Best Practices for your Self-Managed Nonprofit Website

Building an effective and engaging website for a nonprofit organisation is crucial to maintain a feeling approachability and connection with the people you want to help, and those you want to engage to help the cause.

There are more similarities between a nonprofit website and a regular business website than most people think. I use and love Squarespace for my client’s nonprofit sites because you can have a modern, easy to use website, and manage it yourself too!

To make your site and organization stand apart from the rest, here are a few guidelines to review to ensure you’re giving the best first impression.

1. Know the purpose of your site, before you start making it

You should be able to clearly finish the statement:

“The Purpose of my site is to help [whoever you serve] with [whatever you offer], by [method of providing service].”

This can be deceptively tricky to complete! Many organisations email me asking about my services, and the first thing I ask is “What is the purpose of the site?” If you don’t know this, you may spend a lot of money barking up the wrong tree for a website that doesn’t end up serving the needs of your organisation or the people you want to help. And no one needs to waste their time on that!

I love guiding organisations through their journey from knowing they need a site because ‘someone told them they needed it’, to clearly knowing what their site achieves for them without a doubt. I do an extensive consultation with clients prior to booking, in addition to questionnaires to help them narrow down their needs, goals, and ideal readers. Once that’s established, the brainstorming and design can begin, knowing that the foundation is solid.

2. Tell your story, above the fold

Here’s an example of “telling the story above the fold” - The image, text, and links all show very clearly what this organisation is about - creating a legacy as the women of British Columbia.

Now that you know your purpose, your whole site should emanate it from the moment your site loads! ‘Above the fold’ is an industry term for the imaginary horizontal line at the bottom of the screen before you scroll. Anything before you scroll is “Above the Fold”, anything after is below. Before your ideal reader does anything else on your website, they should know who you are and what you are about, through your imagery, text, and links at the top (navigation).

3. Have a consistent color and font scheme that contributes to your brand

Consistency helps you stand apart. Your readers and donors will know instantly (even subconsciously!) that it’s you when they see your particular style across you website, social media, promotional materials, and signage. Use these things to create a specific atmosphere that helps your reader feel understood and safe.

*Forest green and gold are the two colors used in the organization’s branding already. We added a subtle sage green around the site as well to add a softening effect.*

Don’t think it’s important? Explain that to my 4 year old who triumphantly yells “There’s the blue and green bus that I love!” from our apartment, the street, or the park each time the certain bus company with the plus seats and personalized air conditioning drives by. He gets it, Apple, Nike and McDonalds get it, and your readers do too.

4. Feature with High Quality, Reader Relevant Photography

Your images can truly make or break your website. As a nonprofit, one of your biggest tasks is to establish trust, and high quality photography is a great opportunity to do that. Bringing in a photographer to capture an event, meeting, or those participating in your services can help those on your site see the heart of your organization and why it matters.

In the case of this website, because they are located across British Columbia, we used beautiful nature vistas, along with high quality images of women together, all with colors that blended across the site.

Always ensure you get release permission to use the photographs from those participating, particularly if you’re photographing children. A professional photographer will be able to help you with establishing this.

Never use pixelated images, and if you must purchase stock photography (pre-made images, licensed for your use online), make sure it’s consistent across your site (not some dark, some light, some relevant, some not).

5. Keep it simple to navigate, and mobile responsive

Keep your site navigation (the links across the top of the page) simple and organized. Including too many links can be confusing to those who want to get involved, leading them to click on to a different website. I recommend no more that 5 main links across the top of the site, with additional links in folders if necessary.

6. Ensure your Donation/Join option is prominent

You’ve brought readers to your site, and I’m assuming your goal as an organization is to get some action out of them? Are you looking for donations to further your mission? Are you hoping for new members to join your cause? Are you looking for volunteers to help on projects? Or maybe your website’s main goal is to help those needing a hand to sign up or request aid?

Once you know the primary action you want readers to take, it’s time to put that “Call to Action” (CTA) as part of your main navigation links. See the images above - the gold “Learn How to Join” is always easy to find.

After that? Think of any actions someone may be coming to your site to make, and ensure each page has at least one of them. Feel excessive? It’s not. You never want to leave a reader on a page with no direction on what they can do next to get involved. It’s like leading someone down a hallway, only to reach a dead-end with no door out. “Why am I here?” they ask, “What should I do now?” Don’t leave your readers in the dark - give them clear instruction on how they can proceed!

