Before we create a great non-profit website, it is essential we understand that non-profit websites need to serve a few purposes:
- spread awareness about a cause,
- engage new members,
- drive donations,
- and build a platform for connecting and collaborating with decision-makers.
The site should speak for the organization’s reason for existence, inspire confidence and create interest amongst stakeholders and prospective members.
However, initiating this affordably may be a major constraint for non-profits, thus making them compromise on the need for an effective and attractive website. The point is not to make a highly attractive website but to make it appealing enough to drive interest and generate positive responses. For this, rather than making a site with expensive elements, it makes sense to make all the elements like content, design and infrastructure align with your cause.
In this article, we intend to share with you some tips to create a great non-profit website with which you can initiate and manage the creation of an engaging cause-related website, without making you feel the pinch:
Get a Domain Name registered asap
The first order of business is to buy the rights to your organization’s domain name, regardless of you wanting to create a website soon or not. Select a unique domain name that identifies with your organization’s name and purpose. There’s a tip to save money here – register the name for five years at a time and ensure documenting the registration process so you or your successor will know where to go when it’s time to renew. There a number of sites that can help you register a domain name like Godaddy or Hostgator.
Identify Your Long-term and Short-term Objectives
Organizational soul searching may help identify what you expect from the site, in the short as well as long run. What is the kind of web presence you are looking for? How far you wish to reach and how do you plan to maintain your presence? In the long run, how do you plan to fund for supporting this web presence? One needs to ask these and a few other important questions before building a website, so as to plan the budgeting for ongoing and future needs.
- Do you want a website only for people to check on your credentials and seek contact info? Maybe you are you looking at a more detailed site for constantly updating content like showcasing your total outreach, impact, industry updates, blogs, responsive elements like ‘registering for an event’, ‘posting a feedback’?
- Are you looking for features like Chatbots to ensure no query is missed?
- Simple sites are inexpensive to build and host, but if you are looking for a more complex site, special skills like programming, information architecture, web design, and editing are required. Do you have the bandwidth for this?
- What about website maintenance? The site needs to be updated over a period of time. You may either need a separate budget or an all-inclusive package that helps you build, run and maintain an effective site.
- You may already have a website but may need to revamp it to meet the opportunities laid down by the digital world. In this case, you may need an expert to integrate the existing tools with the new site, shrinking the cost and yet giving you a fresh look.
- Can you anticipate future requirements, so to make a rough plan for it right in the beginning?
We can help you make sense of these questions and help come up with a strategy to make your presence felt. See our work so far.
Delivering the Right Message, Design and Call to Actions
Once you have identified the objectives and chalked out a plan, It is time to look at content and design to create a great non-profit website. The design and the content should provide the user with an engaging experience. Several content management system (CMS) sites are available to help you manage and automate complex websites. But there is no tool available to write the right content for you. It is essential to make your website shout out your cause proudly. Writing what is right and essential in the most concise fashion, so the readers aren’t bored yet are affected by the message positively, is an art! Also, it is true that even though non-profits are like typical businesses, their designs need to feel far more humane and user-friendly. The navigation should be clear and direct. The site should be able to talk to the reader, more so build a dialogue that helps the reader find answers to all the questions right there.
You won’t get much time to turn your reader into a donator. Hence, the website needs to have a subtle yet powerful call to actions. Hence, it is essential to understand the psyche of your readers and not make him/her search for ‘how to donate’ or ‘how to know about a cause’. Lay it out right in front of them in the form of inspiring photos and text so to make them believe in your belief. Investing enough time, effort and money in getting these three elements right will save you a lot in the long run.
Fortunately, the web is a reasonable medium. Getting the right people who know the tricks of the trade is the key to building an affordable yet effective site that works in your favour. With adequate technical support and a constant web presence, your non-profit will be in a powerful position to keep growing with newer advancements.
We hope these tips to create a great non-profit website helped. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need our assistance in creating a great web presence for your cause.
