Nonprofit websites should be a unique reflection of the organization's mission, letting their impact-led services, community resources, and events calendars shine on content-rich pages that evoke an emotional response. Specializations like animal welfare, youth programs, or humanitarian relief should also be prominently displayed on the site.
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Zarla checks that sites meet basic web standards for mobile and desktop. We also use Google's PageSpeed Insights, and WAVE, a service that evaluates accessibility for individuals with disabilities. PageSpeed scores and accessibility are important factors for search engine rankings. PageSpeed scores may not match user experience and can vary substantially.
Rockville, Maryland, U.S.
American Kidney Fund is a nonprofit organization that provides support services to individuals with kidney disease, focusing on prevention, early detection, treatment, and post-transplant living. The website features large CTA buttons urging visitors to donate or fundraise on behalf of the organization, while the language translation tool ensures bilingual users can easily peruse the website.
While essential information is easily accessible from the home page, the site would benefit from more personalized content, such as community success stories.
The site's informative content covers a wide variety of topics, including kidney health, professional resources, government advocacy, and assistance programs. The site's list of industry accreditations denotes credibility, while the "Impact" page gives visitors a good overview of the charity's mission and work.
Some website pages are visually overwhelming with lots of content that should be simplified for a more coherent and easy reading experience. WAVE also picked up several contrast errors throughout the website.
The desktop website performs well with intuitive navigation options and prominent CTA buttons that ensure optimal user engagement. A notable feature is the social media "Share" buttons on the right-hand side of the home page, which encourages visitors to share the charity's mission and work. However, according to Google's PageSpeed Insights test, the website's pages are quite slow to load.
The site's responsive design ensures all content and images slim down nicely on mobile to ensure a user-friendly experience, but vital information can get lost on content-rich pages. While website navigation remains intuitive and pages load faster than on the desktop version, its performance score of 48/100 is lower than many competitor sites.
https://www.rainbowrailroad.org/
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Rainbow Railroad is a nonprofit organization helping at-risk LGBTQI+ people facing persecution get to safety worldwide. The website creates a sense of urgency with thought-provoking imagery and global news articles informing visitors of inequality around the world. The community's rainbow flag is reflected in the site's colorful accents, offsetting the somber tone of the content-rich pages.
The website features an informative video of the organization's main areas of intervention, giving users a good overview of their work. There are ample CTA buttons encouraging visitors to donate or sponsor one of the organization's cases, while the "Request Help" button displays vital information in various languages for a global reach.
WAVE picked up several instances of insufficient contrast ratios throughout the website. The site could benefit from additional visuals and a "success stories" section to enhance its impact.
The desktop website offers a seamless user experience with fast loading pages, easy-to-navigate pages, and clear CTA buttons that present as informative and engaging. The well-spaced page sections and attractive color scheme contribute to the site's professional aesthetic. On Google's PageSpeed Insights test, the website has a high performance score of 97/100.
Like the desktop version, the mobile site performs well and features a user-friendly, responsive design that allows the content to display effectively. While the hamburger menu ensures visitors can easily access pertinent information, the "Request Help" CTA button remains prominent in the top menu bar. The website's performance, however, is lower than its counterpart at 74/100.
https://righttosucceed.org.uk/
London, England, U.K.
Right to Succeed works with local residents, professionals, and government agencies to co-design bespoke education and programs for children in need. The website has a professional yet muted aesthetic with lively imagery and a soft color scheme that effectively highlights the organization's important work.
The website's content is well-organized and visitors can easily explore the charity's programs, insights, and fundraising opportunities.
The website's search bar is a helpful addition for users wanting to find specific information. The "About Us" page features a whimsical video of the organization's work, while the blog and news sections keep users updated with their latest programs and projects.
According to WAVE, the website has a large number of contrast errors, partially due to its pastel color scheme that does stand out efficiently against the white background. The CTA buttons should also be more prominent for optimal user engagement.
The desktop website effectively captures the organization's mission with visually appealing page layouts that ensure all content is easily readable. Site navigation is straightforward and page loading times are reasonable, but the desktop site would benefit from a more accessible color scheme to ensure important links and CTA buttons stand out.
The mobile site functions well, thanks to its user-friendly navigation options and well-organized content. While the hero image gets cut off, the website's impactful content makes up for this shortfall. However, the website's pages take a long time to load and the CTA buttons get hidden behind the hamburger menu. On Google's PageSpeed Insights test, the site's performance scored 53/100.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Ecojustice is a renowned environmental law charity that focuses on nature preservation and climate change. The website captures the organization's commitment to environmental justice with impactful content, emotionally stirring images and an earthy color scheme. The site's clean page layouts allow vital information, such as the charity's work, latest news, and donation options, to shine.
Site navigation is seamless with ample page links and a helpful search bar. Users can easily get involved with the organization by following the website's strategically placed CTA buttons. The "Our Work" page showcases the organization's legal victories, denoting credibility. According to WAVE, the site has no contrast errors.
A clearer visual hierarchy could be implemented across the website to improve readability. The addition of more organization-related images and/or video elements may increase user engagement.
The desktop version combines minimalistic design elements with narrative-rich content to ensure a pleasant user experience. Visitors have easy access to vital information, and the donation process seems intuitive. Website readability is also optimal with image captions, large headings, and concise copy, which is reflected in Google's PageSpeed Insights test accessibility score of 100/100.
The mobile site provides ample white space for the images and content to shine and fit nicely on smaller screens. The CTA buttons remain prominent and visitors can easily peruse the website with good navigation options. According to Google's PageSpeed Insights test, the website has a 51/100 performance score with slower-than-average page loading times.
Wingfield, South Australia, Australia
Animal Welfare League is a well-established organization that places lost or abandoned pets in caring homes throughout the local community. The website leans into the cute appeal of animals to draw visitors in and effectively convey the organization's work, which spans from pet adoption and fostering to rehoming, pet boarding, and cremation services.
The friendly design elements and heartwarming imagery contribute to the site's powerful appearance, while users can access important information from the website's user-friendly top menu bar and helpful search icon.
The home page features a comprehensive overview of the organization's services and impact, while there are additional page links that effectively advertise their donation options, adoption processes, and blog posts. WAVE picked up very few contrast errors, indicating great readability across the website.
The website lacks visual diversity and could benefit from additional images depicting the organization's community work, team members, and volunteers. The "Donate" and "Contact" page tabs could be converted into CTA buttons for more prominence.
The desktop site presents no issues in terms of navigation and usability, allowing visitors to easily peruse content-rich pages for interesting information on pet adoption, rehoming, and fostering opportunities. The spacious page layouts and minimalistic visual elements contribute to a clean and professional appeal. However, according to Google's PageSpeed Insights test, page loading times could be optimized.
The mobile website performs admirably with well-organized content and easy-to-navigate pages. However, some sections are quite small and more difficult to read than on the desktop, which may impact the mobile experience significantly. The placement of the CTA buttons could also be improved to encourage increased user engagement. The site's performance score is 47/100.
The best nonprofit websites typically evoke an emotional response from visitors with community-related images, statistics, and impact-led content. Other factors that contribute to a great user experience are easy-to-navigate pages, accessibility options, and prominent CTA buttons.
Have a look at our curated collection of nonprofit website examples for inspiration.
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