Having a website dedicated to your cause is central to an effective nonprofit digital marketing plan. After all, a website allows you to do everything from driving donations and boosting event registrations to empowering beneficiaries to access your services.
However, it’s not enough to design a visually-stunning and information-packed website, push it live, and call it a day. Instead, you’ll need to be proactive in identifying issues with your site and resolving them, maintaining a strong web presence so that your site remains a reliable tool for getting involved with your cause.
One of the best ways to get ahead of website setbacks is to learn about potential issues your site may face. In this post, we’ll help you get started by walking through three common nonprofit website problems and what you can do to solve them:
- Your website’s visual look doesn’t align with your organization’s brand.
- Your website isn’t engaging visitors.
- Your website isn’t pulling in donations.
Not even the greatest nonprofit websites are immune to problems. But by being aware of common issues that can arise, you can get ahead of website snafus and get back to having your site serve as an asset for your organization. Let’s go!
Problem #1: Your website’s visual look doesn’t align with your organization’s brand.
Some nonprofit organizations make the mistake of designing a beautiful website that isn’t in sync with their larger brand.
When this happens, website visitors can arrive on the nonprofit’s website and see that it isn’t consistent with the rest of the organization’s promotional materials or operations. Then, they may get the impression that the organization is unprofessional or even untrustworthy, opting not to make a donation or get involved in another way.
The Solution
The good news is that your nonprofit site can still be a visual masterpiece—as long as it’s built with the brand elements you’ve already established! According to Kwala’s guide to nonprofit branding, these will likely include:
- Your nonprofit’s name
- Color palette
- Typography
- Logo
- Tagline
It’s also important that your website content be written in the same voice that your organization uses throughout all of your communications.
When your website includes these elements, it will communicate to your website visitors that your organization is unified in its larger mission and vision for a better tomorrow. As a result, you’ll be able to establish your website as an active hub that your supporters can turn to for updated information regarding your work and opportunities for involvement.
To be proactive about maintaining or improving how your website is branded to your organization, create a brand book establishing all the common brand elements outlined above. Then, conduct regular website audits to ensure that your site (especially new content) aligns with your brand and sends one unified message about your cause.
Problem #2: Your website isn’t engaging visitors.
After your nonprofit’s website has been up and running for a while, you may notice that it isn’t generating much traffic or on-site activity (whether that means blog views, email newsletter sign-ups, or event registrations). This means that your site isn’t engaging your visitors in a way that makes them want to stick around and explore your content and resources.
This is such a common problem for nonprofit websites because it’s difficult to truly engage your visitors. In fact, according to Nielsen Norman Group, you only have 10-20 seconds to make a strong impression on your website visitors and convince them to stay on your site.
The Solution
So, how can you grab your visitors’ attention and keep them on your site long enough to engage with your cause in a meaningful way? Here are a few suggestions:
- Make it easier for your visitors to find your website. Start at the beginning of your website visitors’ journey and consider how easy it is for them to find your website. You may need to update your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy or apply for the Google Ad Grant to make sure your website is showing up in a prominent position on search engines’ results pages, making it more likely that people will click on your website.
- Leverage design best practices to make your website easy to use. Visitors will be more likely to engage with your site for a longer period of time when it’s user-friendly and accessible. According to Cornershop Creative’s guide to nonprofit website design best practices, you can make your site more user-friendly by providing clear navigation and making text easy to read and skim. Take your efforts to the next level by optimizing the site for mobile devices and ensuring your site is accessible to everyone.
- Create high-quality content. Don’t just create content for the sake of populating your site. Offer meaningful content that captures your visitors’ emotions and encourages them to act. One of the best tools for doing so is your blog. For example, you might write a blog post about a beneficiary whose life was changed by your services or recap your recent event. You could also spotlight committed volunteers or staff members. By telling your organization’s stories in impactful ways, you’ll keep your visitors interested and reading longer!
As you work to make your website more engaging, consider asking a few volunteers or staff members to explore the site and give you feedback on their experience. This will likely help you pinpoint your most glaring problem areas so that you can focus on making the improvements that will make your site more worthwhile for your supporters to use (and use again!).
Problem #3: Your website isn’t pulling in donations.
More and more nonprofits are embracing the power of online giving, which is growing in popularity. In fact, according to Blackbaud, online giving grew 9% year over year in 2021 alone and is expected to keep climbing.
For donors, online giving is a fast and convenient way to contribute to a cause they’re passionate about. But some nonprofits find that their website isn’t actually helping them pull in donations, meaning they’re missing out on critical support.
The Solution
There are a number of ways to optimize your website to be a better donation tool. Here are a few of our favorite tips to help you get started:
- Fine-tune your donation form. Spend time optimizing your donation form so that it’s short, easy to use, and only asks for the most essential information. If you want to use your donation form to capture additional information about your donors, make sure to mark the form fields as optional. You should also offer different giving options on your form to customize the donation experience. For example, you might allow donors to dedicate their donation to a loved one or to opt into a recurring giving program.
- Write eye-catching calls-to-action. Calls-to-action (CTAs) are short statements that encourage people to do something, such as donating. To direct website visitors to your donation page, write CTAs that grab their attention. For example, “Donate now” is an effective CTA, but a more effective version might be, “Help us save more snow leopards by giving to our rescue fund today!”
- Embed a matching gift database on your donation page. What’s even better than one donation? A donation that is doubled, or even tripled, by a donor’s employer. Some donors may be eligible for this form of corporate philanthropy, known as matching gifts. You can empower your donors to check their eligibility and kickstart the process by embedding a matching gifts database on your donation page. You can make the process even simpler by partnering with a provider that offers auto-submission capabilities.
Once a website visitor decides to donate, they’re in the home stretch. But one small flaw in the process can easily discourage them from completing their gift. By maintaining a streamlined donation page and positioning it effectively on your website, you’ll be more likely to have your website visitors submitting donations instead of abandoning your donation form.
Every nonprofit organization will face website problems at some point, whether you’re new to managing your web presence or you’re scaling your website to reflect organizational growth. Use our tips to get ahead of these three common website problems, and consider working with nonprofit web design experts to take a deeper dive into improving your site. You’ve got this!
Guest post by Ira Horowitz
With 15 years’ experience, Ira is an expert in nonprofit online communications and online fundraising. His work has resulted in increased funds and resounding supporter engagement for hundreds of organizations.
Ira oversees our project management team and works with clients to provide our clients with the best possible final product. He also manages all of our strategic engagements and helps guide nonprofits to determine their long-term strategy goals for online communications.
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