Website checklist for nonprofits.

Here is a short list with some explanation on each point that -If checked off – will help your nonprofit not only survive, but thrive.

Nonprofit websites are a cornerstone for their legitimacy and success. Your website, whether it be good or bad, has a design, functionality, and flow that is either funneling visitors toward your objective or loosing them along the way.

Tell your story.
Getting a little personal or sharing your history will help visitors and potential donors connect with the roots of your cause. Tell them why you care so much about the mission of your case and why it’s important for them to care too. Using visuals to portray this is just as important as your words. If you have any real-world photos of people you’ve helped or projects you’re working on you’ve got some real gold dust there. You can even take it a step further and develop mini case studies where you detail in writing and imagry the initiative in-progress and the measure of results.

Accept online donations.
It’s amazing how many nonprofits that we work with who don’t have an online donation system set up, or it’s set up to be more work than it’s worth. Do your research and don’t settle until you find the option that makes them most sense long term.

Make it easy for people to get involved.
This can also be a great page for a donation button/link, but also provides a way for people who would rather give their time a way to connect and help.

Build a community.
You might already be cultivating a community on social media, but is your website the hub for all that interaction or an outsider? Make sure you have social links on every page in an obvious location like the header or footer, but bring the traffic both ways by linking to your website blog articles, event details or interesting information.

Grow your email marketing audience.
Do you have an inspiring call-to-action and functioning newsletter signup form? Make sure you test this form (and all your forms) from time to time to ensure an update or glitch hasn’t stalled your progress.

Member and donor profiles.
Some (not all) nonprofits require login profiles for donors and members of other sorts depending on the objective. The cool thing about these profiles is that it also helps you understand your audience with analytics on how they interact with your cause and what areas of interest they have in your organization. If you can’t tell this information through your current set up, you should look into your options. It’s great information and can make your members’ interactions more seamless.

Show off your resource library. 
Elaborate and communicate your mission and beliefs backed by a resource library of e-books, articles, research and videos from first and third-party sources. This will also indirectly help you demonstrate your knowledge and standpoint on information that matters to your community.

Event subscriptions.
Most nonprofits hold annual, monthly, or seasonal fundraisers or community involvement events. A simple subscription for your community to be notified about upcoming events will increase turnout and impact.

News.
This can be different than your resource library or even replace it. Your nonprofit’s news can be distributed as a newsletter or blog depending on your audience and intention. Either way, people want to see their donations at work so showing them progress or initiatives on a regular basis is important.

Have anything to add? Tell us in the comments!