9 Great Nonprofit Website Design Elements

Your non profit organization is set up, all the cogs are in motion. So now your thinking about getting a nonprofit website design. Or maybe you have a nonprofit website that just isn’t doing what you think it should. Here are

9 nonprofit website design elements

that can help boost your donor giving results.

Go Mobile

Look around you. What do you see? Specifically, what devices are people carrying about? Laptops or smartphones? Chances are most people have their smartphones out doing everything from talking, to banking, and yes giving donations. The world is crazy about mobile.

Get Their Attention

Your marketing has finally paid off and someone has landed on your website. Now what? Draw their attention to what you want them to do. Take Feeding Northeast Florida for example. When you land on their homepage, you can quickly notice the big orange buttons to Donate, Volunteer or Advocate

Use Emotional Images

Nothing opens a person’s wallet faster than a tug at the heart strings. Using images that focus on the emotion of your cause shouldn’t be hard. You’re already passionate about your cause, now show everyone why. Chances are, it will engage new and potential donors as well!  This is a must when it comes to nonprofit website design elements.

Simplify

No one likes giving away too much information or spending tons of time filling out long forms. You’ve got your donor at the cusp of helping you out, don’t turn them off by being needlessly long. Keep your donation form trim, asking only for the information needed to complete the online transaction.

Give Amounts

Want to increase your average online donation amount? Suggest a handful of amounts with a last choice being other. This psychologically gets people to give larger amounts than they would if they were left to just pick any amount. The “Other” choice is essential though. This will allow those who can’t give quite as much an option, and on the other end of the spectrum gives your larger donors a way to contribute as well.

Encourage People To Give Monthly

One time donations are really nice, especially the bigger ones. But a monthly recurring donation is so much better. Make sure you offer a simple way for donors to opt-in to monthly giving.

Encourage Communication

Don’t make it easy for your donors to forget about you. They gave you money so they must care about your cause as well. Take this opportunity to have a checkbox that lets them opt-in to your email list where you can nurture a long-term relationship.

Security

Sending money over the internet can be a risky venture. You need to have all the common security measures in place to make your donors feel secure. Make sure you have a SSL certificate in place and that your website has been secured. Show that security to your donors with any security badges, BBB logo and the like on your website as well.

A great example of this is the Arthritis Foundation added a simple Norton/Verisign logo to the bottom of their donation form and a BBB and SiteLock logo in the footer. Now all potential donors will see these security icons as they’re about to click the donate button. Even if they are not intentionally looking for them, it gives people a sense that you are secured.

Email The Receipt

Email a receipt to your donors with a nice thank you. This is not only good etiquette, but it’s a much needed receipt for tax and tracking purposes. This is a great place to encourage your donors to join your mailing list and let them know that they will receive information on how their gift is being used and the impact it is having.

While these are great nonprofit website design elements, remember there is more that goes into nonprofit digital marketing. There’s the way you funnel a donor through your website. And don’t forget to nurture your donors and potential donors with a consistent email marketing campaign. Social media is also a great way to get your organization’s name out there and drive traffic to your website (that you’ve now optimized!!!)

If you’d like help with any of this, we’re here to help. Let us give you an audit of your nonprofit website and see what you might be missing.