Raise More Money and Awareness with a Firespring Website
by Dana Ostomel
Your website is the center of your online universe, where people engage with you—from donors and constituents to volunteers and board members. It’s where you tell your story and provide information and tools for online visitors to register for an event or make a donation. Did you know that 82% of donors check out an organization’s website before giving? This means a poor quality website could translate into lost revenue for your organization.
Unfortunately, the average nonprofit rebuilds their website every 2–2.5 years—in part because of organizational turnover, but also to keep their site up-to-date. However, studies show that nearly 75% of nonprofits build their website in-house or use a site built by a volunteer who’s not necessarily familiar the organizational needs. So think about that: Organizations put a lot of time and energy into creating and recreating their website only to end up with something that never satisfies all the needs they have for a fully functioning online presence. It’s a frustrating process.
How does your current website work for you in that regard?
Let’s look at three must-haves for a website that can meet your needs and the people who come to visit (and give you their hard-earned dollars).
A robust website platform with integrated tools.
Basically, this means you have a website with the right functionality built into it and everything people need, right there, just a click or two away. Too many nonprofits spend a lot of marketing dollars to get people to their website, then send them away to a third-party site like PayPal or Eventbrite to take action. With today’s technology, that should never happen.
Don’t send people away once you get them where you want them. With a Firespring website, you can provide the tools they need to donate, view and register for events, sign up to volunteer or maybe even access a private area available only to key people—all without leaving your website. Tools like these work together to create a comprehensive site that meets the needs of everyone who wants to connect with you. If your website’s functionality is limited, you’ll watch enrollments, donations and prospects walk away.
An easy-to-use content management system.
It’s 2017; updating your website’s content should never take a programmer or developer. In fact, three people in your organization should know how to change, update, refresh or modify content with point-and-click simplicity without having to call some IT guy who may or may not get back to you that day. At Firespring, we create websites that allow you to remove the gatekeepers like an expensive developer, volunteer or that one employee who’s the only one in the building capable of updating your site. This is not an efficient way to run your website—it just shouldn’t be that hard.
Built-in communication tools.
Do you do email marketing? It’s an extremely cost-effective and efficient way to get the word out and connect with constituents. Firespring offers an email marketing system integrated right into your website toolset, so you wouldn’t need to use MailChimp or Constant Contact anymore to create and send dedicated emails, newsletters, a welcome series, drip campaigns and more. And the great thing is, all the email templates you get with Firespring are mobile-friendly, so they look perfect on any device. Plus, you can easily track analytics to see how any email or campaign performs, right from your website’s dashboard.
Now for the best news: As a Montana Nonprofit Association member, you have a special opportunity to receive member benefits from Firespring that could save you a significant amount of money. Our website and marketing experts have worked with nonprofits for over a decade, helping them grow their organizations and engage with their constituents in a meaningful way. We want to help you do the same for even less than our standard affordable prices.
Give Firespring a try with a free demo site and learn about the exciting new member benefits you can receive today.
