Top 10 Mistakes Social Impact Websites Make

In our previous article on building an internal digital culture, we established how your website is the most important owned channel for your social impact branding and marketing efforts. It’s a powerful digital flywheel that builds momentum for your cause and grows support and revenue for your organization. And most importantly, it’s one that you own and control.

Of course, some of the standard issues of building a brand and digital presence come into play here: Lack of resources and in-house expertise, focus on core program work over brand-building, and so on. 

10 Roadblocks to Digital Success

Acknowledging the challenges described above, we still see major issues outside of these standard obstacles. Let’s dig into a few of the most common ones — and surface some approaches to get past them.

1. Dated, Clunky, Overwhelming Websites

We see so many social impact sites that look like they were built in a time where blackberry phones were the cool new thing. Sites that don’t reflect the current or future state of the organization. Ones that have hundreds of pages of long-form, wall-of-text content.

When users land on a site like this, they hit the back button faster than you can say “Web 1.0”.

The approach here is simple. You need a modern website. The benefits far outweigh the costs. Modern social impact leaders understand that they are competing in the attention economy. And today, you need a modern online experience to build your brand and attract donors, funders, and a supportive community.

2. We-focused Messaging & Storytelling

When your website focuses on telling the story of your own organization, you fall into the we-focused messaging trap. 

Your messaging needs to tell the story of your community, how they fit in to help, and what actions they can take to make a difference. Paint a picture of your mission. The future-state you’re working towards. The impact that can be unlocked with community support and action.

Look at the messaging and storytelling across your site and see how much of it can be changed from we-focused, to you-focused. Invite your audiences and supporters to be your partners. Get them involved in your cause. It’s what they want to connect with your organization in the first place.

3. Static, Information-Centered Content

Your website should inform first-time visitors, but that’s just the first step. If your site is basically just a static, digital brochure that describes your mission and vision with a donate button slapped on top, you’re stuck in a “Web 1.0” mindset. 

Your site needs to go beyond a teach and preach approach. Let them know what they can do, including and beyond donating. How can they take action? How can they help expand awareness of your cause, mission, and solutions? How can they be powerful advocates for your organization?

4. Bad User Experiences & Digital Friction

People’s patience for friction in digital experiences is lower than ever, and that’s not changing anytime soon. And when people encounter friction, they’re out. They’ll leave your website, lack faith in your mission and solutions, and opt out of your engagement pyramid strategy.

With so many modern platforms offering optimized, out-of-the-box donate and checkout forms, there’s no reason you can’t nail the user experience for the main conversion points on your site. Make it easy for people to get involved and help you move your mission forward.

5. Missing Social Proof & Impact Stories

Despite being widely discussed as key strategies for effective social impact marketing, we consistently see lackluster impact storytelling and social proof in our digital audits. This isn’t the place to cut corners or underinvest in your website content strategy. 

Employ the idea of giving before you ask. Impact stories are the payout from people investing in your organization. They’re why they will be inclined to reinvest.

Social proof lets potential partners know that you appreciate and celebrate collaboration. Showcase your partners. They’re bound to return the favor.

6. Incoherent Branding

If your website looks like an intern’s first Canva experiment, you don’t come across a reputable, effective organization no matter how effective you are in the real world. Gone are the days when “scrappy” was a term of pride — especially when it comes to your website.

Your brand is how you are perceived by everyone outside of your organization. A strong brand symbolizes the movement you build and the change you work to achieve. Be sure yours reflects who you are and what you stand for today.

7. Speaking to All of Your Audiences at Once

Chances are, you’ve got a lot of different audiences you’re trying to reach and resonate with. But when you try to say something to everyone all at once, you end up with a weak and muddy message that doesn’t resonate with any of your audiences at all. 

In marketing for both for-profit and social impact organizations, the idea of Target Audiences exists for a reason — to help the organization create messaging for each audience rather than try to be all things to all people. Look across all of your communications — online and print. Look to see if you have pathways on your website that let you tell the right stories to the right people. 

8. The Only Options are Donate, Buy, or Leave

If your website feels like a giant donate form or check-out experience, you come across as transactional. You’ve got to make it easy for people to take action, but if they feel like they’re being cold-pitched by a salesperson the moment they land on your site, you’re coming in too aggressive with your ask. 

Look at creating an action center to give people multiple options for contributing to your mission. It can be stand alone or integrated into your site. Either way, the goal is to move away from transactional marketing and into authentic brand building.

9. Not Funder-Friendly

Major funders, investors, and philanthropies will review your site when assessing your organization. If it is friction-filled, lacks social proof and impact stories, and doesn’t have a clear brand, they’re likely to be reluctant to invest in you.

Don’t have your finances 5 years behind, hide your impact metrics, and make it difficult to understand how your organization sets itself apart from others in your category. This is a fast track to funders bailing from your site and maybe even your organization.

10. Ignoring Accessibility

Accessibility is so much more than just optimizing your site for users with specific needs. And slapping an accessibility widget on top of your unoptimized site with slow load times, a clunky mobile experience, and wall-of-text content isn’t going to cut it here. 

Accessibility must be integrated into your entire website strategy, from technical implementation, to content strategy, and beyond. In today’s attention economy, you need to be mindful of how you attract and retain supporters, funders, and advocates. Getting back to our first point, a modern website is a good start for improving accessibility.

Get Ahead of the Game

There’s a ton more mistakes we see than those above. But if you avoid the common ones we described, you’ll be well ahead of the average social impact sites in our digital ecosystem. That gives you a leg up on attracting supporters, driving your mission forward, and producing the change that creates the desired future state you’re working to achieve. 

This article is part of a series. Read the next article here.