An effective nonprofit blog is an indispensable marketing tool. The best blogs engage audiences by making personal connections with readers and sharing insider mission information.

This guide will explore best practices for creating a blogging and content strategy that drives audience engagement, encourages donations, and makes readers feel like part of your nonprofit’s community. 

1. Align content to your target audience’s interests.

One of the most important steps in building a productive blogging strategy is creating content that engages and appeals to your audience. Supporters won’t read your blog just because they have a relationship with your nonprofit—they want to engage with informative, interesting content that actively furthers their understanding of your cause.

To understand your audience’s interests, create audience personas. These are fictional representations of different audience segments. For instance, you could create personas based on how individuals interact with your mission, whether as volunteers, donors, or beneficiaries. 

Add specific details that bring your personas to life. For example, you can answer these questions:

• What communication platforms do these individuals use?
• What other blogs do they like to read?
• Who do they follow on social media?

Then, strategize ways to match your language, tone, and style to your audience’s interests. For example, let’s say you create a persona for your younger supporters. You could create blog posts that incorporate social media posts and TikTok videos to appeal to younger audiences’ interests. 

Use this template to facilitate the persona creation process:

This template offers space to add demographic and behavioral information about your personas and strategize your intended messaging. Build around three to five primary personas to ensure that you’re reaching everyone in your target audience. 

2. Vary your post length.

Make your blog roll more dynamic by mixing up your blog post lengths. There are advantages to writing both short and long-form posts: 

• Short-form posts of around 300-500 words can be read quickly from a mobile device and they help deliver timely or urgent messages to your audience. For example, you could publish a short post to update your audience on how far you are from your $20,000 crowdfunding campaign goal. 
• Longer, in-depth posts of 1,500 or more words allow you to dive more deeply into important topics that your audience is interested in. Longer posts that provide comprehensive, credible information about a specific topic also help improve your blog’s search engine rankings. You could write longer posts to share a beneficiary’s story or explain a complex issue relevant to your mission. 

Since longer-form posts take more time to craft, plan to publish them less frequently, such as once a month. That will give you the time you need to make these posts comprehensive and incorporate engaging multimedia elements. 

3. Create engaging and interactive content.

Research shows that interactive content earns more engagement and twice as many conversions as static content. Consider incorporating interactive content into your blog, such as: 

• Quizzes
• Polls
• Image galleries or slideshows
• Interactive maps
• Interactive videos

Your nonprofit’s content management system (CMS) may offer built-in tools or add-ons that make it easier to create interactive content. For example, WordPress offers plenty of free and premium plugins for extending your blog’s functionality. For more complex content needs, it’s recommended to work with a professional developer or designer to bring your ideas to life. 

4. Make your content inclusive and accessible. 

Inclusive and accessible content makes your blog readable and relatable to all visitors, no matter who they are. Build an inclusive online community by adding these elements to your blog posts: 

• Images with diverse individuals that reflect the demographics represented by your nonprofit’s supporters and beneficiaries. Add authenticity by using unposed images of real community members rather than stock photos. 
• Options to read your content in different languages depending on your audience’s needs. For example, you could make your content available in both Spanish and English if many members of your community speak both languages. 
• Accessible content, with alternative text for images, captions for videos and audio elements, sufficient color contrast, and other usability must-haves. 
• Simple language free of jargon. Casual content makes your blog more welcoming to new audiences.

Inclusive and accessible content provides a better online experience for all website users and shows supporters that your organization values their individual needs. 

5. Ensure your content is useful and relevant.

Build your nonprofit’s authority, credibility, and trustworthiness by offering truly educational and useful blog content. Take steps such as: 

• Adding statistics and hard data relevant to your nonprofit’s work or cause area
• Highlighting past successes using data, first-hand interviews, and images
• Posting news, updates, and press releases related to your cause

You can also share helpful information, resources, and how-to guides relevant to your organization’s mission. For example, if your nonprofit is focused on promoting fire safety, you can offer a how-to guide for keeping your home fire-safe in dry months, citing instructions and best practices from the National Fire Protection Association. 

With educational content like this, supporters will consider your blog a valuable resource and check it more regularly to stay informed. 

6. Tell compelling stories.

If you want to truly connect to your audience through your blog posts, they need to evoke powerful emotions. Facilitate a stronger relationship by sharing compelling personal stories related to your nonprofit. 

For example, share a story of how a family with a shy 6-year-old daughter adopted a dog from your animal shelter, and describe how the dog helped her come out of her shell and thrive. 

Create emotional ties to your content by including images, audio clips, and videos that bring your stories to life. Images in particular are much more attention-grabbing than text alone—they’re much more likely to be remembered, and the human brain can process them incredibly quickly (in only about 13 milliseconds).  

7. Spotlight your supporters.

Your supporters make it possible for your nonprofit to work toward your mission, meaning they should be centered in your blog content. Use your blog to spotlight supporters’ accomplishments and stories. Interview audience members such as: 

• Volunteers
• Donors
• Staff
• Board members

Highlight individuals from all stages of the supporter journey. For example, you could interview a long-time board member about their experience, or spotlight brand-new volunteers to welcome them to your organization. This shows audience members that you value all supporters, no matter how long they’ve been involved or how much time they can devote to your cause. 

8. Maintain a consistent posting schedule. 

Your blogging strategy should have a rhythm. Whether it’s weekly or three times a month, your readers should be able to rely on new and relevant content regularly. Plus, fresh content tends to perform better in search engine rankings. It also reassures your readers that your organization is active and constantly working toward its mission.

