Nonprofit organizations face limitations that for-profit companies don’t, namely budget and time restraints. As such, a nonprofit website plays a critical role in advancing strategic initiatives and can even provide a steady source of revenue to augment operations. The best nonprofit websites all share certain aspects that increase a nonprofit’s visibility, expand reach and generate a return on investment.
Let’s take a look at 5 nonprofit websites that standout:
HandUp
While HandUp is more of a nonprofit platform, the site employs several best practices for nonprofit websites. The site makes use of a high-quality video to introduce the user to the platform, intuitive layout that separates sections of the site and a frictionless donation system.
Iaomai Medical Ministries
Iaomai Medical Ministries successfully uses images to create an emotional connection between its mission and the user. The site goes on to use a minor parallax scrolling effect. This subtle effect shows the user that the nonprofit is active and current on the digital side of operations. As a result, the user will apply that impression to the nonprofit as a whole.
Feed the Children
http://www.feedthechildren.org/
Feed the Children prioritized clear, effective calls-to-action above all else when designing and developing their website. Within 2-3 seconds after landing on the website, the user is immediately drawn to the ‘You Can Feed a Hungry Child’ call-to-action, complete with a ‘Donate’ button. That single call-to-action wasn’t enough, though. The third row features a video to tell their story, again complete with another ‘Donate’ button. Feed the Children wasn’t done with their calls-to-action. The ‘Take Action’ row features four more CTAs.
Indigy
The Indigy website wastes no time educating the user as to the nonprofit’s mission. While many nonprofits work to alleviate mainstream issues like water quality, poverty and education access, Indigy is focused on a highly specific issue, one that many users are probably not familiar with. To counter this possible disconnect, Indigy states its mission and goals immediately, in an easily readable and digestible format.
CareFlight
Like many of the other sites on our list, CareFlight makes effective use of large imagery to engage the visitor. CareFlight specifically uses a looping video to tell their story. Like HandUp and Iaomai Medical Ministries, CareFLight utilizes a frictionless donation system, found directly beneath the opening hero video. And like Feed the Children, CareFlight’s ‘Support Us’ row features 4 more calls-to-action.
These nonprofit websites all provide a unique user experience and are visually distinctive from one another. Looking closer with a detailed eye, one can see many similar elements from site to site. From frictionless donation systems to video storytelling, the best nonprofit websites all exhibit certain hallmarks.
When planning a nonprofit website redesign, ask yourself these 3 questions before starting:
- What are our calls-to-action?
- How do we best make an immediate emotional connection?
- Who is our target audience?
