7 Nonprofit Website Elements That Attract Supporters
How does your nonprofit foster and build an online community? You likely engage with supporters on social media, send them regular email updates, and use your website to keep them in the know about your latest activities.
Your website, in particular, can play an essential role in engaging supporters. As your digital marketing hub, your website should provide a one-stop shop for new and existing supporters alike to learn about your organization and get involved.
With that in mind, here are the seven essential website elements that can play a significant role in attracting supporters to your cause:
Information on your nonprofit’s history and mission
Impact stories
A streamlined online donation page
Different ways to donate
Different ways to get involved
A blog
Appreciation messages
If you’re establishing your new website planning and development approach or strategizing for a website upgrade, prioritize these elements within your plans. By doing so, you’ll ensure you’re centering your main audience—current and potential supporters—at every step of the website refresh process. Let’s take a closer look at each of these elements
1.Information on your nonprofit’s history and mission.
Your website is your most visible digital tool for marketing your organization and telling your story. Use your site to design a robust “about” page that highlights your organization’s history and mission.
Make sure you provide the following details about your organization:
Your history, including how your organization was founded and why
Your mission and vision statements
Your current priorities for where you’re directing the bulk of your funding and volunteer work
You probably have this basic information somewhere on your website. But you can make this information more engaging by presenting it in a multimedia format. For instance, you might create an interactive timeline that displays your organization’s history. Or, you can create an infographic that visitors can click through to reveal information about your current guiding priorities.
When you make your mission and position clear and engaging, website visitors can quickly determine whether your organization’s work aligns with their personal values.
2. Impact stories
The most effective nonprofit websites share specific details about the impact donors and volunteers have on their mission. This helps prospective supporters visualize the positive difference they can make by getting involved with your organization. These details also show current supporters the impact of their work, inspiring them to stay involved.
Showcase supporters’ impact across your website using:
Testimonials with direct quotes and interviews with those who benefit from your organization’s services and support.
Statistics that summarize your organization’s successes, such as how many people you’ve served, animals you’ve helped get adopted, trees you’ve planted, etc.
Annual reports that offer financial transparency and a high-level summary of the impact of donations.
Just like your organization’s basic information, presenting these impact stories in a creative, engaging way makes them more memorable for website visitors. For instance, DonorSearch’s guide to nonprofit annual reports recommends creating a video annual report highlighting the key takeaways. You can also create an interactive report with slides, animations, and expandable charts.
3. A streamlined online donation page
A long donation page can quickly deter website visitors from becoming donors. Your “giving” page should be as simple and convenient as possible to encourage visitors to follow through on their intention to donate.
Tweak your donation form by following these best practices for a streamlined page:
Make the process feel faster by splitting your donation form into multiple pages. A multi-step form breaks the process down into manageable steps that can be much less overwhelming than a long form with all of the fields on one page.
Only ask for necessary information, such as donors’ full names, contact information, and payment information. Follow up with a survey later on if you want to gather more insights, such as how donors heard about your organization or what they thought of the online donation process. Avoid including required questions like these in your donation form.
Include suggested donation amounts to provide guidance about how much supporters usually give. This makes it easier for supporters to choose their donation, eliminating the guesswork regarding the appropriate giving amount.
If you’re looking to upgrade your website and enhance it with a better online donation process, determine whether your content management system (CMS) has the necessary tools to create a streamlined process. If not, consider upgrading your system to a more robust platform that can better handle your needs, such as Drupal or WordPress. Kanopi's guide comparing Drupal and WordPress highlights the flexibility and increased functionality these CMS platforms can provide users.
These top CMS platforms can best handle the complex digital needs of nonprofit organizations, including the need for a well-designed donation page.
4. Different ways to donate
Supporters may be interested in different aspects of your mission or specific programs, or they may be interested in adjusting their level of support over time. Flexible donation opportunities allow donors to support your mission in the format that’s right for them.
Use your online donation form and other fundraising pages to highlight:
Your monthly giving program
Opportunities to support specific projects or programs
Planned and legacy giving opportunities
Donor-advised funds
Nonprofit donors like having the flexibility to determine exactly how they want to make their mark on your cause. Offering a wide variety of giving opportunities allows you to appeal to all types of donors.
5. Different ways to get involved
Donating isn’t the only way that supporters can make a significant impact on your organization. In fact, the current estimated value of a volunteer hour is $29.95. Supporting your favorite organization’s projects and programs with time and energy can be just as valuable as monetary donations.
That’s why your website should provide opportunities for visitors to get involved in volunteer activities such as:
Advocacy campaigns
Peer-to-peer fundraising opportunities
Events
Create detailed information pages for these and other activities at your nonprofit. Be sure to include descriptions of how these opportunities help forward your mission, as well as any necessary registration forms.
6. A blog
Your website’s blog can provide additional background information to new supporters along with ongoing updates on your programs, projects, and fundraising progress. Plus, you can show current donors what their donations helped accomplish.
Build out your nonprofit blog by following these tips:
Create consistent updates to ensure your blog roll stays updated and active.
Vary your post format with long-form written content, videos, photo galleries, quizzes, and other multimedia content.
Invite experts from your field or within your organization to act as guest bloggers or participate in interviews.
Promote your blog posts on social media and in your email newsletter to drive traffic.
To increase organic search traffic, incorporate SEO strategies, including relevant keywords in your posts and organizing your content using headers.
Website visitors like to see that your nonprofit is active, and keeping supporters up to date with ongoing activities will increase the chances that more of them sign up to participate.
7. Appreciation messages
Most nonprofit donors and volunteers don’t contribute their time and money because they want an abundance of adoration and recognition. They do it because they believe in an organization’s mission and want to do what they can to help out.
But highlighting your supporters’ contributions and thanking them across your website never hurts! When supporters feel appreciated for their efforts, they’ll be much more likely to continue engaging with your organization, boosting your donor retention rate.
Consider incorporating the following donor appreciation elements into your website:
A virtual donor wall
A thank-you video
Appreciation event information
Benefits for donors, such as exclusive event access and free or discounted merchandise
Your organization relies on the support of donors, volunteers, and engaged advocates to stay in operation. Acknowledge their contributions by incorporating appreciation messages throughout your website.
Including and optimizing these seven website elements will make your nonprofit’s website useful and accessible for new and existing supporters alike. Plus, you can boost your nonprofit’s reputation as an active, dynamic organization that’s constantly striving to exceed supporters’ expectations.