As the rains poured down and the frigid winds howled, dedicated do-gooders trekked to the 9th floor of 27 W. 24th St. last Thursday night. While the Wednesday night-ers don’t have quite as dramatic a tale, Empax was equally grateful for both nights’ crowds.
The occasion was our in-house workshop, The Nonprofit Website. For the second time this fall, Empax opened it’s doors to share our acquired knowledge with those in the nonprofit world that need it most. The focal point of the evening was websites for nonprofits: what they tend to look like, what they should do, how they can function to support your cause, etc.
Ehud delivered a candid presentation both nights. While the slides are much better digested with his running commentary, you should get the gist from this copy. Central themes that he urged participants to remember, if nothing else:
1. Your website is a tool. It is a vehicle that should be used to tell your story and drive people to action, and in very few cases is actually a ‘product’ in and of itself.
2. Beware of the curse of knowledge. As you build your website, try as hard as you can to un-know everything about the organization is that is so ingrained in you. In other words, be the user. You must put yourself in their shoes to effectively create a website that speaks to them.
3. Focus is crucial, even when it means leaving out details of what your organization does. Cull it down, rein it in, distill it – pick your most compelling and important feature and stick with it.
4. Don’t let your homepage be the stage on which internal politics are played out. It’s okay to have many different “doorways” leading from your home page to other sections of the site, but it is critical that your users know where to start. When everything is emphasized and glowing in bright neon, nothing stands out and the user is left confused.
5. Users paint a picture of who you are based on how your website looks. In other words, style is essential. Think about what your organization would wear to a job interview. Remember that visuals aren’t the only way you’re communicating on your site; language and tone matter too.
Aside from these takeaways, participants enjoyed individual analysis of their organization’s website. Commentary from both our team and other guests proved to be valuable and thought-provoking; good food for thought.
As always, we welcome any and all feedback (on the presentation, our office space, the cheese selection). You can look at some photos (we promise it happened!) on or Flickr. Stay tuned for news on the next workshop!
(image by alexkess’ photostream)