The Key to Non-Profit Website Design: An Attempt for a Cause

Non-profit websites are meant for a social cause and nowadays, when social media is at a boom, why not our causes take that opportunity and go for it… Why limitations in terms of budget, and the people involved in the strategical planning and maintenance of these sites, should suffer the main cause? Because of this, basic objective of these non-profit sites is dumped. Instead of reaching out to a large mass of audiences, it gets lost in the crowd of those for-profit organisational websites, which possess both— the resources as well as a team of professionals who continually work in reaching out to the millions of audiences out there.

Then, what ought to be the solution? Don’t you think it would have been much easier for these websites if they have ready-to-use information in relation to how to either develop or create a website of their own so that their efforts and the intentions are not laid back? This would be the motto of this post so that even we can have ourselves contributed, as a step towards social responsibility.

Rather than being a typical corporate website, or an ordinary website, a non-profit website needs to have something more so that they create that impact and are able to serve the purpose. We are here, with some of the best design practices that ought to be kept in mind before setting up a non-profit site, be it- for a charity, or a cause, even creating a simple awareness.

1. Less Pain, More Gain

Gain, to tell you frankly, for a non-profit website, to serve the real purpose, donations are something that cannot be ignored. And, to bait the maximum, you ought to make your site donor-friendly. Make it less painful for your visitors, and the potential donors to donate. Make it visible for your donors to know where and in what manner, they ought to donate. Make this effort prominent enough so that even the new donors are attracted and compelled to your site and the cause/causes you work for.

The process of making the donation ought to be simple enough. Try and use a single page donation form and see if the donor does not face any problem while making the transaction. A confirmation mail is a necessity so that even the donor is assured. For any cause, you need to have donations, and that is why, try and keep the process short, simple and straight-forward.

2. The Design and the Layout

It is very important that your logo, the design and the colours as well as the font you choose for your web design should complement the motto and the basic idea behind the organisation. It should be enough to describe your identity and people should be able to get hold of the idea of your cause.

3. Be Informative

Try and be as informative as you can because your content and the profile of your organisation would be the first thing your visitor is going to notice. Every visitor should be in consideration and the landing page should contain an overall statement and a brief, explaining what your organisation is all about. The visitor should quickly get an idea of your organisation and the cause. The About Us page should contain your mission, the agenda, and projects your organisation is working upon.

Images and videos have always sustained to create that one influential impact, so why not give it your best shot for the same.

4. Social Media

More than a fad, it has become a necessity and spreads faster than the word of mouth. Make use of Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot, Myspace, Orkut, and every other social networking site so that you are recognised across the web. No doubt, the more you are on these sites, the more positive responses you would get.

5. Space for the Media

It is very important that you grab media attention because that would be something really huge and would incur positive repercussions. Make you website media friendly so that the journalists, media personnel writers, reporters or persons from any media source are able to raise the profile spread the word across. Make a separate column/page for the these people just as you do in the print media.

Make it easy for them to get the maximum news about your non-profit website, and avail them with the downloading options wherever it is needed, lets say, the news section, footage, coverage, photo gallery and many as such.

6. Volunteers

Bet it an NGO, or a non-profit organisation, for-profit, or a non-profit website, everyone wants volunteers who can share the work. There is a lot of work associated to make the website popular across the globe, and when we have this opportunity to reach out to the millions at the same time, make the best of it. Make your website volunteer-friendly because it won’t be possible that each and everybody who is interested in your website would be willing to contribute in cash… Avail them with the multiple options and be approachable. Give multiple set of contact information in case they feel the need to contact you to render any kind of service for the cause.

And, there is no doubt that any non-profit website would need bloggers and writers, reporters from different spheres and share their inputs. So, why not make it easy for them…?

7. News and Event Section

For any non-profit website, it is very important that your website contains daily updates, news feeds and a list of upcoming events or any campaign. This kind of dynamic nature of the website tends to attract visitors, which in turn increases the chances of turning them into volunteers or may be donors. Review and the testimonial section are a good way to raise the profile of your organisation, and the visitors tend to rely more.

The following tips would actually help you develop that level of trust, which acts as a mobilizer. By including the photographs, videos, and the portals of the people, or the areas that have been benefited from the donations and the volunteer-ship of different people across the globe, you would be actually encouraging other people as well.

Below are a list of few Non-profit website design:

Delivering Africa

Save the Children

The Nature Conservancy

Oxfam

Susan G. Komen

Take the walk

Common Good Radio

carbonica

The Melinda & Gates Foundation

Wiser Girls

Practical Living Family

Unesco