Category Archives for "Purpose"

0 Donations: Your Request for Support

If you’re following this thread about writing copy for seeking donations on your charity website, today we consider your request for support.  You will have read so far about the need to write about your charity’s

and with these your pitch for donations will be ready for a response from your visitors.  In what follows, I shall assume you are not seeking a single donation. If  you have someone’s email address, it means they are interested in your cause and if they don’t pay today, they may be persuaded later if you can keep in touch with them.

List First,  Donation Second

Most organisations ask visitors to sign up so they can build a long-term relationship with them.   You can ask them to (1) donate (and add them to your list), or (2) join your list, trusting they’ll make donations in the future.  Your list is actually more important than a one-off donation and so you will need to be clear about what you want your visitors to do.  This is where you may need to talk to a consultant.

This type of page is sometimes called a squeeze page and there are a number of things you need on it.  It is essential the page is not cluttered.  You want visitors to sign up to your list and possibly donate.  Their only alternative is to navigate away.  The term ‘squeeze page’ implies you are forcing a decision.

Your Squeeze Page

What is about a website that makes you trust it?  What do you find confirms your confidence in their bona fides or makes you suspicious?

0 Donations: What Still Needs to be Done?

If you have followed this sequence of posts, you will know how your copy should cover your charity’s

so now you need to make the case for your readers’ continued support.

This is the core of your message.  Your next step will be a request for a donation, so you need to make this convincing.

Describe your new initiatives.  Be specific.  Link to what has gone before where it is relevant.  You might ask for more support for a specific project or for a spin-off project by the same people or for support for a similar project elsewhere.

So, be

Outputs are the specific things you are going to do with the money.  If you say you’re going to build a school in a particular place, then your donors will expect to see a school in that place within your timeframe.  They can be difficult to quantify, eg research might not promise a specific output.  There might be a cure for a specific type of cancer one day but you may not be able to guarantee it will happen this time.  With something like this you can be specific about the research you will carry out – a cure would be a possible outcome.

Your outcomes answer the question, why?  So, what will the school do for the people who use it or work in it?  Outcomes are in their nature not entirely predictable.  So, a school is likely to help people find better jobs.  But the ideas the pupils and staff come up with once they start work will not be predictable.  People donate towards outcomes not outputs; they want to see the difference your outputs will make to real people.

If you are not sure what your outcomes will be, this need not be a disadvantage.  It adds intrigue to what you’re doing.  In the next post I’ll show you how you can use this to your advantage.

So, have you some interesting outcomes to share?  How have you demonstrated outcomes on your website?

2 Donations: What Have You achieved?

This is part of a sequence about website design to support a campaign for donations.  So far, you have

The next step is to show what your charity has achieved so far.

You will need to think about whether you put these headings on the same page or on a series of linked pages.  There is no final answer to this question.  If you have a lot of material you may find:

On the other hand if your copy is short, it may make sense if it appears on a single page.

If you are a new charity and have little evidence of your track record; say you are a new charity and then seek other evidence of your ability to deliver.  This might be the track record of people on your board or support from partner organisations.

So, what can you present at this stage in the argument?

1. With statistics there are two issues.  Do you have convincing evidence of your performance?  How are you going to present it?  People tend to scan websites and so your stats need to be easy to pick up at a glance.  A prominent heading summarises the main findings expressed through bold graphics should be easy to pick up.  You can link to detailed information about the stats.  Also ask someone who understands stats to check your figures, to make sure they stand up and say what you claim they are saying.
2. Social proof.  Stats present quantifiable information whilst social proof presents qualitative.  Are there people who have received help and are willing to provide a testimonial?  Or others who have observed and can verify your work?  Use testimonials with permission and if you use photos or illustrations with text, it’s best to check they’re happy with the pictures as well as the text.

It’s best to mix stats and social proof.  Keep it light and lively, offering a link to more information for those who want it.

Keep your information up to date and date your evidence!  If it is possible to see the evidence is fresh, it will encourage readers to take you seriously.

What evidence would you consider valid for a new charity that can’t present evidence of its work?  What sort of evidence is likely to make you enthusiastic for a cause?

3 Solvitur Ambulando

Last Friday I introduced solvitur ambulando (Latin: solve it by walking) and this time I shall develop it a little.  Whilst walking is  not a technique that will help you solve your community development problems on or offline, it can be really helpful.  Walking solves problems to do with your:

So, over to you.  Do you walk and if so what problems has walking solved?  If you don’t walk, what do you do?

5 Donations: How You Address the Problem

This is the second of six posts about seeking donations online.  In the first post about your charity’s situation, I outlined some approaches to describing your cause, mindful of your target audience.  In this post about donations how you address the problem I show how you can make a number of responses to the same situation.