Think about it—how would you feel about a nonprofit if you visited their website and noticed they haven’t updated their blog since 2020? You may get the impression that the organization is no longer operating or that they’ve scaled their efforts down, even if that’s not truly the case. This underscores the importance of maintaining an active posting schedule.

9. Use eye-catching calls to action. 

Calls-to-action (CTAs) are rallying cries you use to inspire blog readers to take action after engaging with your posts. Common calls to action include: 

• Donate now
• Become a monthly donor
• Join our volunteer crew
• Share this post on social media
• Sign our petition
• Leave a comment to let us know what you think

Your blog posts inspire readers and encourage them to engage with what your nonprofit has to offer. Your CTAs give readers the tools they need to get involved. 

Make it easy for readers to take the next steps by ensuring your CTAs lead to useful landing pages. For example, your “Donate Now!” CTA should lead to your mobile-friendly, streamlined, branded donation page. This builds trust with your readers and makes it convenient for them to get involved with activities they’re interested in. 

10. Share your posts across all marketing channels. 

Be proactive about marketing your blog posts to your audience. Many supporters may not check your website regularly, so bring your blog posts to them using promotional channels like: 

• Social media. Share your posts on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Foster engagement by responding to comments and asking supporters to share the post with their networks. 
• Google Ads. Google Ads are the paid advertisements that appear at the top of Google search results. Use these ads to promote your blog posts to an audience of individuals who are searching for terms related to your nonprofit. As a nonprofit, you may also be eligible for the Google Ad Grant, which provides organizations with a free $10,000 per month in Google Ad spend. 
• Email. Send out an email update when you have new blog content to share. Include a quick snippet of the post in the email and provide a link where subscribers can read the full post. 

Track engagement across marketing channels to determine which platforms lead to the highest click-through rate. Focus more of your attention on your top-performing platforms to drive a higher ROI for your blogging strategy. 

 

Keep up with new nonprofit blogging trends and best practices by regularly reading top nonprofit blogs. Use resources like Kanopi’s roundup of best nonprofit websites to stay in the know of how organizations like yours approach blogging and pay special attention to elements such as blogging frequency, topics covered, and multimedia elements. 

With these tips, you’ll be well on your way to creating a nonprofit blog that serves as a supporter engagement tool and valuable community resource.

The post 10 Best Blogging Practices for Nonprofit Organizations appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

Driving people to your website is just half the battle; once they’re there, you must ensure that your website design invites them to stay a while. The longer someone is on your site, the better your odds are of converting them from an online visitor to a supporter.

This is what we call a “sticky” website. The longer you can get visitors to browse around, the better on two fronts: One, they’re more likely to take some sort of action (which hopefully leads to a donation), and two, your “average time on page” stats will be better, which tells Google and other search engines that your website is a valuable source of information—and that leads to more traffic.

Creating a sticky site doesn’t have to be a huge endeavor; in fact, several small moves can add up to a big impact. Let’s look at 10 of them you can start implementing right away.

Ten strategies and website design best practices that will improve your bounce rate:

1. Incorporate videos into your website design.

People love them, and if you include a video on your homepage that features people talking about your mission, what you’ve been up to lately, or introducing the people behind your brand, this is a surefire way to get people to stick. Just don’t make it a movie—save that for Netflix. Try to keep it around 1-3 minutes, then give viewers a call to action at the end (sign up for our newsletter, donate now, volunteer, etc.).

2. Have the functionality that your visitors need in order to engage with you.

If they want to make a donation, can they do that right there on your website without having to go to a third-party payment platform? If they want to register for an event, can they complete the whole process without having to leave? Incorporating tools and features that engage and empower your visitors will significantly improve your bounce rate.

3. Make your CTAs (calls to action) clear and easy to find.

“Donate Now.” “Sign Up for Our Newsletter.” “Volunteer for an Event.” “Become a Member.” There’s no question with any of these CTAs what you want a donor to do or how you want them to respond. Sometimes we get shy or nervous about making a straightforward ask, but online visitors are busy and movin’ and groovin’, and you have to be clear and compelling in order to capture their attention. Don’t beat around the bush or make things confusing.

4. Be sure your website design is mobile-friendly.

With so much online traffic coming from mobile users these days, your website design must be adaptable to a smartphone or tablet. If it isn’t, don’t expect people to stick around—the days of clumsy pinching and zooming around an awkward website on a mobile device are over. People will leave if your website doesn’t play nicely with small screens.

5. Keep your content fresh.

If you have a blog, create a content calendar and stick to it, ensuring that your blog is regularly updated with new, valuable content that is useful and original. This signals to both your visitors and search engines that someone is at work delivering value to the people who visit your site. Learn more about creating an effective content plan with our article on editorial calendars.

6. Use clear headlines and short blocks of text to keep your web content scannable.

Long paragraphs of text are a big turn-off; ain’t nobody got time for that. Communicate with smart headlines, short paragraphs (think 2-4 sentences), easy-to-read text boxes and quick blurbs.

Rarely will people read everything on your website word-for-word; most people scan. Break up your content so it’s easy for people to get the gist of who you are and what you do by scanning.

7. Use social proof or testimonials.

This is a great way to up your street cred, because people love to hear from other people about your org. Are you trustworthy with integrity and transparency? Let a current donor tell them. Do you fundraise ethically? Let a loyal supporter say so. Are you accomplishing your mission with the money you raise? Use a testimonial from someone you’ve served. Let others speak about your organization in order to give it credibility and keep people browsing around your website, hoping to learn more about you and the people who support your cause.

