How to Build the Perfect Charity Website

Charities have fundraising in their blood. A key component of this fundraising activity is their website which needs to promote their causes, make it clear what their charitable goals are, and be easier for potential donors to make a one-off donation or agree to a monthly subscription for regular donations.

Here are seven tips to think about when building a perfect charity website:

1. Make the Slogan Highly Visible on the Home Page

When the charity has a slogan that creates an image of what the charitable organisation does, make sure that it is displayed clearly for new visitors to see. It should use a character font that is easy to read even if the slogan is displayed using an italic style which is usually more difficult to see.

2. Where Does the Money Go?

Prospective and current donors want to know where the money goes. When £100 million in charitable donations are given, what portion of that goes to administrative expenses, what portion is retained for future operations, and what portion is used for charity projects? Donors favour charities that are run efficiently so that more of their actual donation benefits the causes being supported.

A good example of this is to fundraise with IQ Cards. IQ Cards are greeting cards that can carry custom messages and support specific causes which is made clear on the cards. Customers subsequently feel good about buying and giving these cards, and the card recipients feel good receiving them too. Don't make it difficult for donors to learn where the money goes. Consider including a clickable pie chart that breaks down distributions in the sidebar.

3. Display Photos of People or Projects the Charity is Helping

Whether the charity is sponsoring more school books in African schools or directly supports improved medical care for the impoverished in India, use the web pages to include pictures depicting the people and projects supported. This helps donors see in their mind and on the screen where their money will be going and to feel good about it.

4. Donate Buttons

The donate buttons should be visible on every page on the website (except the actual donation page). Don't be shy to ask for a donation as this supports the purpose of the charity. You can even create a button to schedule a Salvation Army donation pickup from your local charity.

5. Use Professional Copy-Writing

The stories that are presented on the charity's news page and blog need to be professionally written to convey the human emotion involved with helping other people around the world. This takes a special type of writer to be able to convey this emotion in a balance manner and who will be more effective at soliciting donations than merely providing a cold presentation of the facts.

6. Match Donations to Goals

Rather than using an open-ended donation facility, set charity goals and have donors focused on the fundraising efforts to meet the next goal on the list. This provides a context for their donation – that it is helping achieve a funding goal for the next charitable project – rather than something larger but more vague.

7. Consider Using a Premium Charity Theme for WordPress

WordPress has many excellent premium and free themes that are designed for charities to use. These can also be customised to include many of the features mentioned in this post. The advantage of using a charity theme is that usually pages have already been created for donation pages, news pages, and other commonly required sections of a charity site. This can help to reduce the time it takes to get a website online.

Setting up a charity website is not as difficult as one might think. It is possible to use a template or a content management system like WordPress or Joomla to remove most of the difficult, time-consuming work involved.