Website Tips for Nonprofit Organizations
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
As a nonprofit organization you are inevitably aiming to make a difference in the world. Whatever the size of your organization, communication is key. Without the tools to communicate what you do, why you are doing it, how to help, and how to receive help, you might as well be opening up a store with no open sign.
A website is one of the digital foundation tools that your nonprofit organization needs to communicate to your community, your volunteers, your donors, and the very people you are trying to help.
What we see on a regular basis are nonprofit organizations that make their digital presence almost an afterthought, and seek to only use the cheapest or most basic solutions for a website. And then what we see is the barriers that this creates in order for the nonprofit to grow.
Having an unprofessional website, or worse one that is not accessible, or not user friendly, will actually limit your nonprofit in terms of reaching more people, getting donors, getting sponsors, attracting volunteers, and more.
With the right website, the sky’s the limit for what you can achieve!
Statistics about websites for nonprofits
- Nonprofits raised $1.13 per website visitor in 2018
- 60% of nonprofits use WordPress as their website platform
- 22% ensure their website is accessible to users with visual and hearing disabilities
- 20% have website available in more than one language (this is easy with the right plugin)
Here a few website tips that we suggest for nonprofit organizations to consider when building out their website strategy:
WEBSITE TIPS FOR NONPROFITS
Control of Digital Assets
Make sure your nonprofit organization has control and ownership of your digital assets.
When you first set up your domain and your hosting, set it up in the name of the organization using an email that is going to be accessible to anyone that may need it and only for the purpose of the organization. For example . It is also advised to use one service provider for domain, hosting, and email to keep the technical aspects of your website that much simpler for future growth and needs.
If you have already set up your domain and hosting in a way that you do NOT have control, we suggest you make it a priority to get it moved into a proper account you own. If you need assistance you can email or visit DUFFERIN MEDIA HOSTING WEBSITE LINK
It is also a great idea to make sure that multiple key responsible members of your organization such as your director, or your chairperson have the usernames and passwords all noted down in a secure location.
Easy Navigation
When you are creating your website, think about the user experience first and foremost. Make sure that content on your website is well thought out and that getting to the information you are providing is easy to find. It is recommended that all content be one or two clicks away from the home page.
Make donating easy, and contact information as clear as possible.
Accessibility
Web Accessibility is the process of ensuring that anyone can access the content of your website despite any disabilities or temporary challenges. Web Accessibility is actually becoming law in many areas of the World and is especially important in the nonprofit sector where many of the people that you are trying to help, or your donors, are computer users that use assistive devices.
Some key areas that you might not be aware of in regards to your website and accessibility include:
- Alternative Text (ALT TEXT) for all images
- Colour contrast
- Video & Audio Alternatives
- Closed captioning for videos
Don’t Sleep on SEO
There are over 60 million searches on google every second, and ranking higher in these searches will result in more traffic to your website. More traffic means more awareness, more donations, and more support. With a search engine optimization strategy in place you will be able to work towards gaining more of this high quality traffic. Consider what search terms (keywords) you believe you would like to be found for, and build those keywords into content such as blog posts or page titles. **ProTip – when doing keyword research, look at Google’s Keyword Planning Tool and see how many searches are actually done for a keyword. Sometimes the keywords you think you should rank for actually get very low search volume**
Include Social Media Links
Finally, one your website make sure that you proudly display your social media links in a place that is easy to find on all pages such as the top menu bar or the footer. Many people when visiting or researching a nonprofit organization will be interested in connecting with you on your social media channels and checking out what is currently happening. You may also consider a social media feed, such as from your Twitter account.
Nonprofits that have a solid website marketing strategy and invest accordingly the time and effort to have a great website are setting their organization up for success. Having a website that is responsive, easy to navigate, accessible, and seo optimized will drive in more traffic, convert more users to donors or volunteers, and help the organization communicate more effectively with their key stakeholders.
If you need assistance with creating a new website for your organization or perhaps updating a previous website, email to discuss the solutions we offer at favourable rates to nonprofits.
