A recent SmashingMag article was killer in terms of outlining some best practices for web design for non-profits. I would definitely give it a look sometime in the near future, especially if you’re considering an overhaul.
A couple of key ingredients that they cover:
- Make your site Donor-Friendly
- Make your site Media-Friendly
- Make your site Volunteer-Friendly
- Make your Mission obvious and apparent
- Make your content take center stage
- Make your content consistent with other promotional material
- Make your purpose front and center
- Include News Section or Blog
They then provide a number of great examples to highlight their perspective.
One of the things that I’d additionally add is that a Non-Profit site needs to be simple. Not necessarily simple in terms of the number of functional layers and applications but simple in terms of messaging and experience. It needs to be dead-simple and obvious.
One of the things that I’ve been looking into as I’ve been a part of the non-profit space helping others to see the need for simplicity and “obviousness” of message. I think far too many sites are overly complicated, especially for ministries and churches.
I’m so passionate about it that I’m going to do something about it. Stay tuned.
Graham Brenna says
SWEETNESS!!! I'll be keeping this link in my arsenal 🙂
Chantay Stanage says
Been looking at doing site optimization and bettering the web design on my website for a while, so this website has been very helpful. Clear read also, so thanks!