Your nonprofit’s website is a hub for all information about your organization, including everything from how to donate to how to sign up for events. It should be full of meaningful content that serves long-time supporters, current donors, and newcomers to your cause. But meeting the evolving needs of these audiences requires constant changes and growth.
A website growth or transition plan is a strategy for growing your website sustainably over time. Keep these four tips in mind when developing your growth plan:
- Determine your goal
- Research your audience
- Align your digital strategy across platforms
- Consider working with a website development partner
Top nonprofit websites aren’t static. If your website hasn’t been revisited by its designer in a while, it probably won’t be visited by many potential supporters, either. A robust growth plan will allow your nonprofit to make continual adjustments that come together to make major significant positive changes.
1. Determine your goal
Before you make any changes to your website, identify a goal for refreshing it and the optimizations you plan to make. What are you hoping to accomplish with your website? How is your site currently succeeding and in what areas can it improve based on this goal? Your website refresh may target any of the following objectives:
Usability and design updates
Do your donation pages make it easy for your supporters to donate? Is the site menu easy to navigate? Website visitors won’t stay long if they can’t figure out how to access the information they need, so you might refresh your website to help the user experience.
Similarly, the content on your website should be helpful and answer any questions that users could be looking for. For example, landing pages for fundraisers or events should be thorough and informative. Refresh your content to keep it relevant and up-to-date.
Ease-of-access and relevant information are helpful, but your website should also be eye-catching. Updating the visual aspects of each page and incorporating your unique branding can help your site be more appealing.
Content strategy
Developing a strategy for your website’s content can help ensure that every page is designed to support your mission. Consider the story you want to tell, the tone that your messaging should take, and the themes you want to emphasize. You might do this through:
- Educational blog posts
- Webinars and panels
- Social media posts
- Videos
Refresh your content to give context to your work and your mission. As your mission expands or you meet certain goals, update your website to reflect that.
Accessibility
Does every visitor to your website have equal access to its information? You might need to refresh your website to ensure it’s meeting the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
SEO
Using search engine optimization (SEO) strategies, you can increase your website visibility by structuring your content to meet internet search queries more directly. Consider refreshing your website to make the content apply to a broader audience. This will help your website get attention from anyone searching certain keywords instead of your supporters searching for your specific nonprofit.
Transitioning to a new CMS
Have you avoided a website refresh because web design is too complicated? Maybe your CMS doesn’t offer the functionality you need to implement an optimized design. If your CMS isn’t working for you, consider switching to a new one.
Kanopi’s comparison of top platforms WordPress and Drupal explains that finding a new CMS requires determining what the right system is for your organization’s unique needs. This will likely be a major project that requires a developer’s help. Moving all your information to a new CMS is a time-consuming and delicate process. By enlisting a professional developer’s assistance, you can ensure that you’re managing the transition as efficiently and securely as possible.
Migrating to a new CMS version
Maybe you like your CMS, but your current version is becoming obsolete. In this case, it’s helpful to update your website as soon as possible. For example, Drupal 7’s end-of-life date is November 2023, so it’s recommended to migrate your website to Drupal 10 before then.
Choose one or more primary goals to be the focus of your website growth plan. Keep in mind that if you’re targeting multiple goals, it can be helpful to work with a web development professional to help streamline the planning process.
2. Research your audience
Your website exists to serve your audience, so research your audience and their needs when creating a plan for the future. This research could include:
- Developing audience profiles: Consider who your audience is and group them by characteristics relevant to their involvement in your cause. This will make it easier for you to cater your website to their specific needs.
- Mapping the user journey: User journeys are the actions that different visitors take while on your website to find the information they’re looking for. Make sure the journey is streamlined and intuitive for each of your audience groups.
- Referencing current user experience best practices: Optimize your nonprofit’s website design for user experience, such as by streamlining your mobile version and minimizing page load time.
Narrowing down your target audience will help you assess how well you’re meeting your audience’s needs and what you can improve to better appeal to their interests.
3. Align your digital strategy across platforms
How will your website fit into your digital marketing strategy as a whole? Determine how your website will work with other channels and campaigns such as:
- Social media: Feathr notes that social media is an easy resource to help you build relationships with your donors. How can your website supplement the relationship-building strength of social media? For example, you might feature a live Instagram or Twitter feed on your homepage that displays posts with your organization’s unique hashtag.
- Email: You might communicate with your donors via email, but your website can reach an audience that hasn’t committed to your email list yet.
- Online ads: Consider placing ads online, especially utilizing free options such as Google Ad Grants for nonprofits. Drive traffic to important website pages like your online donation form or volunteer sign-up page.
- Virtual events: Make your next fundraising event virtual to boost engagement, reach a wider audience, and lower event costs. Use your website to promote and host your livestreamed virtual experience.
By aligning your digital strategy, you can promote a uniform brand image across multiple platforms. Not only will this reinforce your nonprofit’s message, but it can also foster a broader digital audience.
4. Consider working with a website development partner
If you’ve identified clear goals for your website and the audience you’re trying to reach but don’t know how to put your plans into action, look into hiring a website development partner. These professionals can offer services like:
- A deep dive into your website to review your code and structure
- Personalized growth recommendations
- Management of website migrations, such as upgrading to a newer version of Drupal
- Website optimization for long-term growth by giving your team a blueprint to follow for future updates
Delegating this task to a website development partner can be efficient in two ways: the website will be professionally optimized and your time will be freed to focus solely on your nonprofit’s work.
As you consider ways to grow your nonprofit’s website, focus on the goal of your digital presence and the tools you can use to reach your audience. There are countless ways to cater your website to the specific growth goals for your nonprofit. If you’re not sure where to start, reach out to a professional for more help.
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