A well planned website can serve many important purposes for nonprofit organizations.  From simply providing basic information about the cause, to more sophisticated functions such as delivering dynamic content based on supporters' preferences, a nonprofit website has many duties.  And one of the most critical jobs performed by a charity's website is collecting donations.  When online fundraising is a major goal, the website must be both secure and donor friendly ... or the organization could risk losing potential donors, and dollars. 

Six important tips to make a website more welcoming and responsive to donors:

1.                  Provide personalized, targeted content to supporters.  When supporters join a nonprofit community, members should be able to log in to their own account on the website, and even track their giving and volunteer history.  Organizations can provide dynamic content based on member preferences, which engages supporters and makes the nonprofit site a primary point of interest.  A personalized and targeted experience will encourage community members to return to the website more often, which should also increase their donation and volunteer activities.

2.                  Educate with interactions, not just content.  With today's technology, nonprofits can provide interactive ways for donors to learn more about the organization's mission and various initiatives through activities such as polls, quizzes and games.  These interactive functions give supporters a fun way to obtain information, and because results are immediate, offer instant gratification.  Interactive and interesting content also helps to draw donors back to the website time and again.

3.                  Provide an easy way to donate online.  Although more than 50 percent of all Internet users have purchased items online with credit cards, some donors may have security concerns when it comes to giving to their favorite charity.  Nonprofits can allay these fears first by ensuring that their website donation collection function is secure by using a reputable vendor, and then by prominently posting security symbols and statements for web visitors.  Organizations should use standard Internet technology to make web-based donating as familiar and simple as possible for supporters to ease any concerns.  Additionally, donors are more likely to give if they are offered a variety of online payment options such as major credit cards, electronic checks or PayPal.  Make it easy to give to generate more donations.

4.                  Scale and redundancy = reliability.  Donor friendly websites must assure fast transactions with processes in place that prevent the site from going down.  Websites that have slow and/or broken transaction mechanisms make it difficult for supporters to give online.  Nonprofits must account for both scale and redundancy in their website payment area to ensure that a smooth and efficient transaction takes place, and that the site runs smoothly 24/7.

5.                  Provide immediate acknowledgement.  After donating, supporters should receive some form of personal acknowledgement or thank you.  Most websites offer the ability for the organization to send automated confirmation/thank you emails to those who donate online.  Confirming the donation immediately, as well as listing the amount, lets supporters know that their online gift was received with no complications.  More advanced sites allow the donor to list their name, amount of gift and honoree(s) on the website in real-time.  Others can send email or printed tribute cards on behalf of the donor.

6.                  Make it simple to take further action.  One click of the mouse should take donors to other actions such as volunteering for an event or activity.  By making it easy for supporters to get engaged in other areas within an organization, nonprofits can build loyalty and help keep volunteers and donors involved.