WordPress for NonProfits: Top Ten Elements Every Website Should Have

WordPress for Nonprofits:
The Top Ten Elements Every
Nonprofit Website Should Have

A Blackbaud Production!

Who Is GUIDE Creative?
§  Creative on Purpose
A strategic, creative spin to nonprofit’s missions to extend reach and
create a bigger impact.

§  Team of Design and Nonprofit Experts
Backgrounds in branding, web strategy, marketing, graphic design, content
strategy, and ex-nonprofit professionals.

§  Exclusive for Nonprofits
We only work with nonprofit organizations. We know how to create
designs that broaden reach, inspire action and mobilize audiences.


What We Do


Ten Best Practices


Ten Best Practices
1.  Resonate with Your Audiences

2.  Have a Focused Homepage

3.  Share Your Mission

4.  Use Compelling Imagery

5.  Ensure Ease in Navigation

6.  Include Clear, Bold Calls to Action

7.  Showcase Your Stewardship

8.  Keep Your Content Fresh

9.  Be Social

10.  Provide a Personal Touch Through Multimedia


“Your website does not exist as a
boutique just to show off
information about your
organization. Instead, it’s actually a
tool that you have employed to
mobilize your audience...”

- Raheel Gauba


Resonate with your audiences
Focus on your audience needs

•  Who are your audience groups and who is most important?

•  What do they care about – need, goals and aspirations?

•  How do they interact with you on and off your website?


Resonate with your audiences
Meet users where they are

•  In less than three years mobile will be the #1 way your audience
will access your website … Are you ready?


“The Web is a world of ﬁrst
impressions, and quick ones at that.
Users form an opinion of a website
within the ﬁrst few seconds of
loading it.”

- Jason Gross

“The Role of Design in The Kingdome of Content, www.smashingmagazine.com

Have a Focused Homepage
Prioritize Content

•  Wireframes are key for visual hierarchy

•  Remember YOUR goals

•  Remember your AUDIENCE’S goals


Have a Focused Homepage
Pass the 3-second test

•  Is your homepage scanable, understandable, intuitive
in 3 seconds?


“Design your website around your
organization’s actions and purpose.
Make the mission statement clear as
day.”

- Blake McCreary

“Non-Profit Web Design.”

Share Your Mission
Tell your story clearly succinctly and make it
actionable

•  60% of all donors check out an organization’s website before
donating - tell them why they should give…quickly before they
change their mind


Share Your Mission
Show your story … visually

•  Infographics, typography, links, video, imagery,
photography

•  The style should ﬁt your voice and brand


“Regardless of what your content
actually says, the design around it
controls what the users see ﬁrst and
how their eyes move across the
sections of the page.”

- Jason Gross

“The Role of Design in The Kingdome of Content, www.smashingmagazine.com

Use Compelling Imagery
•  Engage with eye contact … Make a personal
connection

•  Show real stories of impact to gain credibility


Use Compelling Imagery
Match Imagery with your brand, mood and voice

-  Does quality, composition and candor of your imagery jive with
your user experience?


“User-centric design has become a
standard approach for successful
and web design. After all, if users
can’t use a feature, it might as well
not exist.”

- Vitaly Friedman

“10 Principles of Effective Web Design”, www.smashingmagazine.com

Ensure ease in Navigation
Navigation Systems should be intuitive and precise

-  Provide multiple interaction paths

-  Ensure context for users who come in through search or links

-  Does it take two-click or less for key tasks?


“Assuming that you’ve written a
brilliantly persuasive page, it’s still
next to worthless without a strong
call to action…”

- Brad Shorr

“Five Copywriting Errors That Can Ruin a Company’s Website,”

Include clear, bold calls to action
Remove all obstacles to action from anywhere

“Apply Now” should take them directly to application.

Calls to action should be clear and compelling

Never say “click here”

Say for example “visit us“


“Stewardship comes down to being
able to show donors how their
dollars were used and what impact
their contributions had.”

- Cynthia Gomez

“What Is Stewardship for a Non-Profit?” www.eHow.com

Showcase Your Stewardship
60% of donors visit a nonproﬁt’s website before making a
gift.

-  Show the impact (eg. stats, infographics)

-  Be transparent (eg. share your annual report)

-  Say “Thank you”


“…You need to remember that the
Internet is a dynamic place, and
make sure your site is constantly
changing as well.”

- Randall Mains


Keep Your Content Fresh
Always have something new to offer to your users

-  Utilize automatic feeds

-  Add dates to content posted to the homepage

-  Gather user-generated content

Timely
Upcoming

Events


“Integrating the social experience
into your organization’s web site
will help promote the channel,
engage supporters, and provide a
constant source of dynamic content
…”

- Melanie Mathos Chad
Norman

“101 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits: A Field Guide.” John Wiley Sons, Inc.

Be Social
Social media and viral sharing
are highly valuable tools in
contributing to web site trafﬁc
and brand exposure

-  Make it easy to connect, interact
and contribute


“Many of today’s most successful
websites are interactive, meaning
they allow people to participate in
the content in some way.

- Randall Mains

Strategic Web Communication Principle #4: Interactivity” blog.pathmakermarketing.com July 12, 2009

Provide a Personal Touch Through
Interactive Media
Allow users to consume information in multiple ways

-  Your audiences’ preferences for consuming content varies, just as their
browsing and navigation styles do. Users want to consume information
in various media channels and formats.


Ten Best Practices
1.  Resonate with Your Audiences
2.  Have a Focused Homepage
3.  Share Your Mission
4.  Use Compelling Imagery
5.  Ensure Ease in Navigation
6.  Include Clear, Bold Calls to Action
7.  Showcase Your Stewardship
8.  Keep Your Content Fresh
9.  Be Social
10.  Provide a Personal Touch Through Interactive


A prescribed, flexible and scalable way to showcase your
mission, interact with your audience and inspire action online,
that fits within your budget and can be up and running quickly.
WordPress® For Nonprofits


Our Approach
Strategy Visual Design
•  Extensive Discovery
We design exclusively for non-profits, so we’re a great place to start. Once we
partner with nonprofits, we create a project plan that will meet the unique
needs of the organization with which we’re working.

•  Design and Web Strategy Expertise
A design and web strategist to walk you through the entire process, tailor your
website to your goals and remind you to keep your audience in mind.

•  Top 10 Design Best Practices
We carefully make sure each design follows our set of best practices that are
proven to make a nonprofit website more successful and impactful.

•  Ongoing Services for Success

Ongoing Services
Go Live and Beyond
•  Launch Assistance
•  Urgent Care
Assurance that we ll keep your site working the way we built it

•  Resources
DIY knowledgebase, archived webinars, tutorials and premium content directed
specifically to non-profits

•  Ongoing Education
Premium quarterly webinars for valuable insight and practical application

•  One On One
We find ways to make your site even better than the day it went live


Our Partners


WordPress Theme Gallery


Theme #1


Theme #2


Theme #3


Theme #4


Theme #5


Theme #6


Responsive Mobile Design Built In


What Now?


Resources and Next Steps
•  www.guidecreative.com/blog

•  Assess Your Site!
www.guidecreative.com/topten

•  Get In Touch!
hello@guidecreative.com


Kelley.Jarrett@guidecreative.com
@keljar
QUESTIONS?


WordPress for NonProfits: Top Ten Elements Every Website Should Have

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WordPress for NonProfits: Top Ten Elements Every Website Should Have