Non-profits

The Benefits of a Great Website for Non-Profit Organizations

A primary goal of any non-profit organization is to consistently and reliably get information out to all of the potential participants and donors of their organization and to elicit support for your cause. If you use traditional advertising media, it can be quite costly to continually promote your non-profit organization through fliers and ads in newspapers and magazines. A website is a great online tool to reach many, many people at relatively minimal expense.
The profitability of a website can be seen in any kind of advertising comparison. Creating a website has a small initial investment of time and money. Additionally, the maintenance cost of a website once it is up and running, is much lower than traditional advertising media. A professionally built website also lends your organization credibility, especially if your organization is not yet well-known in your community.

Building a website may be a daunting undertaking for some people. There are many services that offer verycompetent website design. NeoNexus is a website design company that has a wealth of experience designing sites for nonprofit organizations. Some of the nonprofits they have designed sites for include the Boy Scouts, the Council of Historic Organizations and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. To get a sense of the professionalism of this company, you can visit these websites.

Before contacting a website design company remember to determine if your organization needs to incorporate as a nonprofit. If your organization has a small operating budget of under 25k, you may fall under the designation of a club or an organization. If your budget is larger than 25k, you will need to file the appropriate paperwork to be designated as a non-profit organization by the IRS. The benefits are that you will receive tax exempt status, which will help you with your advertising budget and give you more options when choosing the amount of pages your website will initially offer.

After contacting a website design company such as NeoNexus corporation, the next step is to determine how you plan on soliciting financial support for your organization online. You may want to consult with you design team prior to choosing the kinds of ways people can donate through your website. Some of the options you may want to consider are asking for donations upfront, requesting sponsorships of varying levels and displaying advertising on your site. Another great way to generate income from your website is by working with a price-per-click compensation program such as Google AdWords.

If you want to be supported primarily from donations, don’t be shy! Tell your designer that you want to let your visitors know the reason for your organization, the recent successes or accomplishments you have had and the goals you have for your services. Then, request that your website be designed to allow people to offer financial assistance through an easily accessible donation field or link.

After you have approved your website and you are ready to launch it, it is a great idea to send out an e-mail to your membership base letting them know about your website. It is also advantageous to utilize the power of the social networking media available to us today. Having a Facebook and MySpace page that is updated regularly will help you to get the word out about your new website. Also, remember to encourage your followers or members to participate on your forums or blogs, this will keep people invested in the growth and success of your organization. Incorporating a message board and monthly newsletter into your site will help to keep the content fresh and current. If you need assistance with this piece of the process, your website design company will be able to help you with it.

A professionally-designed website will create a central location where your members are easily able to gather all the information they need in one place. They will be able to see information about the events and activities you are planning to hold without having to call the office or wait for the flyer in the mail. You donors will also be able to track the progress you are making and the break-down of how the money is being spent. Additionally, an online presence also allows you to receive online donations at all times of the day and night. By offering your supporters several ways to offer donations at any time of day, your donation levels are bound to rise.

When you are reviewing the website your design team has constructed, make sure the website is not too crowded with unnecessary information and pictures. Generally speaking, it is good to keep a website visually appealing but simple. Do review the website design with your website designer and make sure that all the images they have used say something relevant and beneficial about your organization. Each picture should also tell the story of your organization and its past and current progress. You may also want to ask your design team to include links to other relevant community resources. In turn, these other community organizations may provide a link to your organization on their website, providing you with more online traffic and more social statue and presence within your community.

NeoNexus corporation is a website design company that has experience building professional websites geared for the nonprofit sector. They will help you to maintain a website that is clean, manageable and easy to navigate. They will also help you with the initial social media marketing of your site. With all of the experience NeoNexus has with a variety of nonprofit organizations, they will be able to build a site for you that gets people excited and involved in your organization as volunteers, donors or participants themselves.