*Other sections throughout the site direct readers to take an action moving forward..*

7. Consider offering recurring giving options and recommended giving suggestions

Readers are looking for ways to give that doesn’t take time from their busy lives, and asking them to type in their credit card each month can be an obstacle that stops that consistent donation from coming in. It seems silly, but simplifying giving options to give makes all the difference in people signing up. Including a subscription style donation can be an easy way to boost your incoming donations, especially if the website takes care of it for you.

Another easy way to increase the donation amounts is by stating a suggested donation amount. Readers like to be told clearly what their money can achieve - consider stating that a $50 donation can contribute a year’s worth of art supplies for a student in need, or that $100 dollars can provide one cat’s spaying surgery.

Tiered options particularly help, as it helps everyone to feel that their level of gift is needed and appropriate. Adding a $20, $50, $100 option with examples of what kind of difference it can make is a terrific way to incentivize giving and helps the donor ‘feel’ the reward immediately.

8. Encourage staying up to date in various ways

You’ve built a beautiful site - make sure your readers have easy ways to stay connected with everything you do! A few examples of how they can stay up to date:

Use an Events Calendar

Building this into your home page demonstrates how much you have going on, and how they are welcome to participate! It’s also a great place to direct inquiries, to reduce on phone calls to an office. Simply inform those asking to check out your website with the latest details.

Blog turned News

*Don’t underestimate the value of a well updated website! It shows readers you are active and responsible to communicate what’s happening with your organization.*

“Do I have to post recipes on my blog?” Absolutely not (unless you want to)! But a blog can be used for so much more than what you interpret as a ‘blog’. Use it as a powerful archive for any news updates you want to pass on to the public. Include meeting notes, updates from guest writers involved in your organization, interviews of volunteers and those who have used your help, a history of the organization post.. Anything related to your cause!

Consistently updating a blog can also really help your website’s SEO (search engine optimization). This means that those searching for you will be more likely to see you on Google.

Don’t forget to post those updates to your social media to ensure more people find your posts and your website!

Newsletter Updates

*An organized footer that appears on every page is an easy way to feature the most important information of the site in an easily accessible way.*

Don’t waste those blog posts! Reuse content you’ve already created by sending it out as a Newsletter to those who may not casually happen by your site another way. When members and volunteers are signing up, include a section in the form asking them if they’d like to receive your monthly updates! Include your latest blog posts, the notes from a recent meeting, upcoming events, and a testimonial from a happy volunteer. Your newsletter has practically written itself!

9. Make it easy for people to contact you!

*Make yourself easy to be in touch with - it builds trust with your readers!*

Not everyone is comfortable dealing completely online yet - don’t miss the opportunity to make yourself approachable and ready to engage! It’s important your site helps all visitors feel included and informed, so make sure it’s easy to email or call you, find you on other platforms, and stay in touch if they want. This builds long term trust, establishes your legitimacy, and encourages readers that you want to stay connected.

I like to include the phone number, address, and hours (if applicable) in the footer of each page, as well as a specific contact page with an easy to use email submission form to fill out (which reduces spam!).

10. Collect Testimonials from happy volunteers and grateful members

I mentioned this briefly above, but it’s important enough for its own point. I always ask my clients to send a set of questions out to their volunteers, members, and those they’ve helped in the past.

Readers trust reviews. Why? Because a review, or testimonial, answers specific questions or hesitations they’re already thinking, and lets them feel heard.

Here’s an example. This organisation creates community and educates women on issues around their region. What’s a concern one might have about joining a group like this? Not feeling included, or welcomed as a friend. Here’s a testimonial we featured on the home page.

*Help readers feel relieved they’ve found you, and that you’re the best option for them by speaking to their fears and letting them know they’ve found the right spot.*

Really, one could say the same thing about hiring a website designer - “How do I know if the site will be what we want? Will they answer questions I have?”

“Thanks again Katie, for your patience with all our questions - the website is fabulous! We have gotten nothing but great comments on it!”

— Brenda from the British Columbia Women's Institute

See what I did there? :)

And now I’ll insert a “Call to Action”, so you know what to do upon finishing on this page:

Do you want to learn more about building your nonprofit organisation’s website?

Schedule a free consultation call with me to talk more about your needs, and how a well designed website can help!

Book your Free Consultation Call

Now you know the secrets - let’s get to work!

Best Practices for your Self-Managed Nonprofit Website