Creativity is Key to Attracting More Donors Via Your Web Site

Engaging your audience and getting them to act is one of the most important goals of any nonprofit organization. Though online fundraising has become extremely competitive, the advent of interactive marketing and the latest in Web site development have helped that goal become easier to attain.

It’s simply a matter of knowing how to implement the technology and maximize your fundraising efforts with the use of a few simple creative elements.

The Nature Conservancy and marketing agency Crew Creative put interactive marketing strategies to work for them when they launched the nonprofit’s large-scale reforestation campaign, Plant a Billion Trees. Creative techniques helped TNC raise more than $70,000 in the first week of launching the campaign Web site; it banked $300,000 after just six months.

A key to the Web site’s success was a compelling design, interesting content and numerous paths to actions.

Here are some useful tips when building a nonprofit fundraising Web site:

1. Structure and path: Feature multiple, clear paths to actions — “See. Learn. Act.”
Nonprofits should condense large amounts of information into easily digestible images and facts.

In TNC’s case, the site was structured so that when users arrive, they are immediately taken through two slide shows that talk about “the facts” and “the solution” before they are taken to the “act now” section.

The “act now” section offers numerous ways to act, donate and spread the word. When the user clicks on “plant a tree,” he is taken to the donation page. When he clicks on “tell a friend,” he’s taken to an e-card. When he clicks “get your widget” the social-network widget pops up in its own window. The user also can download a special fundraising widget.

Using numerous clickable images allows users to better engage with and immerse themselves in the content.