5 qualities of a good charitable organization website

I’ve had the pleasure of working with a number of non-profit organizations and many have made great strides in effectively using the internet and email to raise awareness for their organization, communicate to their constituents and drive donations.

The web offers fantastic communication tools for hardly any cost. Non-profit organizations should invest in their website, online marketing and email strategy in order to get maximum return on investment.

This will be the first, in a series of topics related to non-profits, so be sure to check back over the coming weeks.

#1 – Clean, professional design with quality imagery!! Many charitable organizations lack a simple, clean, design and many don’t use imagery, that’s a huge mistake. A picture is worth 10,000 words when it comes to a website. Often organizations use college interns, or someone volunteers to build a website, which is very kind, but not always the best choice. There are designers that are both good and cost effective, and some organizations that specialize and give discounts to non-profits. Find them! Here are two charitable sites that I think have good designs, both very different, but nice and clean.

  • Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland — http://www.bigsisters.bc.ca
  • Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver  — http://www.ugm.ca

#2 – Updated, clean and relevant content – whether it’s news items, a blog, changes in imagery or tweaks to the design, information articles, or perhaps an active forum (must be active) – give people something new when they go to the website – keep it fresh. Even your most ardent supporters will stop going to your website if it stays static.

#3 – Donate Now – this is a *must* have on any non-profit website. It should only cost about 2-3 hours of web development time (sometimes less) and it can be up and running.

#4 – How contributions make a difference and thank you to our recent (or largest) donors – this is key, when someone makes a donation, big or small, where is the money going to and why not (if permission is given) put their name on your website, for the week, for the month, or for the day (depending on the size of the list). With a good content management system adding the names is simple and a nice gesture to your donors.

#5 – Upcoming events – Even if your particular organization doesn’t have an event coming up, find a few events that are related to your topic, or that our constituents might be interested in and make sure you get the word out.

About Jackie

Jackie Reid owns and operates Kindred Technologies Inc. and has over twelve years of experience in the software industry with significant achievements in all areas of company operations including client services, customer support, data center operations, sales, technical operations management (BPR, QA, CM, Technical Writing, Support), program management, project management, software training, implementation management and process improvement. Jackie has her MBA and is a CSM (ScrumMaster) and has taken multiple leadership and facilitation courses with Context Associated and Extraordinary Learning. Jackie is known for her positive outlook, energy, management capabilities and keen focus on bottom-line results. With the majority of her career in customer facing roles, Jackie has deep experience in complex B2B software solution sales. Her key leadership competencies are attested to by extremely dedicated staff. She has successfully managed the delivery of hundreds of software development and implementation projects. Specialties: Change Management Facilitation Client Management Client Services Program Management SAAS Operations Management Product Management Education Sector Content Management Marketing Automation When she's not enjoying her work Jackie can be found playing in her backyard or a neighborhood playground with her husband Bryce and their two young boys, Spencer and Devan. Jackie is also a current board member for the Vancouver Phoenix Gymnastics Club and is working on completing her PMP certification this spring.
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3 Responses to 5 qualities of a good charitable organization website

  1. Kevan says:

    This is a great walkthrough, Jackie. Thanks so much for highlighting UGM.ca!

  2. Jackie says:

    You’re more than welcome, it’s well deserved, I think you guys do a great job.

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