How you craft a website for a nonprofit organisation in Australia has just as much to do with the layout and visuals as it does the backend and function. There is a rich balancing act between what your audience wants in terms of information and entertainment as much as your goals for improving lead generation, engagement, and donations.
One of the best ways to hone in on those aspects that will help the most is to research your target audience. You want to understand what your website visitors want, how they want to receive it, and what you should provide to make them remain on your well-designed website.
Look at the websites you frequent the most. Do they have a FAQ page for inquiries? Is there a lot of social media integration? Do you see video first, or text and images? How that website is crafted directly influences the popularity and ease of use by you, its target audience.
Let’s learn more about how you can apply the same principles to your NFP website needs when working with our team at Web 105.
The Connection Between Web Design and a NFP Audience
The goal of an accessible website for a nonprofit organisation is to tell a story about your goals and mission, so your audience feels an emotional connection throughout their user experience. This requires a website that is intuitive, informative, and inspiring based on their unique needs.
Consider how much competition there is for visitors on mobile devices using all kinds of search engines to find help with blind service animals, all the way to after-school programs. You have to work hard to stand out.
Doing the research first will give you insight into the demographics (age, living area, earnings, etc.), preferences, and needs of the people you want to attract the most. You don’t build a website for an NFP servicing military veterans that features animations targeting young teens. There must be a connection for you to rely upon in your design.
How to Match Website Design to a Target Audience
Collect All the Information Possible
Start by diving into your native website analytics, social media user-submitted content and comments, and general feedback from volunteers and donors. Your goal is to understand the behaviours and needs of your target website visitors.
When you’re building an emotional connection, ensure all the media, from visual elements to blog posts, resonate with that target audience’s needs. For example, does your target client needing amputee care have a family? Do they like to travel?
Walk in their shoes and learn how your target audience acts before trying to serve up the layout that will serve them best.
Consider What Brands/NFPs Your Audience Likes
The types of websites and NFPs your audience members visit the most say a lot about what they like in web design. Maybe there are compelling CTA buttons that don’t feel overmarketed or a customised calendar that integrates into the viewer’s Google account.
The trick is to figure out the various aspects of what your clients like the most. A notable example is looking at outdoor magazines or product suppliers. They have fun, interactive media featuring people hiking, climbing, and adventuring. That is how they serve their target audience.
Highlight the Features that Make You Unique
If you want your NDIS-approved Australian NFP to stand out, you need a hook of some sort. A good song has a catchy chorus. Your nonprofit organisation’s website needs something that directly appeals to your target audience so it is more memorable.
Maybe you have a donation page that is easy to use and works in a seamless way as part of your overall website development. Or perhaps you feature blog posts that are exceptionally well-written and popular.
Find those features that you can update and maintain the best and directly address what your clients want the most.
Balance Audience Needs with Your Wants
Don’t forget, at the end of the day, it is your website. As an NFP, you have a mission, vision, and goals to achieve as you serve the community around Australia.
While you can do everything possible to appease your target audience, you also have stakeholders, donors, team members, clients, and volunteers. There will be specific things you need on your website – and that is perfectly okay.
Fight for the efficient items you want so you have effective communication and operational effectiveness. Then, balance those with the general feedback you’re getting from your target audience.
Always Look at Mobile Friendly Designs
More and more consumers use mobile devices for daily searches and social media. If you want your website to address the needs of your target audience, it must be mobile-friendly.
The goal here is to have an engaging user experience that works just as well on an Apple iPhone as an Amazon Fire. Our team at Web 105 tests for this well ahead of launch, but we emphasise it whenever possible so no NFP is left in the digital cold.
It’s Okay to Niche Down
When you research a target audience for your nonprofit organisation, you will find specific segments that require particular needs. This can be a powerful web design strategy.
As you respond to those niche needs, you will focus on personalised and relevant content. The result is a deeper connection with the target audience you want to serve the most.
If you’re concerned about over-niching, sprinkle in broader topics from time to time so everyone sees you’re serving a larger audience without sacrificing those core groups who respond the most.
Conclusion
Designing a captivating and easy-to-use website for your target audience requires a bit of research. You don’t need to write a book, but maybe building a “mock profile” of a few target clients, donors, and stakeholders will help you figure out the needs, wants, and desires of website visitors.
As an experienced and diverse team, our website designers at Web 105 know how to help you in this journey. We can build highly adaptable, mobile-friendly websites perfect for addressing whatever your target audience requires. Give us a call today or contact us online, and let’s have a discussion about how to move forward.
FAQs
Who is the target audience for nonprofits?
This will depend wildly on the clients you are serving with your nonprofit organisation’s mission, as well as the donors and volunteers that help you meet those goals. There is a balance between all three, so you have a highly efficient website structure.
How do you structure a non-profit website?
Every structure will be unique, but some standard features include clear navigation that is easy to understand on a mobile device and features rich media content and insightful information about the who, what, why, where, and how of your NFP team.
How do nonprofits market themselves?
It comes down to telling a highly engaging story about what you do and how you do it so your target audience remembers you in a positive light. The better the user experience you craft using this narrative through a digital platform (like a website), the more engagement you’ll get in the long run.