You’ve got a volunteer maintaining the website (husband, neighbor, friend or a small marginal web design company is donating services).
And we give thanks that they were there when you needed them! But now that you are growing, it’s time to get some help from experts that know what your constituents want to see on a website, that know how to organize the website for maximum useability AND know how to utilize your website to create and focus your organizations' brand. Studies have shown that a professionally designed and organized website attract more donors, volunteers and consumers both on-line AND off-line.
   


You have your program director, development director or administrative assistant taking care of the website in their spare time.
They’ve got their hands full! Your website is an important asset that can be used to showcase your good deeds and most urgent needs, promote upcoming fundraising events and volunteer opportunities. Your website is the FIRST place anyone goes to find out more information about you BEFORE donating, BEFORE volunteering. Contract this function out so your other staff can focus on their important duties and your website gets the individualized attention that it needs.
 


You spent big bucks on a contact management software or monthly service thinking it will solve all your problems.
OK - so now you can do your own updates but you’re still asking staff to take away from their current responsibilities. And with so much money spent of the “back-end”, the front-end (the part the public sees) has been entirely ignored. These companies only provide templates that really limit what you can do design-wise or organizationally. Many nonprofits still end up with a disorganized site and an unprofessional look. You also no longer have control of your own valuable database and no guarantee that you will be able to convert your data back to it’s original format if you change your mind, change companies or the company goes out of business.
 
You don’t have any idea how many people are coming to your site.
You are likely to be either pleasantly surprised or completely shocked. Most web hosting companies offer traffic statistics free with hosting or you may need to purchase traffic statistics software (you can find decent ones for $5o to $100). You can find out the number of people visiting your site, where they are from, the most popular pages viewed, what websites are referring visitors to you, what search engines people are using to find your site and what keywords they are using. Once you realize the number of people seeing your website, it really hits home how much you need to keep it professional, up-to-date and well-organized.
 
There is no money set aside in the budget
There’s no getting around it - you have to spend money to attract and inform donors, volunteers and consumers and the website is the most cost-effective way to do it. And once you do realize how many people come to your website before making that donation or volunteering decision, you know that it is an essential marketing piece for your organization. If your website is used to inform consumers, provide resources to them or provide a place for them to communicate & share then it’s also a program piece and can be part of your program budget.
 
To provide information about your organization in a compelling and organized way to potential donors, volunteers and consumers that entices them to make a decision to donate, volunteer or join.
To provide potential donors, volunteers and consumers with a way to communicate with your organization when they have additional questions or have made the decision to donate, volunteer or join.
To provide ongoing important news, updates, resources and other information to current donors, volunteers and consumers.