Fundamental Needs of a Typical Nonprofit Website


Fundamental Needs of a Typical Nonprofit Website

Let's get a couple of things straight first when it comes to handling the basic requirements of your respective nonprofit website . A simple website design is an effective website design. Furthermore, sending "mixed messages" to your visitors is a definite no-no too. Besides which, the foremost part of your main or front page should always be your donation page link if you're managing a typical nonprofit organization site (church websites are allowed to have more leeway in that regard because their emphasis should instead be online evangelization or web ministry instead of merely collecting tithes from their faithful). By doing so, you'll guarantee that your nonprofit website will make it easy for donors to donate, which in turn will encourage them to donate more and often.

Never Forget the Following

Designing a simple attractive banner or button that visitors can click as soon as they get to your main page will suffice. Being too pushy about donations will discourage donors from donating to your cause regardless of how worthy it is (because they'll probably just opt to put their money on another similar nonprofit organization or cause). Being a bit too overzealous in getting donation cash just reeks of the actions of an untrustworthy scam artist, so web designers should put a donation button at the front page of a site and just leave it at that. Being too forceful and annoying about the acquiring a donation via misleading links, redirects, and even adware (which is considered malware nowadays) is a surefire way of losing the trust and patience of your visitors. Immediate access to the donation page does not equal forcing people there by hook or by crook, after all.

It's probably a good idea to simplify the donation process. Don't require your donors to setup user accounts in your website so that they can have the "privilege" to donate to your nonprofit organization through the Internet. What's more, aside from making the donation process simple, you should make it as secure as possible too. You should employ state-of-the-art encryption technology or use payment services (like PayPal) that are trusted all over cyberspace. It's not in your bet interests to make your visitors suspicious about what you're going to do with their personal information (because online cash transactions typically require the exchange of sensitive information like your credit card information, your name, your social security number, and so forth), so getting premium-grade donation software is a must for your nonprofit site.