28 Best Nonprofit Website Design Examples

Alliance  ·  October 30, 2020

Looking to increase donations and community involvement with your Nonprofit organization? We have compiled the best nonprofit websites examples to inspire your next site.

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What makes a great nonprofit website? An effective nonprofit website can have a major impact on how others perceive your organization and whether they want to take part in helping your cause. This article  will explore the features that make for a highly-effective nonprofit website design and offer some compelling examples to give you a bit of inspiration for your updates. Nonprofit website design has seen some big changes throughout the years. Not only has the need for a responsive design become important, but nonprofits must take into consideration how their website can help increase donations and encourage a visitor to be involved with your cause. Some factors that can help improve these areas include:

  • A well performing and secure website
  • Responsive design that looks great across any mobile or tablet device
  • Offering different types of content to engage visitors-such as blog article, news section, case studies and other resources
  • Offering “call to action” areas throughout a website such as “donate now” or “subscribe to our newsletter” to help increase conversion rates
  • Compelling visuals such as photography and video
  • Inclusion of value statements — competitive advantages, company mission and vision, description of company culture

Performance and Security

Having a nonprofit website that performs well and is secure is more important than you think. Both performance and security actually affects search engine rankings, with less secure and poor performing websites being ranked lower by search engines. Additionally, a slow loading website can be frustrating to visitors that are looking for information surrounding your nonprofit’s mission, vision and values, which may lead them to go elsewhere to a similar organization’s website. A website that loads around two seconds is considered well performing. In terms of security, make sure HTTPS is installed on your website for data protection purposes.

Responsive Design

Having a nonprofit website that is responsive across all devices is considered an important component for website design. Now more than ever, people rely on smartphones for browsing the web, and it can be frustrating if you have to zoom in and out to view website content if it is not optimized for smartphone use. This can contribute to a high bounce rate due to frustration with the website. Since nonprofits are also looking for donations and to increase visitor engagement, it is also important that online forms and buttons respond properly on a mobile device. Responsive design is also a factor in search engine rankings, with well optimized websites ranking higher in search results.

Content Creation 

A good nonprofit website will engage visitors through content as a way to educate and inform them about the issues that surround your mission, and the vision your nonprofit has to help solve these problems. New content gives a nonprofit the opportunity to provide real life examples of their involvement with the community and accomplishments to date. In order to compete with organizations with similar causes, your nonprofit website should include new content that is created on a regular basis. Not only does new content help in telling your brand’s story, but keeps a visitor exploring your website for longer periods of time. So what types of content should you include in your nonprofit website? Below are a few examples:

  • Blog posts (could discuss different topics such as event recaps, major awards your nonprofit has received or recent accomplishments towards your cause)
  • Client testimonials or case studies (these allow visitors to understand the issues surrounding your cause and how your nonprofit has worked towards a better future for a particular group of individuals.)
  • Resource section (could include different documents relating to your industry such as fact sheets, press releases etc)
  • Webinars
  • Video or media gallery
  • Social media (gives a more personal communication opportunity with visitors and a way to share content)

Call to Action Areas

In order to improve conversion rates on a nonprofit website, you should include “call to action” areas where visitors can further engage with your organization. For a nonprofit website, this could include buttons to “donate now”, “attend our event” or “subscribe to our newsletter. Inclusion of forms is another great way to improve conversion rates. These forms could have visitors enter contact information if they would like recent news and updates from your nonprofit. The more information you are able to collect from a visitor, the more opportunity your nonprofit will have for further communication with the individual.

Photography and Video

Nonprofit  websites should include great imagery and other media in order to capture the attention of your visitors. Incorporating real imagery showing your nonprofits involvement with the community helps to better tell your story. Including video can also be a great way to educate your audience on the issues surrounding your cause and how it is affecting certain groups of individuals.

Inclusion of Value Statements

It is also important to consider including value statements within your nonprofit website. Value statements help support your mission and understand the impact your nonprofit has made on others. Below are a few examples of value statements you could include in your B2B website:

  • Groups of individuals your nonprofit has supported and their geographical location
  • Facts and statistics related to your nonprofit’s mission and community impact
  • Company mission and vision statement (What does your nonprofit hope to accomplish? How are you working towards these goals?)
  • Company culture (this would be more for employment purposes- what does it look like to work for your nonprofit as a fulfilling career path?)

Here are several examples of strong nonprofit websites
that embody these features.