8. Keep your navigation simple.

If I have to click around too much in order to get where I want to go, yikes—I’ll just leave before I get there, because like it or not, we’re a nation of short attention spans and low patience. It’s important that your website design is clean, uncluttered, and easy to navigate so that your visitors can get from point A to point B in just a few clicks.

9. Evaluate your website load time.

Does it take a minute for your full website to appear, while your visitor is tapping their fingers impatiently on their desk? You have basically three seconds to convince someone that your website is worth sticking around for. Not only do people expect speed today, but they make lightning-quick decisions, and if your website is taking too long to load, they’re likely to bounce away just as quickly as they landed. There are several tools you can use to evaluate your website’s load time, or you can talk to one of our website experts for a quick eval, as well.

10. With every website design decision, keep your end user in mind.

Too often our website design decisions reflect our personal preferences instead of what appeals to the general public. We highlight our accomplishments and showcase our talents and give ourselves a big ol’ digital pat on the back. It’s wonderful to tell the world about the great things you’re doing—but be sure that you’re touting the good stuff on a website that’s been created and built for the people who are interested in supporting your nonprofit, not for your staff, your board, your leadership, etc.

Here’s the TLDR version:

In the end, you want to captivate and engage potential supporters, volunteers, members, constituents and anyone else who wants to come alongside you to further your cause and accomplish your mission—these are the people who deserve a website that’s built to enable and empower them.

To discover more tips and tricks about website development, storytelling, online fundraising and other marketing topics, check out our weekly webinar schedule here.

This article is courtesy of Firespring.

The post 10 Smart Ways to Keep People on Your Website appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

If you work for a nonprofit, you likely have a lot to do and few resources. So what you choose to focus on matters. A lot. This is something we hear often: “We need a better website, but we don’t have the resources to take care of it.” We get you. Creating your own website can stretch your limited faculties and offer snowballing challenges.

So don’t.

A website is crucial if you want to inspire donors and prospects to take action (donate, register, volunteer, etc.). But it’s not something you need to take on yourself. Creating your own website could create more problems than it solves—like these.

1. It’s distracting and it pulls focus from your day-to-day responsibilities. 

Do you love interacting with your constituents? Planning events? Creating marketing materials or fundraising strategies? If you also try to be your own web development company, you’ll resent stepping away from what you love to do. There are tools geared to helping novices create simpler websites. However, they can’t do much heavy lifting. And while they may look nice, they’re unlikely to give your constituents the best results.

2. You’ll end up with little to no tech support.

 Let’s say you use a free website builder for creating your own website. That’s great for starters—but what happens when you have a technical question? What if a link breaks and you don’t know why? Your design looks wonky on a smartphone? A virus corrupts your database? Who you gonna call? “Ghostbusters” is not an acceptable answer! Unless you think your website is haunted. What you need is a nonprofit website that is easy to manage. That has a safety net support team who can walk you through (or better yet, FIX) any glitches or issues. Ahem, like Firespring’s stellar support rockstars who care about your cause.

3. Your website’s security may be questionable. 

This is a biggie. If you store people’s personal data, cyber security must be among your top priorities. It’s a big PR mess if hackers get in and steal stuff. Do you really want that responsibility? Entrust your website to a web development company to keep optimal security measures in place. Keep your information safe and ensure uptime. Let someone else monitor security for you so you can focus on growing your organization. Beats apologizing for security breaches.

4. You may have to put up with crap you don’t like, all in the name of “free.”

Again, there are free website builders out there, but they come at a cost. You may have ads displayed on your site that distract your visitors. Or a template that looks dated after a year, but you can’t remove it. Perhaps your content management system functions poorly. Maybe it offers limited design choices that don’t suit your brand. And ugh—it’s a pain to reboot a website every year because you had to have the “free” version. The adage “you get what you pay for” has never been truer in the world of tech. A free website may be costing you loads of money. Especially if your donation process is not seamless and secure. Don’t let “free” mislead you.

5. You lose sight of what you’re passionate about. 

You got into nonprofit work for a reason, and it likely wasn’t for the thrill creating own website. We’d like to help you keep sight of your “why.” At Firespring, we always say that “our mission is to accomplish yours.” What do we mean by that? In short, we’re saying “Let us do our thing so that you can do your thing.” We live, eat, and breathe technology and marketing, we stay up on the latest trends. We’re always evolving and updating how we approach website creation. Everything we do is in the name of love. The love we have for the nonprofit world and your mission to make the world a better place.

As a certified B Corporation, our commitment to providing best-in-class nonprofit websites has freed thousands of nonprofits to keep their mission front and center and to focus on their “why” rather than their “why???” You know, like “Why does my site keep crashing? “Why can’t I change that homepage image?” “Why does my donation form keep breaking??” Those are the whys we want to take off your plate.

Here’s another important why: Why not take us for a spin? Book a free website demo with one of our nonprofit website experts! Learn how effective and affordable a Firespring website is. Free yourself in 2023 to do what you love most: grow your organization.

This spotlighted post is courtesy of Firespring.

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A good donation page will enable supporters to give to your cause but a GREAT donation page will maximize your online gifts. That’s because a well-designed donation page makes it easy and enjoyable to give more and give frequently. 

Follow along to learn how to optimize your donation page and get inspired by top nonprofit organizations.

1. Include an engaging header image 

Displaying too many images on your donation page is distracting and creates a cluttered look. Narrow down your content to feature one “hero shot” or photo that captures what your nonprofit is about. This photo should evoke feelings of hope and generosity to inspire potential donors to complete their gift. 

Once you have decided on your hero shot, highlight it at the top of your donation page in a banner image. This will maximize its visibility without cluttering your donation page. 

