If you’re running a nonprofit organization, creating a website may not be the first thing on your mind. After all, nonprofit organizations have so much on their plates to worry about. The biggest concern that may be facing you is how to raise enough funds to sustain your operations.
You would also need to think about how you’ll keep your staff well-paid so you can attract the best talent and skills. In such a scenario, it’s easy to see why web development would be pretty low on your list of priorities. Between looking for volunteers and donations, how much time do you have for marketing?
If you’re like most nonprofit organizations, our guess is not much. However, you should be aware that web development can provide you with numerous benefits if used correctly.
This is why we’re here to talk to you about the benefits of web development for your nonprofit organization. Let’s see how it can help you grow your business in the long run.
Introduce People to What You’re Doing
The biggest reason to focus on nonprofit website design is that it introduces people to what you’re doing. There are many organizations out there that are offering people aid of some sort. But people know that every nonprofit organization is different and has different objectives.
They make sure to pen down their objectives when writing a non-profit mission statement. You’ll find that some nonprofit organizations focus on animal welfare and rights. And some organizations focus on helping the underprivileged and disabled. It doesn’t matter what your organization does and what it stands for. If you don’t help people understand what you’re doing, they won’t sympathize with your cause.
This is why we say it’s important to first introduce people to what you’re doing. Sure, you could do this by putting up display ads on social media channels as well. But running a social media page isn’t the same as running a well-designed website.
You’ll soon find out that running random display ads isn’t always as effective as you’d hope. It won’t be easy for you to convey enough information in your display ads for people to know what you’re all about.
Video ads can help you elaborate on what you want to tell your viewers. But how many viewers are likely to stick around and watch these videos in their entirety? That’s right; few of them will take a keen enough interest to spend more than a few seconds on your ads.
You’d be pleased to discover that the same isn’t true for a website. On your website, your users will be able to navigate to the pages they want to view. So, they have the choice to read the information they’re interested in about your organization.
Widen Your Reach
Another reason you should focus on web development for a nonprofit is that it widens your reach. It won’t be easy for you to increase awareness about your company without a website. People tend to take organizations more seriously when they have an official website.
The same cannot be said for social media pages, which are much easier to create. You may have noticed that even the biggest brands in the world still have official websites. Sure, they run million-dollar social media campaigns as well. But they continue to use websites to widen their reach and appeal to all kinds of users.
Why should it be any different for your nonprofit organization? You can focus on your website’s development to share more with your users than you did before. You’ll soon find that your target audience will increase the traffic on your site if you follow this. Also, the good thing about a website is that it can widen your reach beyond your target audience.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been running a nonprofit organization to cater to local needs. Your website can help you reach audiences around the world. If your message resonates with this audience, they can help you further your efforts.
You can make everyone who visits your website aware of what you’re doing. You can also make them aware of how they can help you continue doing what you’re doing. You’ll see how this helps you achieve your objectives in the long run.
However, a large audience must be aware of the existence of your website. You could always run display ads all over the internet that link back to your landing pages. This would help an interested viewer navigate to your site and learn more about you.
Increase Your Conversions
If you’ve heard of “conversions” before, you may have confused them with “sales.” And it wouldn’t be your fault since many people use these terms interchangeably. In most cases, conversions are sales companies make online when people buy products.
You may have seen that a conversion rate is high when a large number of site visitors choose to buy a product. But you’d be surprised to learn that conversion isn’t limited to sales alone. Any desirable action that your visitor takes on your site counts as a conversion.
The easiest way to figure out what would count as a conversion for you is to think about what you need. Think about the goals of your organization and what you would need to achieve them. In most cases, a nonprofit organization like yours would need two things. You may have guessed that these two things are money and volunteers.
So, it’s safe to say your site may contain calls to action (CTAs) for donations and volunteer registrations. In such a scenario, your conversion would be measured by how much money you rake in and how many volunteers sign up. It’s up to the experts to help you calculate your conversion rate once you have these figures.
Then, you’ll know how effective your nonprofit website design efforts turn out to be. If you find they’re not effective enough, it’s never too late to change things up a little. You could always hire an experienced web designer to help you intrigue your viewers.
You could even opt for a PPC or SEO expert to design the text on your site. If the text you use is interesting enough, viewers will be tempted to convert. If not, you’ll know there’s room for another revamp of your website design.
Aid Your nonprofit Efforts
These days, it doesn’t matter how much good work you’re doing on the field if people don’t hear of it online. Think about it; anytime anyone does something of significance, they share it online. And why shouldn’t they share their achievements on the internet? After all, it creates an impression on people they want to impress.
You can use the same logic to enhance the effectiveness of your nonprofit activities. Often, nonprofit organizations use events to promote their websites and social media pages. What if your organization chose to do this the other way around?
What if you used your website to promote upcoming events and activities? Many of your audience members may find your website first and learn about your events through it. You can share all the details of your charity events and activities in certain sections of your site.
A good idea would be to post your events as announcements on the landing page or home page of your site. If you do this, users will find it convenient to access information on your upcoming events. They could also refer to this information easily if they need to visit your site sometime later.
But, for website design here, there’s one thing you’d need to pay close attention to. You’d need to make sure your site is designed in such a way that it’s easy to edit. Your volunteers should be able to update your site with information when they need it.
You can even aid your cause by asking for donations on your site. All relevant information on payments and more could be featured on your pages. So, your users would find it simple to donate if they’re so inclined.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, you shouldn’t stay behind when marketing your nonprofit organization. And make no mistake, your nonprofit organization will need all the marketing it gets. After all, you need donations and manpower to ensure your organization is up and running.
So, you’d need to take the right steps to attract both if you want to stay afloat. Focusing on your nonprofit web design may be one of the best ways for you to get there. If you don’t have in-house web designers, you could hire experts from outside.
You’ll find marketing companies offering web design services at affordable rates. Your investment in them will pay off as they increase volunteerism and donations. Also, you’ll find some companies specializing in web design for nonprofit organizations.
You could opt for these services if you want a tailor-made plan to help you win over audiences online. Whatever you do, don’t neglect web design for your nonprofit organization. Now that you know the many benefits it offers, ignoring it doesn’t make sense.
Instead, focus your efforts on enhancing your marketing campaign with a top-notch website. You’ll see how it pays off for you, in the long run, sooner than you think.
