Nonprofit Website Design: Keys to Success

The greatest tool for building a nonprofit organization’s identity and fundraising efforts is their organization’s nonprofit website. Nonprofit website design is all about increasing website traffic, communicating effectively with your audience and providing clear calls to action, and keeping supporters and donors coming back. How well a nonprofit website responds and caters to its donors during a fundraising campaign determines how successful it is, and overall the nonprofit´s ability to raise money is directly linked to good web design.

DoJiggy creates nonprofit fundraising websites that are innovative, responsive, and create a positive impact for donors. Supporters want to find what they are looking for quickly, so clear navigation and calls to action are key.

7 Nonprofit Website Design Elements for Success

We will outline the following Nonprofit Website Design Elements for Success. Ensure that your non-profit website uses great website design elements as described here, to keep your organization competitive and successful.

Flexibility of Nonprofit Website Design
Dedicated Donations and Campaign pages
Utilizing a Nonprofit Blog
Mobile Responsive Website Design
Working with Color and Font
Image Management
Non-profit Website Security

Yogi Flexibility

Proprietary software for web design for nonprofits is becoming a thing of the past. Customized non-profit website templates and fundraising software are easier to use and less expensive. Easy, custom templates for non-profit organizations and schools provide more flexibility, allowing organizations to continually upgrade their websites to stay ahead of the game.

Flexible and open source web design for nonprofits is the best choice because it produces a more diverse nonprofit website design and is sustainable on a long-term basis. Easily adaptable software has thus resulted in saving charity organizations money due to the flexibility in customized web design for nonprofits. They statistically bring in more money from donors by interacting with them and by making the best nonprofit websites that are easy for them to use.

Dedicated Donation & Campaign Pages

Over 70% of nonprofit website donations are made by busy people taking the time to fill out an online donation form. Last year that was over $300 billion dollars in the US alone. When someone has made the choice to donate and finds they are spending too much time completing a form, half of them will leave. They may tell themselves they will return later when they have more time, but your website needs to engage donors when and where they are ready to make a donation.

Place yourself in the shoes of your donors. If you are asking them too many questions consider cutting them in half. Having to create an account is one of those unnecessary steps that causes donors to leave before donating. Too many clicks is another. Make your donation process user-friendly by using innovative web design for nonprofits.

Creating a special event or campaign page for an upcoming walkathon fundraiser, charity gala or non-profit crowdfunding event makes things clearer for supporters. It also allows you to market the event using a link to this page rather than your homepage, yet it drives traffic to your nonprofit website. It saves you from always adjusting your current donate now page and allows you to provide all relevant information on an event. Make sure the page is easy to find on your nonprofit website by highlighting it on the home page and via an Events or Campaign menu.

Be sure to add a great photo with a caption on your homepage to the campaign page. Changing the photo and caption every week is a marketing opportunity. It attracts new donors and keeps existing supporters engaged. Rather than marketing the whole campaign on your homepage, a photo with a changing caption will draw them in.

Easy to Use Non-profit Blog

Adding a blog is key to a good non-profit web design communication strategy. It is a place to discuss your organization’s mission and success stories, highlight those affected by your organization, announce fundraising efforts, spotlight volunteers, and share specific projects and stories. Link your campaign pages and donation page to blog articles to keep potential donors engaged with your work. The topics are endless because nonprofit storytelling involves every aspect of your cause, and donors want details. Share your blogs on all social media platforms with engaging, heartfelt photos.

Adding the same blog to social media platforms a second time is a great idea provided your sharing a new aspect of it. Highlight a different part of the same blog you had posted three or six months ago. Your donors will appreciate seeing it again and focusing on a new angle or insight. Not everyone will have seen it the first time. Your message is what matters.

All of DoJiggy’s nonprofit websites include a WordPress blog.

Mobile Responsive Pages and Giving

Though we spend so much time on the go, a surprising number of nonprofit websites still do not offer mobile giving. This is due to outdated technology and the cost of upgrading. If a nonprofit website is responsive, mobile giving can as much as double your donations. Make your communications and donation process as easy as possible for donors by allowing them to use their smartphones or tablets to complete donation forms.

DoJiggy offers a mobile-responsive free donations website!

Bright Colors & Branding Fonts

Nonprofit website design is using more color than prior years. Brighter tones of color are appealing to many supporters in terms of current trends for web design for nonprofits. Black and white images can be juxtaposed with full color to make a point and stand out.

Another great way to brand your organization is to use original fonts on your nonprofit website. If you decide to use stock fonts, regularly using the same ones will still help to brand your organization. The key is using the same combination of fonts on your website as on your printed material.

High Quality Original Photos

Capture the feelings of your organization by taking your own photos, instead of relying on stock images. Find the photographers in your staff, volunteers and donors to save money. Hiring a photographer for major events or a one-time photo shoot can certainly be worth the cost, as well. Regardless of who takes the photos, you’ll have images that speak to your audience.

Photography is an art form because of the feelings invoked and the message captured in them. It is a true way to reach your donors and cause them to fall in love with your cause in a way that stock images usually cannot.

“You don’t have to sort of enhance reality. There is nothing stranger than truth.” Annie Leibovitz

Non-profit Website Security Features

Donors are more and more savvy and need to be confident and comfortable sharing their personal information and making contributions with your organization.

Maintaining online security can be expensive and hard to monitor for non-profit organizations and schools. SSL certificates, PCI compliance, intrusion detection, vulnerability testing, and patching systems for the latest threats are difficult to manage. Organizations that take credit cards online are required to be PCI compliant or face major fines. Finding a nonprofit website platform that includes these important security features is of the utmost importance. DoJiggy manages this process for you so fundraising, donor retention and growing your programs may be your primary focus.

Summary of Nonprofit Website Design Tips

These tips and flexible web design for nonprofits that is easy to edit, add pages and add blogs are key. Stay in line with the head of the pack by using current trends. Make things easy for your donors. Be clear and informative with your web pages and social media posts that drive traffic to your site. Most importantly, be authentic with your photos and messaging.

DoJiggy provides beautiful nonprofit website templates, making great design easy.

Driving Traffic to Your Nonprofit Website

Once your nonprofit website is designed to your liking, bringing supporters and new donors to key pages on your site is the next important task. To raise money through your donation page and campaign pages, digital marketing is essential. Providing clear details of campaigns so people can get join is so important. Bring top donors to your organization through the best nonprofit websites and inspire them.

Send something new and appealing regarding events, blog articles, donors, staff and volunteers and don´t be afraid to do it often. Use social media, email, newsletters and media to drive traffic to your nonprofit website. Good writing is engaging no matter where you find it.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is also important and will bring new supporters to your organization. SEO basically means that search engines find your website and content appealing and therefore, bring it to the top of searches. All of DoJiggy’s nonprofit websites include Yoast for SEO, so that you can track readability and basic SEO statistics on each website page. Be sure your Development Director or Webmaster has SEO training, or bring in a consultant to help with these essential duties for your nonprofit website. Read more on the importance of SEO for non-profits.