Your nonprofit’s website serves many important purposes. It’s a place where supporters can learn more about your mission, make a donation, sign up for an upcoming event, and more. Plus, you can leverage your site to recruit volunteers and attract corporate sponsors.
Building an effective nonprofit website does not have to be a “hope for the best” process. By leveraging key data points, your nonprofit can strategically enhance your website’s performance and better engage with supporters online.
In this guide, we’ll walk through three essential ways you can improve your website using data:
By continually seeking improvements to your website, you’ll create a positive online experience for supporters and keep them invested in your purpose for the long run. First, let’s explore some basic website metrics you should be tracking.
According to NPOInfo’s nonprofit data collection tips, the right data can empower organizations to strengthen their relationships, improve their marketing efforts, and boost their fundraising results. Some website-specific metrics your nonprofit should keep in mind include:
Evaluate these numbers routinely to discover areas where your website is performing well and areas where it could be improved. To track these metrics, leverage a comprehensive website builder that will provide real-time performance reports.
Of course, there are metrics indirectly related to your website that can inform changes as well. For instance, you might keep an eye on the number of match-eligible donations you received in a certain period of time and compare that with the number of matching gift requests submitted by donors. If you’d like to encourage more supporters to make the most of these opportunities, you could brainstorm ways to feature matching gifts more prominently on your website.
Once you’re equipped with your organization’s key metrics, it’s time to turn that data into insights for improving your website. Depending on your specific goals and current performance, you might make some of the following adjustments:
Your organization’s donation page is an indispensable resource to boost revenue. To increase conversions, there are a number of ways your nonprofit can enhance its donation page:
Remember to continue evaluating data such as your donation page conversion rate to determine how successful your improvements are. Then, keep strengthening your donation page for even better results moving forward.
Your nonprofit website’s user experience (UX) refers to the overall experience that a visitor has while interacting with your content, from navigation to visual design. A high-quality user experience has many benefits, such as reducing bounce rate, increasing conversions, and encouraging visitors to return to your website. To get started with improving your website’s UX, consider these tips:
Creating a nonprofit website that is accessible, easy to interact with, and visually appealing doesn’t have to be a demanding process. There are plenty of top nonprofit website templates that your organization can leverage to easily plug in your content and automatically create a positive user experience.
Matching gifts have the potential to bring in significant funds by essentially doubling or tripling a donor’s gift to your nonprofit, without asking your donors for additional funds. Instead, eligible donors’ gifts will be matched by their employers.
If your data reveals that many of your eligible donors are not submitting matching gift requests to their employers, consider promoting matching gifts on your website to spread awareness of this opportunity. Some impactful ways to do this include:
Use your nonprofit’s website to boost your fundraising efforts by monitoring your performance and identifying ways to meet your goals. In addition to a matching gifts page, for example, your website should have landing pages for volunteering, upcoming events, and your nonprofit’s story to maximize visitor engagement.
Your nonprofit’s website is a multifaceted tool that you can use for fundraising, marketing, and building relationships with supporters. Since there are so many elements to consider, it’s crucial to take advantage of your data to guide your website improvements.
Morweb’s guide on the best nonprofit websites recommends using a CMS built specifically for nonprofits to ensure that your organization has everything it needs to create a stellar website that stands out. With the right technology and data on your side, you’ll be able to continually make refinements to generate more support and revenue to power your mission.