The International WAGR Syndrome Association has a beautiful hero shot on their donation page showcasing children with WAGR syndrome who are the core focus of their organization.

2. Offer suggested donation amounts 

New donors might not know how much to give on their first time. Offering suggested amounts makes that decision a little easier and may even lead to higher donations. Set your suggested donation amounts slightly higher than your average donation. For example, if your average donation is $16, suggest donations of $20, $50, $100, and $500 for the big spenders. Of course, users should still be able to enter a custom amount, every dollar counts. 

The Big Island Substance Abuse Council offers a nice range of donation amounts in an engaging and intuitive format. Donors can choose from five recommended amounts or enter their own amount.

3. Enable recurring donations 

Offering a recurring donation option is the best way to build lasting relationships and increase the lifetime value of your donors. Recurring donors give an average of 42% more per year than one-time donors. The goal of any nonprofit is to foster stronger relationships with donors and convert casual supporters into loyal advocates for your cause.

Coastal Community Action offers a recurring donation checkbox to encourage donors to give monthly in support of its community initiatives. Donors can also select which program they want to support. 

4. Feature donation dedications 

Offering the option to dedicate a donation helps connect donors’ stories to your cause. Donation dedications can make a great gift to a friend or help honor a lost loved one. You can take it a step further by showcasing dedicated donations on your nonprofit’s website. This will help past donors feel appreciated and encourage others to give as well. 

The Voices Project is a nonprofit organization advocating for recovery and support for individuals and communities struggling with addiction. The organization offers a dedication field to allow donors to dedicate their gift to people they have lost to addiction.

5. Minimize form fields 

Too many fields on your donation form can be daunting for donors. They will be less likely to complete the donation process if you ask too many prying questions. Stick to just the essentials. Ask for donors’ contact information and payment details leaving any additional fields optional. 

The American Friends of Covent Garden’s donation page maintains a welcoming, minimalistic feel by only asking for essential fields and arranging them in a simple format.

6. A Heartfelt Thank You 

Thanking your donors is an essential step that shouldn’t be overlooked. Donors give to your nonprofit because they believe in your cause and want to help make a difference. A heartfelt thank you message lets them know that their donation is not only helpful but 

appreciated too. When crafting your thank you message, be sure to include the following: 

• The donor’s name 
• How their donations will be used 
• Links to any additional information 
• Your nonprofit’s contact details 

A donation receipt is also important for tax purposes. Make sure to set up automatic email confirmations so that donors can submit their receipt to claim a tax deduction. 

The Associated Recreation Council of Seattle wears its heart on its sleeve with a meaningful message to donors. The organization explains how donations will be used and thanks the donor for their contribution.

The Gist 

The amount of effort your nonprofit puts into its online donation page has a direct impact on the amount of funds raised. Keeping these simple best practices in mind, you can take your donation page from good to great! Check out Morweb’s list of best nonprofit websites for even more inspiration on your web design journey.

The post The Anatomy of a Great Donation Page appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

Ready to get in good with Google and watch your website rise? Let’s start with the basics. 

What is SEO? 

SEO is the practice of optimizing your website’s content and technical elements to make your site attractive to search engines. The goal is to get your site to appear near the top of the search engine results page (SERP) organically, meaning you aren’t paying for ad space. 

Studies indicate that 71.33% of the time, searchers will click on one of the first ten organic links on Google’s first page (Zero Limit Web). This means capturing a spot on that first page will be pretty important for your organization. But, how do you know what your organization should rank for? 

Conduct keyword research. 

Too many times nonprofits bypass this stage and go straight to writing content. That’s like skipping class all year and expecting to ace your final exam. Do not waste your time creating content that nobody is searching for. 

Keyword research is the best way to uncover what your audience wants. To begin compiling your list of keywords start here: 

• Think like a searcher, not like an insider. If a new pet owner wants to get their kitten spayed, they’re not going to search for a vet to do an “ovariohysterectomy.” Instead, they’re going to use layman’s language. “Get my cat fixed” or “veterinarian to spay my cat” or something similar. We all use insider terms at work, but those rarely make good keywords. Think about what words your potential donors, volunteers or supporters might use to search for the services your organization provides.

• Always include your location. If I live in Nebraska, I’m not going to fly to Oregon to adopt a dog. So, I might search for “dogs for adoption in Lincoln” to narrow my search and find my new friend close to home. If you serve a local community, like an animal shelter would, be sure to include your location throughout your web pages. 
• Look at your competitors. Others in your sector or space are doing the same kind of keyword research and trying to write their web content for SEO too. So, take a peek at their websites—what words are they using? How do they 

describe their services? Pay attention to what your competitors are doing and consider prioritizing the keywords they’re ranking for to aggressively compete with them. 

Craft the perfect headline and supporting subheads. 

People read differently on the web than they do on paper. In fact, they don’t really “read”—they scan. They want to spot the information that’s most relevant to their interests or needs, and then take a deeper dive into the content when they spot something interesting. 

The second reason, of course, is for SEO. Google pays close attention to your headlines and subheads, and it’s smart to write them in a way that’s search engine-friendly. 

To start, let’s talk about your main headline on a page, or the <h1> tag. Think of this as the title of a book. There have been plenty of trends in SEO that have come and gone, but <h1>s have never lost their significance—they play a key role in SEO success. Use these best practice tips to write <h1>s that work: 

• Use only one <h1> tag per page. 
• Include your target keyword or keyword phrase. 
• Stick to just 6–7 words and/or less than 65 characters. 
• Give a strong sense of what the content is about. 
• Use relevant adjectives. 
• Consider using the year if it’s relevant to your article. 

