Fundraising 101: Attracting Donors to Your Site
Pay close attention to your institution’s homepage. In less than 15 seconds, does it tell you:
- Who you are?
- What your institution is trying to accomplish?
- Does it have a tagline that explicitly summarizes what your institution does?
The design and content on your homepage should address each question in a way that balances breadth and depth. Don’t overwhelm your reader with too much information. Install “read more” links that allow the reader to dive in deep should s/he decide to.
Keep your homepage content dynamic. Put a tickler on your calendar to change something significant on your homepage at least once per month. Consider using a modular or block design that allows certain features to be easily swapped out. So many of us are visual creatures, so build a library of reusable images that you can use to keep your homepage content fresh.
Simple, dynamic, and compelling content on your homepage will draw your donors in. Don’t forget to put a link to your giving page!
March 1, 2010 at 7:34 pm
[...] Cultural Heritage Matters Enrich your life by saving the past « Fundraising 101: Attracting Donors to Your Site [...]
March 1, 2010 at 7:48 pm
[...] So, while our libraries are getting pummeled by apathy, lack of funding, and whatnot, what can we do? Again, we should build relationships with the individual donors who support our institutions. As cities and other organizations cut funding, we’re just now learning how to do our own fundraising. And if the science of fundraising holds true for cultural institutions, fully 85% of fundraising dollars will come from individual donors. Grants, foundations, and other funding organizations fall a distant second. You can get an easy start today by reading my posts here and here. [...]