Going online?

Does your organization need a website or do you need to revamp the one you have? Recently the NonProfit Times posted a chapter from the book Nonprofit Internet Strategies by Todd Baker. The chapter is called "Inspiring Donors Online" and these are the ideas he shares regarding website design.

• Establish an overarching goal for your organization's Web site. Usually it's raising money.
• Make an impression. People will remember how you made them feel.
• Write to connect on an emotional level. Embrace clarity, engage the reader and encounter the heart.
• Select the most interesting perspective from which to tell your story.
• Find your organization's voice: a unique blend of charisma, courage, and concern.
• Be persuasive by first making clear the specific action you want the reader to take.
• Be human; don't be an organization. Show the donor that you're people who support a worthy cause and you're looking for folks just like you.
• Illustrate your mission through images and pictures.
• Present a virtual tour of your mission.
• Write in an active and conversational style.
• Stop spending 90 percent of your organization's resources on technology and only 10 percent on the message.
• Give your headlines soul. Headlines that work seize the reader's attention, affect the reader on an emotional level and spark curiosity.
• Understand online human behavior. People who are online read differently than they would with a printed text. Make a good first impression, do not think of a book-reading atmosphere and make each page of the site have an objective with the reader in mind.