Earn quality backlinks. 

According to SEO expert Neil Patel, “Backlinks are the building blocks of your webpage. They tell Google that you’re connected and sociable and that you’ve got useful content that people can access. This content could be your own or it could be from another author or site.” 

Page links, in general, are good; backlinks (or inbound links) are SEO gold.

What is a backlink? In basic terms, it’s when another website links to the content on your site. 

This is important because it says to both Google and your online audience, “We’re trustworthy. We know what we’re talking about. We have useful information.” It’s basically a vote of confidence. Plus, it’s one more driver to your website, and can’t we all use that? To mine this SEO gold, there are three key things you can do: 

• Link to relevant content within and outside your site. You want other websites to link to yours? Be a good internet neighbor, then, and link to other websites when it’s appropriate, relevant and valuable for your audience. Also, linking to other pages within your website is good SEO juice, too. 
• Aim for high-quality backlinks. The quality of your backlinks is more important than the quantity. Backlinks from trustworthy, high-authority sites are the ones you really want to earn, while backlinks from low-authority, potentially spammy sites fall into the category of “yeah, that’s not helpful.” Pro tip: Guest blogging is one of the most effective ways to earn quality backlinks. 
• Write great content and promote it. This might seem obvious, but it’s worth saying: You can earn high-quality links by creating unique content that people want to link to. This means you need to invest some time and money into creating quality content, but there are so many wins associated with good quality content, that investment is typically worth it. Once you’ve got the goods, get your content in front of influencers through email, social or simply picking up the phone, and ask them to link from their website to your content, and voila, you’ve got yourself some backlinks. 

Are you still with me? Great, because I’ve got more tips for you! Conducting keyword research, crafting the perfect headlines and earning quality backlinks are oh-so-important steps. But to earn a space in the coveted top 10 and to share your mission with as many people as possible, you’ll want to do a little bit more SEO. 

Download Firespring’s how to write for SEO ebook, “Writing for SEO: How to Create Content to Engage Your Audience and Rank on Google.” Our SEO experts and copywriters will take you behind the scenes of creating website content that will not only resonate with your online audience but get you in good with Google and other search engines as well. If you are looking to hire a SEO consultant, read this post about how to find a volunteer SEO specialist. 

Author Bio:

Angie Kubicek is a strategic, multidisciplinary marketing professional with an eye for innovation. Her diverse experience with notable companies like Smart Chicken, Hayneedle, Yahoo!, Bailey Lauerman and Complete Nutrition, gave her unique opportunities to experience both client and agency workflows. Skill sets include

media strategy, UX, social media, branding, content creation and PR. As Chief Marketing Officer at Firespring, Angie combines knowledge & experience, delivering creative solutions to clients and their audiences.

The post How to Write for SEO and Rank on Google appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

With social distancing guidelines keeping organizations and members physically apart, a strong web presence is more important than ever. For instance, a modern, well-designed website will help your association:

• Boost brand awareness. With a website that’s wholly representative of your association, you can build a strong online identity as well as strengthen brand recognition within your industry.
  
• Improve member engagement. With helpful tools and information about your work, your website can help cultivate relationships with existing members and position you as a respected leader in the space.
  
• Enhance the member experience. The best association websites go beyond visuals and prioritize content. By balancing form and function, your website can meet members’ needs and drive organizational goals.

Remember, your association’s website is typically an individual’s first stop when looking to learn more about your work and get involved. Since it only takes a few seconds to form a first impression, your website should be optimized to attract visitors’ interest and provide a great experience. 

To ensure your team is equipped with the necessary knowledge for building a strong member website, let’s cover three key components:

1. Valuable Content
2. A Great Mobile Experience
3. An Engaging Visual Design

Walking through this checklist will ensure you’re optimizing the member experience on your website. Let’s get started!

1. Valuable Content

Members are the lifeblood of associations, so you’ll want to prioritize their experience by featuring valuable content and tools pertaining to their needs. After all, nonprofit marketing experts claim that effective content is a fundamental part of organizational growth.

While the type of content varies from association to association, there are a few primary components that prospects and members will find particularly useful, including:

• Information on your program. Your association’s website is a prime opportunity for converting prospects into members. In fact, providing helpful resources enables them to learn more about your program and deepen interest, according to this article. Capitalize on this by clearly telling visitors how and why they should join. Then, give them direct access to your application, so they can take action the moment they make their decision.
  
• Member directory. When selecting your content management system (CMS), make sure you can add, edit, and categorize members into an easy-to-use directory. With interactive mapping capabilities, members can conveniently search and connect with others. According to Fonteva’s association member engagement guide, members should feel like they’re part of a growing community, and encouraging interactivity is an important consideration.
  
• Members portal. Upon joining your association, members should gain access to an exclusive members portal, where they can pay dues and access member-specific resources. Further, your portal should remind them of upcoming events and allow them to update their personal details. Plus, according to this membership program guide, you’ll want to make sure to send automated notifications about membership renewal, which is simplified with the right membership website.

In today’s crowded online market, you need to go the extra mile to ensure your association stands out. Overall, attracting and retaining association members should be the primary purpose of your association’s website, so choose your content accordingly. By offering the above helpful features, you can create an immersive and valuable member experience through your website.

To further simplify the process, invest in professional membership website builder tools that are built specifically for associations. Otherwise, you might overlook vital functionality that your members may find useful.

2. A Great Mobile Experience

These days, many of your members are likely accessing your association’s website on their smartphones. In fact, mobile devices have consistently accounted for more than half of all web traffic since 2017. In the second quarter of 2020, mobile devices generated 51.53% of global web traffic, according to Statista. In other words, mobile usage is a vital consideration when it comes to association web design.

