Honestly speaking, there isn't much of a difference between how to develop a website for a charity and a website in general. The fundamentals of design remain the same: the website must be attractive, leave an impression on the intended audience, and maximize conversion rates.
However, there is one aspect of creating a charity website that is very significant: How can your organization continue to assist its supporters and really shows your true worthiness and accountability?
The Chronicle of Philanthropy revealed in a 2015 research that about 35% of Americans lack faith in charitable organizations since charity organizations frequently receive a ton of criticism for their work.
Eventually, donors will naturally want to get more active when they feel linked to your organization and that they can totally rely on you.
Fortunately, your website is a tremendous advantage. A nonprofit's legitimacy is demonstrated and its supporters' confidence is increased via a useful, effective website.
Here are 9 suggestions on how to build a charity website that people will respect!
Must-have elements of a non-profit website
Let's take a look at the most essential elements for a nonprofit website:
1. About us page:
It should go without saying, but your nonprofit website really must have an "About Us" page. This is your company's chance to tell a tale and exhibit its character. Let your readers know your true intention for establishing your charity organization, who you want to support, and why. Also, let them know your vision for the next 5 or 10 years so that they can really understand your motive
2. What you do and how:
What your activities are going to be, how you are going to carry on, your team and donors, the process of asking for donations, and everything else that involves. You might also want to include your social media links so that your fans can easily check and react or share your activities with the public.
3. Donate button:
Making it simple for visitors to donate to your cause is critical since donations are an essential aspect of nonprofit organizations. There are many fantastic, simple solutions that enable businesses to put a Donate Now button on their websites. The popular choices are Network for Good, Donor Perfect, and Bloomerang, to name a few.
4. Staff pages:
Show website visitors the people who are supporting your cause. The ideals, professional backgrounds, and connections of your employees to the company provide authenticity and humanize your brand. The fact that your organization is made up of really dedicated and diligent people is further highlighted via staff pages.
Read more: 4 steps to master brand positioning and real examples
5. Testimonial:
Third-party validation still exerts a significant effect on website visitors. This rationale is frequently what someone may be seeking to be persuaded to take action and support your cause. Make sure your testimonials include first-hand accounts and perceptions that provide a "genuine perspective" of the efforts and outcomes of your business. Don't forget to include testimonials from the people you've helped as well as from your volunteers (when appropriate).
6. Contact information:
You desire others to reach out to you. Then provide them with the necessary equipment so they can complete it. Without a contact page, a website can only communicate in one direction. Allowing people to contact you will allow you to communicate with your audience and provide more than just information. Consider using a contact form to organize your work instead of just entering an email address.
9 Tips for your charity website development
A well-made nonprofit website may improve your internet visibility, boost online donations, generate media coverage, and more! Here's how you should do it:
1. Use a clean and simple design
The design of your nonprofit's website is more important than ever. Potential volunteers and funders will be far less inclined to think about supporting the cause if a website is antiquated, hard to navigate, or aesthetically unpleasant.
Nonprofit organizations must establish their authority through an authoritative, current, and professional website in light of the most recent technological developments.
2. Connect with your CRM system
All of the information you get through web forms will be instantly added to your donor profiles once your website and CRM are integrated. In other words, integration makes data administration less time- and hassle-consuming!
You should search for a donor database throughout the purchasing process that can provide branded forms that are simple to add to your website. On the other hand, if you're searching for a new web server, ensure that it can handle your CRM.
As an alternative, search for a supplier that offers both software and web design services with several years of expertise in the market.
3. SEO features
Features for search engine optimization make your nonprofit's website stand out more in search engine results, bringing in more visitors.
Read more: 5 important SEO trends you can't ignore in 2022
Since most of your staff members are probably not programmers, your team will want readily editable SEO capabilities embedded into your content management system (CMS).
4. Invest in a CMS tailored to nonprofits
The daily upkeep and expansion possibilities of your website are greatly influenced by the software you used to build it.
Nonprofit organizations often concentrate on collecting money, promoting their causes, and winning the support of their communities, as opposed to for-profit businesses that prioritize producing sales.
Finding a CMS that takes these variations into account and offers your nonprofit the proper tools to accomplish its objectives is thus advised.
5. Be consistent
Your fans will remember you longer if you keep your brand consistent across your website. Text often takes longer for our brains to digest than visuals. This implies that any visual irregularities in the design of your website will be rapidly noticed by visitors.
Also, you should be consistent with your website's visual aspects on every page, such as your typography, logos, picture quality and theme, site colors, etc.
6. Invest in UX
User Experience helps your visitors to have a pleasant experience while using your website. Simply put, users quickly get to and do what they want on your site. Make sure your nonprofit's site is easy to navigate. It will reward you with increased donations and low bounce rates, which is why UX design matters.
Read more: Incredible business value of a good UX design
7. Add an online donation form
A donation page and online donation form are the main parts of your nonprofit's website. They are the center of the site and implement the primary goal, so use maximum strength in their development.
You should consider creating them so that people from any part of the world can easily donate, and consider adding a quick donation option to your site as well.
8. Design a volunteer-friendly charity website
Running a nonprofit organization doesn't only require money. The team needs individuals that are motivated to join it. In addition, some people are willing to help others even when they lack the resources to offer money.
As a result, you must additionally add a link to the "Volunteer" page from the home page in addition to the one to the "Donation" page. An easy-to-use contact form would be a fantastic alternative.
9. Partner with the leading web design companies
The easiest method to make sure you have a nicely-designed website that not only fit your needs but also wow your visitors is to choose the finest web development company for your nonprofit's project.
Read more: Top Countries for Software Outsourcing Development in 2022!
A stunning and successful nonprofit website depends on collaboration. You'll build a website that will disseminate your nonprofit's purpose and stimulate more contributions when your organization collaborates with the charity web development company you've picked to bring your special skills to the project.
Golden Owl has been working in the web design industry for years with clients around the world. They are happy with their website results since we always do work from the heart. Now let us help you spread your kindness to the world! Contact us for a free consultation today!
