Nonprofit Websites in a Mobile First World

Website Strategies and Organization Goals, a Match Made on the Internet

Is your website communicating the goals of your organization? Does your website’s design enable your organization to meet its goals through a strategic plan and design?

Your website is your organization’s first impression for the vast majority of your potential donors, volunteers and clients. It is an opportunity to explain your mission and deliver your message. It is your chance to engage your supporters and inspire them to get involved with your organization. You have the opportunity to strategically present your goals and solicit support in achieving their success. Optimize your Ask. Refer to http://www.one.org/us/issues  for an example of a website that lays out the issues the organization addresses in a concise yet compelling manner.

Before you consider your website as a platform for outreach, advocacy and fundraising, consider whether your website is strategically aligned with the goals of your organization.

Mobile Strategies Aren’t Just About Phones

Build your site to display elegantly in a mobile first world that consists of both phones and tablets. According to CNN, in 2014 smartphones and tablets were used to access the internet more than desktop computers for the first time. Ensuring that your site is formatted for mobile is no longer an option, it is a necessity.

The following statistics from Blackbaud Idea Lab, drive home the significance of the mobile movement:

• 84% of nonprofit donation landing pages are not optimized for mobile
• 65% of nonprofits make donors click 3 or more times to give a donation (Example of a well-designed website donation page see Doctors Without Borders
• 62% of Generation Y donors would give by mobile phone
• 90% year-over-year increase in online giving on #GivingTuesday in 2013

And from Techsoup.org :

• 60% of mobile users expect the site to load in less than three seconds
• 80% of mobile users will leave a site if it isn’t optimized for mobile
• The percentage of donations made by mobile web browsers has grown 205% in the last 12 months

Website Analytics, What to Measure

There are several key performance indicators used to measure website activity. The most common measures are:

• Number of hits-number of requests for text, images and files server receives per page
• Number of visitors-number of visitors to the site or page
• Unique visitors-site visits by different users
• Number of page views-number of pages viewed while at the site
• Entry and exit pages-where entered the site and left from
• Referrers-external links used to access site
• Keyword Search-words audience uses to find your website
• Visitor Information-who visits, where they are from, etc…
• Conversion-tracks number of people who go from start to finish in a series of pages through the website

To draw on the wisdom of Edward Deming, you get what you measure. Ensure you are measuring activities that drive your goals. You should be using your website to strategically present your goals and solicit support in achieving their success.

We will go into more specifics about using mobile for outreach, advocacy and fundraising in my next blogs.

3 Reasons Nonprofits should focus on Mobile in 2015

1.  50% of those viewing your website will be doing so on smartphones or tablets in 2015.

How does your website look on a 5 inch screen? Take this opportunity to view your website the way the majority of your constituents do, on a smartphone or tablet.

2.  In 2013 online giving grew by 13.5%, while overall charitable giving grew by 4.9%.

Donations are the lifeblood of your organization. While you have your website up, make a donation from your smartphone. How was the experience? Ask a staff member, a friend or a family member to make a mobile donation. If your donation page is not mobile friendly you will lose potential donations. Most nonprofits see an abandonment rate of 50%-70% from their donation pages. Can you afford to lose 50% of your potential donors?

3.  67% of your organization’s emails will be read on a smartphone or tablet.

Are your e-newsletters and email fundraising appeal templates mobile compatible? If it isn’t mobile friendly it won’t be read.  80% will delete an email that doesn’t look good on their mobile device, 30% will unsubscribe.

The time for nonprofits to become mobile ready is now.  Don’t miss the opportunity to prepare your website, donation page and email communications for mobile compatibility.

Next week: How to start thinking about mobile-first as part of your online strategy.

The Path to Stakeholder Engagement in 2015: Inspire, Educate, and Engage Stakeholders

 Putting it all together to Inspire, Educate and Engage

Your well-written statements can now be used to inspire people to engage with your organization.

 

Your Case Statement can be used as the core tool for:

• Fundraising campaigns with major donors, capital campaigns and endowments.
• Recruiting board members.
• Engaging and employing new personnel.
• Educating influential community leaders.
• Drafting volunteers.
• Drawing people together around your mission and community organizing.
• Informing individuals about your organization and its Vision and Mission.

Your Website is a Platform for your Mission

Use your Vision and Mission Statements on your website to educate and engage potential donors. Below are two examples of the ways organizations are using well-crafted Vision and Mission Statements to inform visitors and engage with potential donors on their website.

Ronald Mc Donald House uses a combination of its Statements, a captivating photo and both a donate and connect button to engage with potential donors on its website.

Center for Community Change combines infographics with its Mission Statement to provide a powerful messaging tool to website visitors.

Summary

Once your nonprofit has drafted its Vision, Mission and Values Statements and used them to create its Case Statement, you will have tools with significant operational and development value.

These documents will outline your organization’s:

• Vision- What impact are you trying to achieve and for whom.
• Mission- Why you exist, what you do and how you do it.
• Values-What are your core values.

The Case Statement, drafted from your Vison, Mission and Values Statements, is your central fundraising tool. It will enable you to strategically:

• Fundraise
• Engage
• Educate
• Recruit
• Organize

These tools will allow you to cultivate relationships with the following stakeholders on behalf of your organization:

• Donors
• Board members
• Personnel
• Community leaders
• Volunteers
• Public

This concludes my 3-part series on stakeholder engagement for Nonprofits. Next week I begin to explore the power of mobile technology for Nonprofits in the areas of fundraising, outreach, and constituent services.