The Pertinent Question is NOT how to do things right–but how to find the right things to do, and to concentrate resources and efforts on them.
Peter F. Drucker (1909 – 2005)
The non profit community is full of amazing people who are committed to making the world a better place and that is one of the reasons I love working with non-profits. Even if you are a small non profit, a website can be a good strategic use of your resources.
Why getting a website for your small non profit is a good use of resources
- There are affordable web design options
- It provides a place to communicate and promote the passion and purpose of your non profit to the wider world.
- It helps to keep those that are committed to your cause engaged through your latest news stories of changed lives. And for those people who are interested, perhaps on the edges, a website provides a low cost way to keep communicating with them, so they can learn more and perhaps catch the vision.
- It can provide a way to give or volunteer.
- It can also be a vehicle to create community.
I offer affordable web design options for small non profits:
- I will work with your volunteer/s to train them to keep your website up to date.
- I’ll offer a back up service if technical issues come up and I only charge for what needs to be done.
- I have been involved with non profits all my working life both as a volunteer and as paid worker. I’m personally committed to the importance of community building. Have a look at my nonprofit website portfolio.
- I’m keen to make your dollars go a long way:-)
- I can also suggest other IT tools that might be helpful for your organisation eg email loops, facebook page, building email lists etc
Non profit websites, like all websites need to be user friendly, easily navigable, and look great!
What makes a great non profit website?
1. Ease of use, translated into action:-)
It should be very clear on the website what you are about. Your site should be volunteer- friendly and donation friendly. There are people out there who may not make a donation but are still passionate about what you are doing:
- Is the donation process simple and straight forward
- Are there options for making contact? To make it easy for volunteers to contact it is worth including an email address, phone number, and a web contact form if you can.
- Can they join or sign up to a newsletter which is an automated progress saving your volunteers hours of work?
- Are there suggestions for how they get involved practically ?
- Is there a calendar so they can see coming up events that they can come to? Is it easy for someone to keep it updated?
- Can they sign up to a newsletter on the website?
2. Current and regular news.
A Blog: It provides up to date news about what you are doing. I use wordpress as a content management system on my websites and this means I am using a platform that many people are already familar with, making it as easy as possible for volunteers without a great deal of technical ability to write and publish content.
Having a blog or news section
- gives a reason for people to come back ( that could be by subscribing to an RSS feed or email alert.)
- Helps keep your site visible and increase exposure providing you will more traffic.
- Good for SEO which makes it easier for people to find your site
3. The Design should reflect your content and mission. Often something robust and simple is best.
