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10 Essential Features for your Non-Profit Website

Guest post by: michelle crossley

Article Overview: The website of your non-profit organization is at the center of your online marketing strategy. Therefore, it deserves the maximum effort to create a great, user-friendly website that works 24x7 to fulfill the goals of your non-profit.

10 Essential Features for your Non-Profit Website

The website of your non-profit organization is at the center of your online marketing strategy. Therefore, it deserves the maximum effort to create a great, user-friendly website that works 24x7 to fulfill the goals of your non-profit. Here are 10 must-have features that can make a successful non-profit website: 1. User Registration User Registration is an excellent feature for your non-profit website. It enables serious visitors to establish a long-term connection with your website. The serious users provide you the basic necessary information that identifies them. That allows you to give these users a more privileged access to your website, and share more information with them. It generates good leads for your non-profit in the long run. 2. Event Calendar The event calendar helps the visitors to stay abreast of any forthcoming events that your non-profit may be organizing, or may be associated with. It is a good way to promote your events. At the same time, it gives advance information to the interested people who may like to attend or associate themselves with such events. 3. Discussion Forum You can make your non-profit website more interactive and participative by providing a separate section for discussions. It can be a moderated forum, or it may allow only registered users to participate, depending upon your needs. It allows members to know each other, and creates a sense of community and belonging among all the participants at your website. 4. Online Interactive Quizzes or Opinion Polls Add interesting information to your website in the form of an online quiz that is relevant to your non-profit’s mission. It prompts the visitors to engage with your cause in an interesting manner. Opinion Polls can be an equally interactive option for your website. They can also help to highlight the issues or causes that your non-profit may have espoused. 5. Online Donation Acceptance Donations are the life blood of any non-profit organization. Make sure that your website has a provision to accept online donations through your website. The “Donors Button” should be placed prominently on the homepage and other pages of your website. It helps to translate the potential donor’s desire into real action. 6. Content Management System (CMS) An online Content Management System can help you to manage the various streams of information and data on your website efficiently. It allows the website manager to update and maintain the data in an organized manner. 7. Blog feature With your own website, you can have an exclusive Blog of your own at your own website! It can have the provision for readers’ comments and social bookmarking. It will improve the dynamic content of your website, and help from an SEO perspective as well. 8. Social Media Integration Online marketing for your non-profit cannot afford to ignore the growing importance of Social Media channels any longer. If you have a presence on social networking websites such as Facebook or Twitter, your website can provide a direct link to it. The readers can connect with you seamlessly at those networking sites through your website. 9. E-newsletter Subscription People who visit your non-profit website may also be interested in receiving regular updates and information directly into their mailbox. For such visitors, you can make a provision for a periodic e-newsletter. The content can be used from your website and blog, and delivered via email to the subscribers. It is a great way to maintain active contact with your supporters. 10. Contact Form There should be a provision on your website for any visitor who may like to leave his or her contact information with you. This helps to build your database of relevant contacts/leads over a period of time. These 10 features can make your non-profit website truly professional, interesting, and useful from a visitor’s perspective, as well as gathering leads to grow your business.

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Article Tags: nonprofit, website design tips



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