Your website is where people come when they are considering working with your nonprofit. Most likely, they have not landed on your website doing a random search. Rather, your visitor has heard about your mission through networking, events, social media, or even advertising.

Your visitor has come to your website with intention.

They want to know if they should give their time or money to your program. The first few seconds on your site are critical. Will you turn that intention into action, or turn it away?

Let’s take a critical look at your nonprofit website’s home page. Can someone scroll through in three-five seconds and have a solid understanding of what you do, how you make a difference, and how they can support your program?

Here are three things that DON’T belong on your home page and a simple outline for creating a homepage that connects.

What does NOT belong on your home page

Some home page elements seem like good things, but in reality, they sabotage your conversions right from the start. Here are things to remove from your homepage right away.

All the things

Keep your home page simple. The goal of your home page is to guide potential supporters from intention to action. Your landing page should tell your story in a few seconds. This is not the place for ALL of the things. You don’t need every testimonial, every program detail, all of the gallery photos, etc. Your information should be presented in the format of a story unfolding, rather than a firehose of facts and details.

Too much information is overwhelming. Worse, too much information will cause someone to feel like they don’t have time to absorb everything and they will click away with the intention to come back later. But they don’t.

When people are faced with too many decisions – they make none.

Social media + Newsletter signup

Connecting is good. But not on your home page. You should have only one call to action on your home page. A newsletter sign-up or opportunity to follow on social media gives your visitor an action to take. But it isn’t the true action you want them to take. Clicking ‘follow’ lets them feel like they have supported you already, and feels good. But, it also defers the true action of donating or volunteering. Save these elements for another page on your site.

Links to other sites

Keep your visitor on your site. Don’t link to other sites on the home page. You want to keep your visitor moving through your story. Don’t interrupt it or distract them with links. This includes testimonials, strategic partners, awards, or certificates. Again, you can include those links somewhere else on your site, but not on your landing page. Even if they open in a new window, you have disrupted the flow of your story, and you have allowed them to take action – but not the ideal action.

Nonprofit Landing Page Outline

The good news is that this visitor has come to your homepage because they WANT to know about your program. It is your job to guide them from interested to involved.

Here’s what should be on your home page to help guide this conversation.

Problem statement

What is the problem you address? Don’t put a wordy mission statement here! How FEW words can you use to state the problem? For example, the Kwek Society – END PERIOD POVERTY. World Central Kitchen – FOOD IS A UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHT. Make this statement bold and big. Once you have that on the page you can use a photo, or a fact to add context. For example: One in 4 students left or missed school because they didn’t have period products. Keep this simple and scannable.

Power statement

How do you address this problem? Use a FEW words to say how your organization addresses the problem. For example, GOOD WILL TRANSFORMS YOUR DONATIONS INTO JOB OPPORTUNITIES. MAKE this a simple, yet powerful statement.

Introduction

Who are you? Follow your statement with a BRIEF introduction to your nonprofit. This should be only a couple of paragraphs introducing your organization and what you do to improve the world. Leave out the jargon and use common language so what you do is easy to understand.

Impact statement

How effective are you? Use another bold statement to show why people should partner with you. What impact are you having? For example: MORE THAN ONE MILLION MEALS SERVED IN TURKEY AND SYRIA FOLLOWING EARTHQUAKES. Use a photo here that personifies the positive effect your intervention created.

Invitation

Make it easy for people to say ‘yes’ to your organization. Create a call-to-action for your visitor to get involved. If you have multiple ways someone can participate, i.e. donate, volunteer, etc. your call to action should lead to a landing page with more detail. Otherwise, your call to action should be simple and one-click. GIVE NOW. Be sure to use verbs and action words. No passive language!

Now it is your turn! Go to your nonprofit website and evaluate your home page. Does it tell your story at a glance? Would someone scrolling understand enough about your program and your impact to decide to get involved? Make these tweaks today to optimize your page. Want to go deeper? Give us a call. We are here to help.