After you describe your charity’s situation, the next step is to describe what your charity actually does.  If you want your visitors to leave your site in droves, this is where you place your aims and objectives.  Remember, this is a website, not a funding application.

So, you need to build a relationship with your visitors.  You can do this on your site or there are other options, eg email lists.

If you have a number of landing pages, you can prepare distinct content for visitors with different interests.  After all, you’ve gone to the trouble of identifying them as members of particular groups.

So, if you are a cancer charity, to continue with the hypothetical example in my last post, what do you do for this type of visitor?  Let’s run with just two types of visitor.  They might be (1) a bereaved relative of someone who has died of cancer and (2) someone interested in cancer research who wishes to support it.

Let’s say the charity provides support for families of people with cancer.  A type 1 visitor may be interested in the support the charity offers.  They may be someone who needs support or someone who has had support and wants to show their appreciation.  The type 2 visitor may be more interested in how support functions as a part of treatment for cancer.

Implications for Your Website

Can you see the problem with using a single home page? It either limits you to addressing one type of visitor or else you have to crowd the page with several arguments, not all of which may be compatible.  Extra pages cost next to nothing and they mean your site can offer a range of visitors what they need.

One other point.  You need to be clear in your own mind about the distinction between your situation and how you address the problem.  There may be more than one response possible to a particular situation.  You may be working alongside other charities that offer services complementary to yours.  So you need to be mindful not only of what your visitors need from your site but also that you are clear about what you do and what you don’t do.  Your visitors might appreciate some guidance to an alternative site if yours is not the right one.  Whilst you might lose a visitor to another site, you may also be demonstrating your integrity.

Share in the comments examples of where the same activity can be described in different ways to different audiences.  If your website does this, it would help readers of this blog, if you can add a url.  Can you think of examples of more than one charity offering complementary approaches to the same situation?

1 Can Mice Solve Problems?

What better topic than the question: can mice solve problems?

Here’s an extract from an argument I had with my niece. She is much cleverer than I am but this time I  believe I am right.

The original heading for this post was to be:

Solvitur Ambulando

This is Latin and it means to solve a problem by walking.  There are several ways to understand this.  You could say it means you need to start working on a problem to solve it.  Get started and solve it on the hoof.  There is some truth in this, we can easily spend too much time thinking when to get started will actually solve the problem.

However, the point I really want to make is much simpler.  Got a problem?  Go for a walk!  It’s partly about taking a break, simply thinking about something else will help.  Also, I think there is something in the rhythm of walking that helps.  If you’re stuck designing a website, or anything else, a good walk will often result in a solution to your problem.

Anyway, can you help with my argument with my niece?  Watch this video and then comment on the dialogue below:

My niece: “That is one badass, determined, hungry mouse. One can only admire it’s persistence.”

Me:  ” I like the bit where it stops, gives up, wanders off and then works out how to do it. Solvitur ambulando!”

My niece:  “I reckon it just got lucky, that, or it needed to regain it’s strength.”

Me: “Why do you think mice can’t solve problems?”

My niece: “Not saying that exactly. It’s just that that particular mouse didn’t look very thoughtful at any point.”

Me: ” It solved the problem! is it supposed to sit down with its fist on its forehead?”

My niece: “Luck. Sheer and utter luck.”

What do you think?

6 Donations: Your Situation

Over the next 6 posts, I shall introduce guidelines for making a case for your charity online.  They build on my post “How to Draw Down Donations”, which summarises the six steps towards making a case for donations. So, when appealing for donations your situation is paramount.

Why charities?  Well, in the UK charitable status is one way organisations demonstrate accountability.  If you’re seeking donations, you need to consider registering as a charity.

Making a case for donations is one approach to generating income online and it might not be right one for your organisation.  My aim is to help you work out your ideal approach.  If you choose to explore donations further you will need professional help.  I may be able to help you find the expertise you need.

Presenting Your Situation

Anyway, on your website the first thing you need to present is your situation and why you need financial help.  Whatever your cause, here are a few things you can consider when presenting your case online:

1. An account of your cause is likely to be on the first page your visitor encounters.  This is often called a landing page and it should be designed as your visitors’ first encounter with your site.  First impressions are important and the page will need to be search engine optimised.  I shall explain these terms in future posts.
2. You may need more than one landing page.  Depending upon the nature of your cause, you may need to present it in different ways for different audiences.  So, a charity supporting research into cancer might appeal to people who have cancer, people bereaved because of cancer, people interested in research into cancer, medical professionals and so on.  Each of these may need to arrive at a different landing page.  They will have access to the same site but they need to know the site is for them.
3. Stories are immensely powerful and you may find you need a different story on each landing page.  Getting this right is important.
4. Broadly there are two types of story.  You may want to tell a story about your cause so, continuing with my example, it might be a story about someone’s battle with cancer or about a research project.  The other type of story is about your organisation.  Why this charity started, the issues and problems it has faced.  Don’t underestimate the value of the second type.  Often people value insight into what’s behind the scenes and it is likely to build trust with your site visitors.  Sometimes these two stories can be combined.
5. Be clear about the overall purpose of your charity and what it does for the target visitors to this particular landing page.  You don’t need lots of statistics and evidence at this stage.
6. Every page should have one clear action step for its reader.  They read the story, what do you want them to do next?  Most likely to read on by clicking through to another page.  You can lead your visitors through a series of pages that will eventually arrive at your target action step.  I shall show you how to test your website about its effectiveness in moving visitors to the point when they must choose to take your desired action (or not).
7. But what is your target action step?  Are you going to rely on visitors spending enough time on your site to persuade them to donate?  Or do you see more value in building a long-term relationship?  So for a major crisis in the news, you might ask for a donation on the landing page with a small amount of copy.  Otherwise, you may wish to build a long-term relationship with people who will donate several times.  These two are not mutually exclusive.  Someone who donates to a crisis appeal may also make a good long-term supporter.  If you are seeking long-term support, the best way is through email lists, something else I’ll discuss in more detail later.

Have you used landing pages, and action steps on your site?  If you already have a landing page, I offer a free review here.  Or write a comment about your thoughts or experience.

0 The Art and Science of Conversation

Conversation is something we take for granted and perhaps don’t readily associate with web design.  We don’t appreciate the extent to which online activities become collaborative.  Over barely ten years the Internet became a place where conversations are held with contacts all over the world.  We need to understand the art and science of conversation.

Two things intrigue me about conversation and they have implications about how all of us conduct our online business including how we structure our websites.

At their best conversations happen when one or more minds engage in considering a problem or situation.

The Science of Conversation

Note I suggest a single mind can hold a conversation and this leads me to the first characteristic of conversation.  Conversations happen when minds are paying attention.  Imagine a scientist who contemplates some minor fluctuation in readings, seeking patterns.  Perhaps the scientist will try something to see how the experimental system responds.

The scientist’s single mind might then enter into conversations with colleagues and suddenly a new paradigm emerges from that conversation.  Sometimes attention paid by colleagues lead the scientist to a sudden insight.  If colleagues resist their insight, the scientist must hone their argument, to test their hypothesis and produce evidence.

These two principles are typical of conversations.  Pay attention and new ideas emerge from a meeting of minds.  You may already be thinking of dozens of reasons why conversations don’t happen online.  But is it possible they don’t happen because too often we’re not paying attention to how we design our websites and online presence?

1 How to draw down donations

How might a charity build relationships online?  The charity’s first priority is to find its market.  It might seek to tell the public about an issue or concern.  Or seek to build relationships with its beneficiaries, perhaps by encouraging them to join online (or real life) mutual support groups.  One significant aim is likely to be fund-raising through donations.

To draw down donations you must build relationships with visitors that make a compelling case.  It is never easy to build a relationship of trust with people you don’t know, possibly all over the world.

A Model Relationship Building Approach

1. What is the situation?  Why do you need financial help?
2. What this charity does to address the problem.
3. What have you achieved?  How many people have you helped?  What difference does the charity make?
4. Outline work that still needs to be done.
5. The generous support of people like you makes possible the work of this charity.  Please donate today, every little helps, so please give whatever you can.
6. Thank you for reading this far and giving us your consideration.

This model shows you how you can structure your pitch for donations.  By using information about your charity, this model can be re-shaped into copy that works.  Follow the link for further posts, where I returned to this model, examined each stage in detail and showed how you can structure your site to best present your case.

0 The Need for Website Consultancy

Website design is about 20 years old and its origins are firmly rooted in the technology.  As markup languages, such as html, developed people learned how to use them, augmenting them with css, flash and various other languages and  applications.  But these days prospective website owners need website consultancy, as well as technical expertise.

Many people do not have the time or interest to learn these technologies, and have little or no interest in keeping up with developments even though they need a website.  So, there is a market for those who understand the technical side of web design.

However, this is not satisfactory.

Seeking Value for Money

Any organisation that pays for a website will, not unreasonably, expect value for money.

A commercial enterprise, can reasonably expect their website to earn more money than it costs to design it.  For a non-commercial site, the client can reasonably expect it to substantially further their aims.

But it is not always clear how a website might best support an organisation.  The client may know they would benefit from a website but will need help to pin down exactly what their site should do.

They will find they do not know enough about what is possible online.  Or there may be approaches to building online relationships they have not considered.  So, a website designer may need to spend some time as a consultant, helping their client get to grips with their site’s purpose.