15 Nonprofit Website Tips

Many nonprofit website tips are either outdated or ineffective. Maybe they worked in the past, but as they say: “what got you here won’t get you there.”

In this post, we dive into 15 current tips for your nonprofit website. Act on them, and they will boost donations, attract volunteers, and make it easier for people to understand your cause.

Let’s check them out below.

15 Nonprofit Website Tips

1) Have a Clear Mission Statement Above the Fold

The moment somebody lands on your homepage, they should instantly understand two things:

• What your organization does
• Why it matters

You can answer both of these questions with a good mission statement. First impressions matter. Make sure this mission statement is easily viewable by putting it front and center.

2) Make Your Donation Button Easy To Find

If somebody needs to work to donate money – they won’t. Your donation button should be impossible to miss. There are a few “quick wins” that will help it pop a bit more:

• Use a bright color that stands out
• Place it at strategic “high traffic” points throughout your site
• Use clear text like “Donate Now” instead of vague phrases

If you want to increase conversions, this kind of button is a must.

3) Use Mobile-Responsive Design

More than half of your website users are now on a mobile device. If your site isn’t optimized for smartphones, you’re losing visitors. And donors.

Make sure your website design is responsive, and always remember to test things on your phone before you set them live.

4) Use Real Images Throughout Your Site

Wherever possible, stay away from stock photos. They usually feel impersonal and generic. What to do instead? Utilize the power of real images of your team, volunteers, beneficiaries, and events. This kind of authentic picture humanizes your organization and builds trust over time. 

5) Simplify Your Navigation

Cluttered menus create confusion. This makes more users bounce away from your site. The solution? Simplification.

Keep your top navigation bar to just a few items. Typically, these will be labels like “About,” “Blog” and “Donate.” This makes navigation easier, and conversions typically go up as a result.

6) Highlight Impact With Metrics (Or Testimonials)

People want to know their support makes a difference. And to show them how, it helps to get specific. This is where detailed metrics (“Over 1,200 meals served last month”) can be handy.

You should also try to pair them with quotes from beneficiaries or testimonials from donors. This makes everything you do with your website more effective.

7) Create A Simple Donation Form

High-converting landing pages are important. A long, complicated donation form kills momentum. But a simple one? Conversion rates go up, and you have more effective fundraisers as a result.

(You’ll notice a lot of our nonprofit website tips have to go with simplicity. And for good reason: simplicity is convincing, confident, and effective.)

8) Use Accessible Design

Accessibility isn’t just “nice to have.” If you want your website to do the heavy lifting for you, it’s essential. Here are a few things to add to your to-do list: 

• Use proper contrast ratios
• Include alt text on images
• Implement keyboard-friendly navigation
• Make your link text more descriptive (“Learn more about our mission” vs. “Click here”)

The more inclusive you can make your site to all visitors, the better it performs.

9) Include A “Why Give” Page

If you want a nonprofit website that does its job, you need to clearly explain why someone should donate to your organization. It’s not enough to ask people to give. You also need to give them some sort of justification. Here are a few things you might include:

• Your organization’s mission (see tip #1)
• The problems that you solve (get specific)
• How the donations that you collect are used

It helps here to include visuals, testimonials, and examples of impact. This not only keeps donors coming back, but establishes trust with new visitors who have never donated before. And speaking of trust…

10) Add Trust Signals

Many of these nonprofit website tips center around trust. Trust that you are who you say you are, and that you can do what you say you do. Trust is essential – and that’s why you should add more trust signals to your site.

These are things like trust badges, transparency links, and any affiliations your organization might have. This all reassures potential donors before they decide to give.

11) Feature An Email Signup With Real Value

Email marketing is one of your most powerful tools for donor retention and advocacy. But what you offer people to join your list matters. To build your list effectively, look into the best lead magnets for nonprofits. Make sure it’s something valuable. Also make it easy to find: your lead magnet should be available on your homepage, in the footer, and across your blog.

12) Use Storytelling Throughout Your Site

People connect with stories more than they do with data. This is where effective nonprofit storytelling comes in. On your website, make sure you share short narratives of: 

• The people you’ve helped
• The volunteers who support you
• The challenges your organization has overcome

This all makes your mission more real and memorable. And when you do that, your nonprofit website starts to perform better in key metrics.

13) Optimize Your Website For SEO

As useful as these nonprofit website tips are, they don’t mean anything if people can’t find your site. This is why SEO considerations are so important (even in the age of AI search results). Here are a few elements to pay attention to:

• Clear page titles
• Meta descriptions
• Header tags in your content
• Targeted keywords that are related to your mission

Take this stuff seriously, and you start to rank higher on search engines over time. This brings in more traffic, more people interested in your cause – and more donations.

14) Use Analytics

Detailed analytics are how you enable data-backed decisions about your website. Make sure you are using something like Google Analytics. This shows you exactly how people are actually engaging with your site. And when you do have that data? You are able to improve peoples’ experience with your nonprofit website as a result.decisions, not just sit in a dashboard.

15) Make Contact Easy

Lastly, your website should make it easy for people to contact you. If somebody does want to reach out, that’s often a warm lead (the exact sort of person you want contacting you). Include an easy sign up form. Also make your contact email easy to find. After all: clear communication (and quick responses) are how you build trust and relationships over time.

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Are you an enterprise, nonprofit or small business looking for help on your website? Give us a shout! We provide a free consultation. Email us at [email protected] or call us at (718) 855-1919!