1

The Water Research Foundation

This particular nonprofit organization has quite a bit of content on their website, yet they do a nice job of organizing it in a way that is user friendly and easy to navigate. The two main areas of focus- research and resources- are organized by current and completed projects- then further broken down by key topics. We also appreciate that the resource section includes case studies which give recent examples of innovations in the water utility systems and real life examples to support the use of water integrated planning. Visit site
2

Center for Creative Land Recycling

This nonprofit did a nice job showcasing the impact of their organization through imagery. At the top of the website, visitors can click on the “Impact” section which showcases images of locations for different projects they have completed. Visitors can then click on different projects for additional details such as dates, benefits and current uses of their recycling centers. Visit site
3

Pact

Pact is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve poverty and marginalization. The website highlights different regions the organization is involved with including Asia, Europe and America through an interactive map. The website also focuses on important call to action areas for visitors through a section dedicated on getting involved through donation, events and partnerships. Pact also includes a promise section on the website where visitors can view information relating to different areas of impact that support their mission. Visit site
4

Alluma

Since this is a more complex organization, the homepage of this website does a nice job of telling the brand’s story through the homepage. The first part of the homepage focuses on educating visitors on what their policy driven technology solutions do. We also appreciate the partners and clients section they have added to the homepage- as this helps add a level of trust to any new visitors that are learning more about their brand. The last portion of the homepage focuses on engagement through content- by encouraging visitors to explore their blog, recent news and white papers, all of which will help lead to increased time spent on their website. Visit site
5

Our Future

This nonprofit website has a nice focus on incorporating different “calls to action” for their website visitors. As soon as you enter the homepage of the website, visitors can engage with the organization online by having the ability to sign a petition, donate, subscribe to their newsletter, or follow them on social media. Incorporating different calls to action will help a brand better engage their users, as well as allow them to collect contact information that they can then use for further communication at a later date. Visit site
6

D2D Fund

This particular website has a nice focus on visitor engagement through different ways to interact with the organization. The D2D fund not only incorporates current project work to showcase their impact into their website, but offers a blog section for visitors to explore new ideas which help showcase the organization’s vision for the future. Visit site
7

Drop in the Bucket

One element that we appreciate on this nonprofit website is the use of video on the homepage as a way to better tell their organization’s story. This is a quick and easy way to share facts and engage their audience around the issues surrounding clean water. Visit site
8

Gain Health

This website also focuses on three main call to action opportunities for their visitors. After reading a bit on the homepage about the organization’s mission for better nutrition throughout the world, visitors are encouraged to subscribe to their newsletter, donate or join their organization. Visit site
9

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

This nonprofit organization is an assembly of the hierarchy of bishops within the Catholic community. Since the organization is highly complex, the website is organized by different issues surrounding the USCCB mission and visitors are able to select the topics they have interest in learning more about. The homepage also focuses on providing the most recent content for visitors to take a look at- including recent news, daily readings and reflections. The website also focuses on driving conversions for new visitors- whether that be through donational support, prayer and worship or community involvement. Visit site
10

ACLU

This nonprofit uses a survey to best engage visitors about their organization depending on the amount of time they have available. Upon entering the website, visitors are informed about the mission of ACLU and asked if they have just a few minutes, some time or are up for anything. Upon clicking one of these choices- they are then presented with different types of content- such as a quick ask to sign a petition, the opportunity to sign up for events, or the ability to message public officials about the importance of their cause. Visit site
11

Southern Poverty Law Center

This nonprofit organization uses a landing page as a way to immediately engage their visitors online through an ask for donations. The landing page offers a way to support their work and redirects to a donation opportunity. Landing pages can be an effective way to direct attention to a specific area of a website. Visit site
12

Lutheran World Relief

This nonprofit organization seeks to provide community support to West Africa and South American regions. The website includes a full section on ways to get involved, allowing new visitors to explore everything from quilt donation to joining their ambassador program. The website includes an interactive map that allows visitors to explore different regions Lurtheran World Relief currently serves. We also appreciate that this website is focused heavily on education through content with a news and resource section including case studies, fact sheets, and reports. Visit site
13

Amnesty

This website does a nice job of explaining the core focus of a nonprofit organization- who they are, what they do and how to get involved. Upon entering the website, each of these areas of importance are briefly summarized, then include a link to explore each of these areas more in detail. Visit site
14

International Committee of the Red Cross

This nonprofit organization focuses on regional impact as a way to help tell the brand’s story. They use video to showcase the 90 countries they have helped make an impact on, as well as include an interactive map that allows visitors to click on key regions they have served to learn more about each one. Visit site
15

Acumen

This website incorporates a video gallery as a way to put the issues surrounding their organization more into context. Visitors have the ability to scroll through a full Youtube Gallery of different videos showcasing leadership and visions behind the organization. Visit site
16

Adopt a Love Story

This nonprofit organization’s mission is focused around improving adoption and incorporates new content as a way to better engage their visitors. The website includes a full blog section providing stories from adopting parents, facts and insights that adoptees may want to know and more. This section serves as a great resource for individuals that are looking to explore and learn more about adopting. Visit site
17

