DW Tips

Most people end up on a nonprofit site when an issue catches their attention. They want to help or at least learn more about helping, and it's your job to make it easy for them. Here's how to do it.

Devote your homepage to action items instead of passive content.

Everything is content, but how you deliver it changes how much your content matters. Instead of noun-based buttons and categories, like 'Our Projects, 'Our Campaigns,' or 'About Us,' have big attention-getting buttons with verbs. 'Get Involved' and 'Support Us' might be generic, but they work. You can add more specific ones with 'Sign our Petition' or 'Donate Blood,' or even unusual ones like 'Help Us Find [X]' if your site is helping people find each other after a tragedy. If people are on your site, they probably want to help but don't know how to on a micro-level.

Get attention without overdoing the shock value.

The Internet's attention span is short, so no matter how important the issue is, you have to keep the attention-getters short, relevant, and memorable. But you can't rely on shock value or the audience will start to doubt you. Hook your audience in with wide sections at the top of each page that have believable statistics -- even for skeptics -- and follow up each negative statistic with how people have helped. The visitors who want specifics on the issue will find it both on your site and others. It's the people who are new to the issue and tentatively want to help that you need to draw in with your web design and content.

For more specifics on how to do precisely that, go to Designer Digital.