This might seem like common sense, but your nonprofit website should not be built in a vacuum. Unfortunately, it happens all the time.
The executive director might hire her brilliant 14-year-old nephew or an employee’s freelancing boyfriend to build the organization’s website, thinking she’s saving money but still getting the necessary technology and design. But in the end, the site doesn’t match the mission statement or integrate with the rest of the marketing plan. Oftentimes the site looks nice, but has no functionality that engages users—or it has a few cool features, but looks amateurish. A win-lose is not a win.
One of the most important things your organization can do is to ensure that every single marketing tool you use complements the rest. It’s called integrated marketing. A nonprofit website is a crucial component of a marketing plan, and needs to be built and designed in such a way that it syncs with everything else in your marketing arsenal.
I have long believed that the development of a nonprofit’s website should be led and directed by the executive director or another key leader in the organization. It cannot be relegated to the nearest geek and left alone. It requires constant nurturing to make sure that the organization’s purpose, passion and spirit is infused throughout the site. Without that high level direction, the developer wouldn’t know what story to tell. It’d be kind of like hiring a writer to write your personal biography but not really ever telling them your story.
The bottom line is, your website should live, eat and breathe your mission. Every page. It should be all about you and your stories of how you’re changing the world for better. Otherwise it’s just another nonprofit website, sitting there on the internet, accomplishing nothing for your organization. If that’s the case, why bother?
To learn more about creating a website that aligns with your mission, register for my webinar for more tips.