Team Rubicon

This nonprofit organization supports disaster relief and uses real time issues as a way to encourage involvement. When entering the website, visitors receive a glimpse of current happenings, and have the option to support in providing emergency care for individuals impacted by these ongoing disasters. We also appreciate the use of visual statistics as a way to show their impact in different categories of natural disasters that they have helped ranging from everything such as hurricanes, earthquakes, COVID-19, wildfire and more. Visit site
18

Invisible Children

This nonprofit organization also tells the brand’s story and promotes visitor engagement right from the homepage. Visitors are provided with an explanation of the challenges surrounding isolation and exploitation in West Africa and the ways Invisible Children serves to make these communities safer. Then after telling their mission, the website encourages visitors to support these communities as well through three opportunities: education, donation, and action. Visit site
19

Upstream

This organization uses real people as a way to encourage support towards their cause of improving communities facing poverty. The website offers profiles of different children in need and allows visitors to view their profile and support them individually. This is a great way to encourage donations because it shows who’s life you are directly impacting. Visit site
20

World Help

Much like the example above, the World Help website focuses on individual child sponsorship as their call to action to help improve donations. The website also incorporates real life examples of their impact through the use of a blog. Visit site
21

World Vision

This organization helps children overcome poverty and injustice for families through donations and support. They offer a chosen program connecting donors to individual children. The website walks through how the donation support program works step by step, and includes full stories of children that have been impacted by their cause which helps put everything into perspective. Visit site
22

Charity Water

This website incorporates the use of statistics as a way to help support their mission. On the homepage of the website, visitors can understand how many individuals lack access to clean water, and then click to learn more about each of the projects that Charity Water has been involved in. Visit site
23

Children International

Children International incorporates a small awards section into the homepage of their nonprofit website, which is a great way to provide full transparency and develop trust in the organization. The awards section includes an image of the award badge they have received with a link to the awards website to provide additional information. Visit site
24

Hope for Haiti

Hope for Haiti focuses on real time issues as a way to encourage support for their cause. The website includes a section on “Responding to COVID19” where you can read about the organization’s impact through mask donation and providing a proper sanitary environment for the children of Haiti. Inclusion of real time issues on a nonprofit website is important, because it shows the ongoing challenges and how they are being addressed and why the nonprofit might encourage a visitor’s continued support. Visit site
25

The End Fund

The End Fund seeks to improve neglected tropical diseases for impoverished people. The website helps explain the problem through use of statistics by breaking down the number of individuals in need of treatment for these different types of diseases. Statistics help put a problem into perspective and why a nonprofit organization might seek support to help this mission. Visit site
26

Save the Children Action Network

This nonprofit is a political advocacy organization for children. Since their organization has an impact throughout the United States, they have incorporated an interactive map feature into the website which allows a visitor to choose their state and view recent news and updates as well as upcoming related events in the area. Visit site
27

Girls on the Run

Since this nonprofit organization mainly focuses on events as a way to support their cause, the website focuses on call to action areas to become involved either through registration or volunteering. The website also focuses on engagement through content with a news section discussing fundraising, event recaps and current partnerships. Visit site
28

Hunger Fight

This nonprofit organization seeks to end world hunger and uses their website as a way to showcase their current impact. Visitors can view real time statistics on their homepage about the money they have raised and meals donated. They also include information about their current Capital Campaign as a way to encourage ongoing support from new website visitors. Including up to date information on a nonprofit website is a great way to encourage more donations and involvement towards a cause. Visit site
29

March of Dimes

The March of Dimes is a nonprofit organization that seeks to help mothers and infants born preterm or with birth defects due to the high medical costs that they face. One area of this nonprofit website that is very impactful is the impact stories section, which provides insight on families that have faced medical birth issues, and how the March of Dimes has played a role in providing financial assistance during intensive hospital care and the health of these children today. This article is also focused on attracting attention of visitors on a local level, and by providing an in your area search section visitors can local events and ways to get involved with the March of Dimes near them. Finally, the website is highly focused on call to action areas, which helps the organization increase their email newsletter subscriptions and online donations. Visit site

Many nonprofit organizations have websites that are outdated, slow loading and unengaging. By taking your nonprofit website a step further and making it a better tool for communication through thoughtful website design, you can help increase education about issues surrounding your cause,  involvement and donation support

Each of the nonprofit websites mentioned in this article focus not only on great design and a user friendly experience, but they incorporate features that take it a step above other simpler nonprofit websites. By using some of the techniques mentioned throughout the article, such as new content creation, inclusion of statistics, focus on call to action opportunity and better visuals, your nonprofit website can create more engaging online experience.

Need help redesigning your nonprofit website? Alliance Interactive is a full service agency offering website design and development for nonprofit agencies. You can read more about our website design services here.

 

 

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