3. Transparency
How do we communicate the progress we are making? How do we show that donations are effective?
No one wants to throw their money down a hole. The issue of transparency is two fold. First, how do you demonstrate you are using money responsibly? Charity Navigator sets the expectation for this by disclosing programming budgets, CEO salaries and budget breakdowns for most major charities. How much is practical to disclose and how much is necessary to disclose is a tricky subject, but one that many donors are looking for.
Second, how do you show that the money (and the charity) is making a measurable impact? Here is where things get more creative.
tcktcktck’s homepage shows how many people have joined the cause. This immediately demonstrates to the viewer that this is worthy of participation.
Visitors to CamFed.org's site immediately understand why it's important to send girls to school.
Charity: water puts reminders of their impact all over their site, including the homepage.
4. Community
How do we bring the support community together?
Passion is infectious. Nothing gets people more excited than other excited people. Since web 2.0, the Internet is getting better and better at connecting like-minded individuals. With so many free tools like MeetUps, TweetUps, Emails, Blogs, and Facebook Groups at your disposal, your web presence is an easy way to connect your supporters, virtually and in the real world.
Ultimately, the more connected a donor feels to the community, the more likely they are to stay involved and the easier they will be to activate around campaigns and fundraising opportunities – so this is not one to overlook!
Next time you look at other non-profit sites, try to keep these goals in mind. Pay attention to the best in class examples of each and try to apply them to your own site.
After all, we can always get better at saving the world.
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