Whether your members are simply browsing your work or updating personal details on their member profile, they should be able to interact with your content regardless of the device they’re using. By ensuring that your association’s website is built for mobile use, you can easily avoid negative user experiences, such as:

• Zooming in and out to read and interact with content
• Rotating the device to view the page

Remember, every page, form, and pop-up on your website should scale for mobile devices. Otherwise, visitors may abandon your website altogether, according to this nonprofit web design guide.

To create a positive mobile experience for members, ensure your CMS offers mobile responsiveness so that your website will automatically restructure itself for mobile screens. Otherwise, your visitors will be greeted with a condensed version of your association website’s desktop view, which will make it difficult to navigate. With automatic responsiveness, your association’s team won’t have to worry about developing multiple versions of your website for mobile devices, tablets, and desktops.

3. An Engaging Visual Design

When you develop informative content, it’s important that you present this information in a visually appealing way. Otherwise, your association’s website may turn visitors away and prevent you from reaching your membership goals.

As you organize your content, keep these best practices in mind to make it easy for visitors to interact with your association’s website:

• Scannability: Each member likely visits your website with a very specific goal in mind. Making your website easy to scan will help them quickly locate the information they need. Start by developing a visual hierarchy, which is how you present elements to imply importance. For instance, many web designers opt for a “Z” pattern, which considers where your eyes focus first, second, and third (i.e. a “Z” formation).
  
• White Space: Simply put, white space refers to the empty space between page elements (e.g. images, text, and so on). While it may be compelling to take up all usable space on your association’s website, white space will help to break up content and ensure it’s fully digestible. For the best results, aim for a balance between white space and content.
  
• Smooth Navigation: Navigation is a cornerstone of website usability. Ensure your navigation bar features pages your members will find useful. Take it a step further with strategically-incorporated calls to action, where you direct prospects toward your desired course of action. For instance, Morweb’s association website best practices guide states that many associations feature buttons in the top right corner of their navigation menu, linking to the membership login page and registration page.

These are just a few primary visual components to keep in mind. There are many other elements to consider, but these will serve as a solid starting point in developing a user-centric design.

With a limited staff juggling many responsibilities, your association may be hesitant to take on a website redesign project. However, learning what goes into a well-designed association website plays a key role in developing an effective member experience. By pairing these best practices with an intuitive website builder, you’ll be well-equipped to create an engaging web experience for your members.

The post Association Websites: 3 Ways to Engage Your Base appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

Website design is important, and leveraging the right web development features will help you navigate many of these questions. Customizing your website will enable you to effectively tell your nonprofit’s story, so be sure to use a website builder that allows for some creativity and flexibility.

This all comes down to your content management system (CMS). Your CMS should provide you with the tools and functionality to build out the exact website you want, without any confusion or frustration. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the top features you should look for in a CMS when building your nonprofit website:

1. Customizability
2. Mobile Optimization
3. Fundraising Software
4. SEO Tools
5. Blogging Tools

Making the most of the above features will help boost your online presence and make a great first impression for new site visitors. Let’s get started.

Customizability

What if your team isn’t experienced in web design and needs a simple, straightforward way to present your content? Look for a CMS with simple customizable features so you can easily create and update your site without any coding experience required.

With a customizable CMS, you’ll be able to take advantage of tools like:

• Drag-and-drop. Drag-and-drop tools allow you to pick from a set of pre-designed elements and play around with your page’s design without the need to carefully code each component.
  
• Live editing tools. Use live editing tools to ensure your live page looks exactly how you want it. Edit your page in real-time on the front end of your website instead of having to guess how it will look from the back end.
• Images and videos. Featuring compelling visuals on your website can help tell your nonprofit’s story, encourage visitors to explore your website further, and even inspire them to make a donation. Make sure your logo is prominently displayed on each page of your website and take advantage of features like image carousels to avoid overcrowding the space. 
• Data capture. Add email sign-ups for newsletters or volunteering so you can capture data from your web visitors and keep them engaged with your organization.
• Social media integrations. Since many of your supporters will likely engage with your nonprofit on social media, make sure your CMS supports social media integrations like live social feeds for Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

Customization features can help you portray your nonprofit exactly how you want. Make a positive first impression by creating a professional website that’s easily editable and looks how you envisioned it. From there, you’ll have a solid foundation for building it up.

Mobile Optimization

Most people view websites on their smartphones these days, which means potential donors who visit your website may be viewing it on a smaller screen. That means optimizing your website for mobile is incredibly important, and you need a CMS with mobile-responsive functionality to make it happen.

Here are the top mobile-related features you should look for as you build your website:

• Mobile responsiveness. Each page of your website should adjust to fit any size screen, whether it’s a tablet, desktop, or smartphone.
• Mobile forms. Every form on your website, including donation forms, volunteer sign-ups, etc., should adjust for mobile. If your visitors try to make a donation on their smartphone and have to zoom in and out or rotate their device, there’s a chance they’ll abandon the form altogether.
• Lead capture forms. Pop-ups like lead capture forms should scale for mobile so that visitors don’t become frustrated looking for a way to close the pop-up screen.

Optimizing for mobile users is a good strategy for boosting donations and giving your web visitors a positive experience. Even more, you’ll reach a lot more people, and fewer people will leave due to a negative experience.

Fundraising Software

Your website is already a powerful fundraising tool because it houses all of the information individuals need to learn about your nonprofit and get involved with your cause. For that reason, pick a CMS that makes it easy to engage your supporters and raise funds.

