GuideStar Blog

Do you know what your website is worth? Its return-on-investment? Is it bringing in donations, or sucking up vital funds?

Sometimes in the nonprofit world, we get consumed with the specific details of online fundraising, advocacy and education for our causes and forget about the bigger trends at play.

Let’s take a quick look at three really big trends that will affect everything you do online, including fundraising. Think about all the pieces in the online experiences you are creating, including your website, email, social media and other third-party sites like crowdfunding or peer-to-peer fundraising pages. These three trends affect how people will feel about the experiences you are providing.

If you have struggled to engage enough volunteers to sustain your mission, it may be time to refresh your technology. More and more, volunteers use the web to research and find opportunities to serve. Unfortunately, many causes have not upgraded their digital online communications to keep pace.

A simple, but effective, way to boost your volunteer recruitment results is to improve how you feature volunteer opportunities on your website, specifically by creating a focused landing page devoted entirely to attracting new volunteers.

The holidays are over, and kids and college students are packing up book bags and suitcases and heading off to their respective halls of knowledge to learn about the Pythagorean theorem and the significance of metaphors in 18th-century British literature.

But what about you? What do you want to learn more about this semester?

There are any number of fantastic courses available, but the best place to start is right here.

In this article, we’ll cover ways nonprofits can improve their online fundraising. With online fundraising on the rise, it’s more important than ever for nonprofits to continue to improve their giving methods and outreach strategies.

In a world dominated by search engines and online encyclopedias, chances are high that your website will be the first point of contact between your nonprofit and a potential donor.

That’s why it’s crucial for your website to make a good first impression with the online community, and the best way to do that is by making it more user-friendly (for visitors both tech-savvy and otherwise).

Part 1 recap:

• Marketing is just as applicable to .orgs as it is to .coms, and a nonprofit can and should approach marketing the same way as (if not better than) a for-profit.
• We are currently living in an attention economy. The digital world is inundated with products, brands, and people seeking attention. To attract eyes to your organization, you must be more interesting than your prospect’s current subject of attention.