It’s not enough that websites for nonprofits just look awesome—they need to serve a purpose. If your end users can’t do what they need to on your site, they’ll get frustrated and leave. That’s why your site’s functionality is so crucial. Functionality refers to the online tools that make it possible, and in some cases necessary, for supporters to connect with us through our websites.
These tools give end users the ability to donate, view an event calendar, register for an event, sign up to volunteer or maybe even access a private area available only to key people. All of these tools work together to create a functional site, and it’s imperative that a site provides functionality for all different types of end users.
Make it easy for volunteers to sign up.
You’re going to have people who say, “I want to volunteer for this organization,” and they’re going to look online for a way to do that. So you don’t want them to get to your website and wonder, how do I sign up? The ability to view an event calendar is important, so prospective volunteers can see what’s coming up and plan accordingly.
Some may say, “That’s a cool event—I’d like to register for that.” And they want to be able to do so right on your website. So when I say you should have the functionality for a user to register, I’m not talking about having a PDF available that they can click on, print out, fill out, then fax, mail or scan back to you. Who wants to do that anymore?