Your CMS should offer:

• Donation pages. Add an on-site donation page, which is one of the most important elements of your website. Ensure your donation page is easy to navigate and branded to your organization so individuals are more inclined to give. You’ll also want to make sure your donation page is easy to access from anywhere on your website by highlighting it in your navigation menu.
• eCommerce. Some supporters prefer to give in other ways. Use a CMS that offers eCommerce capabilities so you can set up a store with merchandise (like custom shirts) and offer another way for individuals to support your cause.
• Event management features. Easily design event registration pages and create an events calendar that’s easy to update. Your CMS should give you the tools to do this so you can keep your supporters updated on important events and collect payment directly through your website.

One of the most important functions of your nonprofit’s website is to fundraise for your cause. You can do this through an on-site donation page or an online store. Your website should also make it easy to register and purchase tickets for your events. From there, follow tips like these to keep your momentum going.

SEO Tools

You’ve probably heard the term search engine optimization (SEO), but do you know how to implement it into your nonprofit’s website? SEO involves optimizing content on your website to help it prominently rank in popular search engines, like Google.

If you’re new to web design, chances are you don’t have a lot of experience in SEO, either. According to Morweb’s guide to nonprofit web development, you should pick a CMS with SEO tools that can help you improve your site’s content and rank better on search engines.

These tools include:

• Meta title editors. Your meta title is the title search engines display in search results. Make sure your CMS allows you to easily edit your meta title so you can boost click-through rates.
• Meta description editors. Your meta description is a short description that describes the purpose of your web page and what content they can expect to find there. Your CMS should make it simple to edit your meta description tags.
• Customizable URLs. Your website’s URLs should also be customizable. URLs that are too long or difficult to read can turn web visitors away. However, if your URL includes the keyword you’re targeting and remains short and simple, you’re more likely to rank and get visitors.

When your CMS allows you to customize content with key SEO elements, your nonprofit’s website will have a higher chance of ranking on search engines and getting more attention from web users. Make sure your CMS offers these features so you can maximize your online presence.

Blogging Tools

Will you be posting blog articles on your website? Blogs are an impactful way for nonprofits to communicate the good they’re doing and keep their supporters updated on their progress. But running a blog takes organization, especially when you want it to drive your supporters to take action.

Blogging tools are an important feature that should be part of your CMS. With the right toolkit, you can easily craft your posts and share your content to other channels. These features include:

• An easy-to-use blog editor. The process of drafting, formatting, and editing your blog posts should be intuitive. Create your posts the way you want so they match your nonprofit’s branding and are tailored for your readers.

• Scheduling tools. If you’re leveraging an editorial calendar, make sure your CMS allows you to schedule posts so you can ensure they go out at the right time. This will also give your staff time to review posts before they go live and make sure they’re just right.
• Live previews. As with the rest of your site, it’s important to preview your blog posts before you publish them. Find a CMS that offers a live preview mode so you can make sure your blog posts look exactly how you want them to both on your computer and on mobile before they go live.
• Social media share icons. Encourage your readers to share your content on other platforms by offering share options for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email etc.

Nonprofit web design takes a lot of planning and organization. Make sure your CMS offers you the tools you need to stay on top of your blog content and communicate exactly what you need to your audience. Keeping your website content current is one of the most essential parts of great web design, and this can set your site up for success. 

Building your nonprofit website doesn’t have to be a daunting task. If you focus on the features that your organization will need, you should end up with the right tools to help you put together a professional and intuitive web design.

Looking for some more guidance? Check out Morweb’s guide to nonprofit web design for some of the top best practices.

The post Top 5 Essentials for Your Nonprofit Website appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

An admirable mission alone is not enough to drive donor engagement and retention. A good webpage explains your mission, but a great webpage can make the difference between a passive supporter and an active, dependable donor.

When donors find a page slow, untrustworthy, and difficult to use, they’ll abandon their donation, leaving you without the funds your organization needs to function. The internet has made us all impatient when it comes to website performance, so don’t risk losing your audience before you’ve had a chance to really engage with them!

Viewers’ engagement will reflect the effectiveness of your website, so you should aim for a high-quality design that anticipates their needs and makes it easy to get involved. Let’s jump right into how to make the most of your webpage with these 5 smarter design tips:

1. Make navigation easier.
2. Standardize your branding.
3. Feature your donation page.
4. Make use of visuals.
5. Ensure website security.

Nonprofits can only function and thrive because of their supporters’ generous contributions, so you’ll want to have an effectively designed page to drive more giving. The online market is a crowded, competitive place, so use these tips to make a webpage that stands out to potential donors.

Making your site easier to navigate means making it easy to understand and access. When visitors get frustrated navigating your site, they’ll likely leave. Follow these best practices:

• You’ll want to include a navigation bar that’s visible on every page of your website except the donation form. This makes traveling between all your content easier, but limit the navigation choices to the essentials. If you give users too many options to choose from, they might overlook your more important pages like your donation form.
• Page titles should be concise. So concise, in fact, that they’re only 2-3 words. These few keywords should tell exactly what the page is about. Keeping titles this short keeps visitors’ attention while also minimizing the space they take up.

Don’t forget about streamlining how your own staff navigates your site’s backend and data management tools! For the best results, integrate other programs like your donor database and your fundraising software with your website for better navigation and data flow throughout all your systems.

In addition to these ways to simplify the donors’ experiences and helping your staff make the most of your site, you should pay particular attention to your site’s load times and mobile usability.

Minimize load times.

