What’s Your Point?

In most cases, each experience begins with your Web site home page or a specific landing page. To create an encompassing experience for each donor classification, answer these four questions:

• Who do I want to come to my organization’s Web site?

• What do I want them to do?

• How do I motivate them to do it?

• How am I going to measure my effectiveness?

The most effective home pages are like the horn of a rhinoceros … they make a single point, powerfully. To create a home page that has this effect, ask yourself what is the point of your organization? Why do you exist and why are you worth a person’s time, talent, influence, resources and/or money?

You only have seconds to make your point — i.e., to present your core purpose — so don’t major on the minor. Forget your nonprofit’s 30-second elevator speech. On the Internet, 30 seconds is an eternity.

Get to the point fast and focus on achieving your primary objectives, and watch your income soar.

Todd Baker is vice president of marketing and brand development for Masterworks.