Monday Matters: More Than a "Pretty" Face

Last week, I had a conversation in which I was asked to talk about my professional background. People sometimes describe me as someone who wears a lot of hats. Frankly, I do not love that description. If you know me at all, you know that I am not particularly fond of hats. I rarely wear them.

I do wear a lot of shoes, and I like that metaphor much better.

Shoes are active. They take us places. They allow us to move between different environments and assume different responsibilities. Hats can be attractive, but for the most part, they sit there looking pretty. I prefer to think of myself as someone with an active mind and imagination, even when my body is not always interested in cooperating.

When I say that I have worn a lot of shoes, I mean that I have done a little bit of everything during my professional career. One part of that history may surprise people who know me primarily through my nonprofit, fundraising, teaching, or writing work.

I designed websites.

I worked my way through college, as they say, during the web design boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s. At that time, organizations and businesses were beginning to understand that the internet was not going away. Everyone needed a website, although relatively few people knew what one should contain or how it should work.

Design has played a significant role throughout my professional life, and that remains true today. In my role with Mon Valley Academy for the Arts, I have recently been immersed in providing our outstanding web design firm with the information, photographs, documents, program descriptions, and other raw material required to create a new website.

That experience has led me to consider how a good website can help a nonprofit build capacity. This is particularly timely because capacity building has become a prominent topic within the nonprofit sector, and many funders have identified it as a priority.

Capacity building is not simply another fashionable phrase. At its most useful, it means strengthening an organization’s ability to fulfill its mission over time. It may include board development, staff training, financial management, technology, fundraising systems, strategic planning, communications, or improvements to an organization’s facilities.

A strong website belongs on that list.

A nonprofit’s website may be the first place someone encounters the organization. A potential donor may visit before deciding whether to make a contribution. A volunteer may be looking for a way to become involved. A prospective board member may want to understand the organization’s leadership and priorities. Someone who needs a program or service may be trying to determine whether the organization can help.

If information is outdated, incomplete, inaccessible, or difficult to find, the organization has created an unnecessary barrier. It may lose a donor, volunteer, participant, or potential partner without ever knowing that person visited.

A good nonprofit website should clearly explain who the organization is, whom it serves, what it does, why the work matters, and how people can participate. Visitors should not have to search through several pages to find contact information, program details, registration instructions, upcoming events, or a way to make a contribution.

The website should make it easy for people to support the mission. A donation page needs more than a payment form. It should explain what contributions make possible and give donors confidence that their support will be used responsibly. The site should also provide clear ways to volunteer, sponsor a program, attend an event, request information, or begin a conversation.

Accessibility must be part of this work from the beginning. Clear navigation, readable text, sufficient color contrast, alternative text for images, captions for videos, descriptive links, and compatibility with assistive technology allow more people to use the site. Accessibility is not an optional feature to add if time and money remain. It is part of serving the community.

Of course, a website cannot solve every organizational problem. It cannot compensate for weak programs, poor leadership, inaccurate records, or neglected donor relationships. It can, however, support the organization’s work by reducing repetitive administrative tasks, preserving important information, strengthening credibility, collecting inquiries, and helping people take the next step.

Developing a website also forces an organization to answer important questions. Are our programs clearly defined? Do we know who our audiences are? Can we explain our impact? Is our information accurate? Who will keep it current? What do we want visitors to understand, feel, and do after they arrive?

Answering those questions is capacity building.

Small nonprofits sometimes postpone website improvements because more immediate needs always seem to take precedence. That is understandable when money, staffing, and volunteer time are limited. Still, an outdated or confusing website can quietly cost an organization participants, volunteers, partners, and donors.

A good website does not need to be elaborate. It needs to be current, accessible, credible, and useful. It should represent the organization accurately and make it easier for people to become part of its work.

The same is true of the nonprofit itself. It may have a pretty face, an appealing mission, and attractive promotional materials, but it also needs the capacity to do the work behind that appearance. Both the website and the organization need a good, sturdy pair of shoes that can carry the mission forward.