Each element on a page loads individually, which increases the time it takes your site to load. Visitors want the information they’re searching for within seconds, not minutes. When they don’t get this information quickly, they’ll often leave your site, so minimize load times by:

• Resizing and compressing images.
• Minimizing plugins and fonts used.
• Choosing HTML and CSS over Flash Player.

Online donations are often made when a donor is spontaneously feeling generous. Make sure your online donation tools allow you to customize the donor experience and offer a simple, quick process. Forcing them to wait while your clunky site loads might make them reconsider their generosity or cause them to get distracted and not follow through.

Optimize for mobile users.

The next level of navigation is making content usable for mobile users. According to Double the Donation, mobile users make up roughly half of all nonprofit website traffic. 25% of donors complete their donations on mobile devices, so you don’t want to miss out on this market!

Most website builders use a responsive design framework that automatically translates well for mobile users. However, you should still keep the following tips in mind:

• Keep layouts vertical.
• Use larger fonts.
• Don’t cram the page with unnecessary elements.

When you finish designing your page, you can always check your own smartphone to make sure it’s optimized for mobile users. Some website builders even offer a mobile preview tool where you can see your site the way a mobile user would as you go along!

When you carefully brand your website to your organization, you create a cleaner, more fluid look that conveys your brand. Use your logo as a starting point.

Before diving into formatting your site, make a style guide that defines what look you want. Consider a few elements such as:

• Colors. Pick 2-3 colors to use throughout your page based on your logo. Take it a step further by defining which elements will be styled in which colors. For example, you may want navy blue buttons with white icons and black on-page text.
• Font. Select one font and don’t differ from it. Choose one that’s legible but still conveys your brand.
• Images. Determine what look you want your images to have as well as formatting and sourcing. 

When you create guidelines beforehand, you make physically formatting your site a breeze after finishing content creation. On top of an easier formatting process, standardizing your branding ensures your visitors feel secure when browsing your site.

This is because consistent formatting throughout each of your pages instills trustworthiness. If readers are jumping to pages that don’t look like they came from you, they’ll likely think they’ve ended up on someone else’s website. They want to engage with you and won’t trust unbranded pages that look like they belong to a different organization, especially if they’re trusting you with their payment information.

Strong, consistent branding gives supporters a stronger image of your organization in their minds, making you more memorable and recognizable. 

As a nonprofit, your goal is to get passionate people on board with your cause. You want them to donate time and money in order to make your mission possible, so your donation page should be featured prominently and should be easily accessible from every page with a donation button.

The donation button should be located in your navigation bar at the top of your site so that it appears on every single one of your pages. Your donation page should be designed with just as much care as the rest of your site. Consider these tools to boost donations:

• Add a recurring donation option. Encourage donors to continue giving and provide them with the option to select the duration of their recurring donations. Include the total donation amount, because transparency will earn their trust!
• Include suggested giving amounts. When a new donor sees a suggested giving amount, they have a reference for how much they should give. They may also be influenced to give more if they think others are giving more than them.
• Add a matching gift tool. By doing this, you ensure donors know about potentially increasing their contributions through their employers and make it easier for them to search for their companies’ matching gift programs.

When your donation page is easily accessible, donors can easily get to it the second they decide to give, and providing them with extra tools like a recurring donation button can increase your donations and create long-term relationships.

Choosing the right visuals can add an extra layer to your site that attracts visitors. Not only should your page draw in visitors, but it also needs to communicate your nonprofit’s identity.

When designing your donation page, consider the following:

• Feature your logo prominently. Readers should instantly associate the donation page with your nonprofit, and incorporating your logo is a great way to accomplish this. Make sure to also include it at the top of your “Thank You” message when supporters donate.
• Incorporate branded colors. Just like the rest of your website, your donation page should be customized with your organization’s color scheme. 
• Place impactful photos. The images that create the largest impact are those you’ve taken or created yourself. Make sure to include emotionally-charged photos of those you serve, photos of your staff and supporters, and infographics that explain key concepts.

Not a graphic designer? No worries! You can always use intuitive website builders or well-designed fundraising tools that provide a good donor-facing experience. Alternatively, try working with a web design consultant with experience in nonprofits. fundraising consultant to help you design an enticing donation page. 

Supporters won’t want to give to your organization if they don’t feel like their private payment information will be properly protected. There are a few steps you should take to ensure donors’ security. Consider these security basics:

• A Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate authenticates the website, allowing the webserver to initiate secure sessions with users. It’s indicated in the URL as ‘https’ rather than ‘http’. In order to collect donations through your website, you’ll need an SSL. Since you’ll most likely receive sensitive information like street addresses and phone numbers from your donors, you should use Extend Validation (EV) SSL certificates to protect their data. Your browser will provide special visual cues like a green padlock to indicate that your site is protected.
• Encrypt and use tokenization to protect your donors’ credentials. Encryption will protect donors’ private data by making it unreadable by unauthorized users. Tokenization will keep this data secure for post-authorization transactions like recurring donations. For more information on the importance of token-based authentication, visit this guide.

Taking these basic security steps can protect your nonprofit from a security breach. When you feel confident in your website’s security, you should then go further to implement even more advanced and secure protocols! These extra safety steps will protect you and your donors’ information.

In closing…

Websites are an investment. While every nonprofit should invest in a quality website, not every nonprofit can shell out the necessary funds. If your organization is on a tight budget, consider these low-cost website options. Dependence on technology is growing. In fact, 54% of donors worldwide prefer to give online, so it’s more important than ever to have an effective, well-designed page. Don’t just throw your nonprofit’s site together. For additional ideas on designing your nonprofit’s website, click here.

The post 5 Effective Design Tips to Increase Donor Giving appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.