What we tell non-profits.

“Would you be willing to donate a website to our terrific world-peace-promoting charity that protects unicorn babies?” It’s a question we get asked a lot. (Well, except for the unicorn part.)

As a company we donate where we can, but we're small and our work is what we do to keep the lights on. However, we understand the limitations of the non-profit budget. So, while we still have to charge for our time, you can count on us to work with your budget, quote a fair price, and avoid unwelcome surprises by keeping the dialog open. And we do give a 10% discount to 501(c)(3) organizations.

We realize it’s hard to justify a website that costs thousands when feeding a child in Africa only costs $1 a day. However, we've learned that quality pays dividends after the initial outlay, so in the long run you just might be able to feed more of those kids. So wherever you go for your brochure or website, here are a few things to think about.

Planning for your site.

Content, content, content.

Too many non-profit leaders are so busy doing work on the ground, that they don’t have time to communicate what is happening to those who support them. Don’t miss out on untapped generosity! We can help you develop a strategy to communicate effectively on your site about what you do and why it’s important.

Stay current!

Often, content on non-profit sites is clearly several years old which calls their legitimacy into question. If you haven’t posted on your blog since 2010, you need to delete it. It’s hurting you.

Professional photography is worth a thousand pictures taken by your phone.

Sometimes, we design non-profit sites using pictures exclusively taken by phones. Pictures from your iPhone are great for posting on your Facebook page, but those same pictures are less than great for your website. Donors love quality images. Professional images inspire confidence. Confidence = donations.

Keep costs down during the build.

Gather and organize your content

The less gathering and organizing we have to do, the better for your budget. We will talk with you about your goals for the site, then we’ll create a checklist to let you know exactly what kind of content we need you to gather for us.

Edit and populate the site yourself

Sometimes clients get hung up on the filler copy that we use when we’re building a site’s structural framework. Don’t ask us to edit the copy during the development process. We’ll give you login access to the site, so you can make content changes yourself. You can even take over the population process if you’d like to. This is a huge way you can save us time and save yourself money.

Now that you have a website, you need to get all that fresh content out in front of your donors on a regular basis. In our next blog, we’ll share some totally free ways you can take over the marketing process for your charity.