Whatever your objective, developing an online identity that effectively conveys your value proposition can help you get support, boost awareness of your cause, engage supporters, and draw online donations.
Several of the same procedures are used by websites and charity websites alike. They must convey their content clearly and be simple to use and navigate. A non-profit website, however, frequently has to provide more than a normal business website.
Let’s start with some straightforward procedures to get your nonprofit website up and operating because that’s what this piece will focus on.
Create Your Mission and Objectives
The mission of your charity outlines what it does, how it does it, and who it does it for. Your goals should be unambiguous, large, and evident to anybody visiting your website. You might be trying to:
- Bring attention to your cause
- Boost contributions
- Increase the number of your supporters and volunteers
Convey the results of your work. Understanding your goals can help you find a web design agency working with charities that can help you. Also, this will help you develop a better user experience, increasing the likelihood that visitors will interact with the site in the way you desire.
Choose a Name
People prefer to give to people, therefore you could want to name your charity website after a particular person while still having them have a goal of helping others (for example, Barnardo’s: Children’s Charities). Instead, you may select a name that accurately explains what you do, like Cancer Research or Shelter UK.
Whichever name you decide on, check to see that it is not already being used as a trademark or domain name by someone else and that it is simple to remember (and type for when you register it as a domain name).
Determine Who Your Users Are and What They Want
A charity website typically has two sorts of users:
- Individuals that require assistance
- Individuals that want to assist
The first group will be looking for information on how they may contact you for assistance and learn how you can aid them.
Donors and volunteers are included in the second group. Volunteers want to know how they can start and how they can help, while donors want to know the effect of your organization, how to give, and how their money has benefited. While designing your website, keep these two audiences in mind and make it simpler for them to obtain the information they want.
Get Your Website Online
Having a non-profit website is one of the most efficient methods for charitable organizations to collect funds and publicity for their specific cause. Create a non-profit website and a location where people can learn about your most recent fundraising efforts and activities, as well as how they can sponsor an event and make a difference with their donations.
Get a template or have a web designer create one for you after your domain and web hosting are set up. Or, you might purchase a website builder and select a reputable template from a library of pre-made, ready-to-use charity website templates. The good thing about utilizing a website builder is that it comes with everything you need to design your charity website, and you don’t need any programming knowledge.
Explicitly State the Mission of Your Charity
If only nonprofits would make it clear what they are about on their websites, they would benefit from it far more. This is the most crucial detail that people need to know before deciding to donate, so be sure to include it both on a specific About Us page and on your homepage so that it’s easy to locate.
It will be simpler to persuade people to donate if you explain what you do and how you do it in a clear, succinct, and understandable manner. Make sure it’s simple to locate so people know precisely what your organization does, whether you include this information in your slogan or anywhere else on the webpage.
Inform Them of the Purpose of Donations
If someone decides to give, make sure they know how their money will be used. They will want to understand how their contribution will be put to use and how they are changing someone’s life.
Users won’t waste their time looking for this information if you hide it deep within your website. They won’t be sure whether they can trust you if they can’t quickly locate this information, which means you won’t get their donation.
Visitors will be more assured that your company is not keeping anything from them when you make this information available for them to read.
Establish your Credibility
More than ever, consumers today want assurances that you can be trusted before they give you money. As you construct your charity website, you could think about including trust and social proof features to demonstrate your organization’s dependability and worthiness for their donations, such as:
- High scores from monitoring agencies
- Prominent endorsements
- Testimonials
- Dates of operation Links to social media accounts or feeds
Before giving, people will check this information to determine your legitimacy and dependability, and it’s crucial to advertise it if you have it.
Make Donations Transparent
Don’t make someone seek out the “Give” button if they have already opted to donate. Make sure you provide a quick, simple, and safe means of making a donation because users these days don’t have a lot of patience.
The main barriers to the contribution that keep users from giving are:
- Usability issues linked to a page and site design accounted for 47% of these issues, including crowded pages and unclear workflow. Users on 17% of these charity websites were unable to locate the contribution page!
- Unclear or missing information, imprecise words, and writing for web-related content concerns accounted for 53% of the complaints.
The call-to-action should be clear and easy to see on every page of the website because the “give” button is the most crucial component. While creating your charity website, keep that in mind.
Also, it’s important to use simple, direct language in the content to make it apparent to readers that the focus is on a monetary gift, such as “Give Now” or “Donate Today.”
Never undervalue the influence of your website as a charity or non-profit organization. More people may donate and get involved if you provide them with clear information about what you do, for whom, and how you use money.
