics, they can be invaluable for measuring and enhancing your website's fundraising effectiveness. For example, over time you'll be able to evaluate the comparative success of an email campaign, the drawing power of a press release, or your best referral sources.
Advertise your Web address in all of your printed materials. After you've created a website that meets as many of the above criteria as are financially feasible, don't keep it a secret. Your website should become one of your principal communication devices. Feature the address prominently on business cards, stationary, brochures, T-shirts, and every printed document you produce. Encourage newsletter readers to check your website for further information or updates on issues they're reading about. And include links to your website within emails sent to supporters, allowing them to click for further information or to donate online.
For more information on ways to raise funds for your nonprofit, online and off, see Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits: Real-World Strategies That Work , by Ilona Bray (Nolo).
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