5 Improvements You Can Make to Your Nonprofit Website Right Now

Your website isn’t just a digital brochure – it’s the front door to your mission! Whether someone’s looking to donate, volunteer, or learn more, their experience on your site can make or break their decision to take action.

The good news? You don’t need a complete redesign or massive budget to make your website convert better.

Here are five improvements you can implement today that will immediately increase donations, volunteer sign-ups, and supporter engagement.

1. Streamline Your Homepage (Focus on One Key Action)

The Problem: Your homepage tries to do everything at once. Multiple campaigns compete for attention, navigation menus have 15+ items, and visitors leave without taking any action because they’re overwhelmed by choices.

The Fix: When there are fewer decisions, it’s more likely someone will make one. Streamline your homepage to focus on ONE primary action: your current campaign, a donation call-to-action, or information about your next fundraising event.

Why This Works: Decision fatigue is real. Every additional option you present reduces the likelihood that someone will choose anything at all. By focusing on one clear path forward, you remove friction and guide visitors toward meaningful action.

Do This Right Now:

• Identify your single most important call-to-action this month
• Make it the dominant element on your homepage (large button, compelling image, clear headline)
• Move secondary actions to a less prominent position or to dedicated pages
• Remove outdated campaigns and information that no longer serves your current goals

Copy Tip: Your homepage hero text should pass the “5-second test.” Can a visitor understand what you do, who you help, and how they can make a difference in five seconds or less? Remove jargon and buzzwords. Replace “Empowering communities through sustainable change” with “We feed 500 hungry children in Manchester every week—help us feed more.”

2. Simplify Your Donation Forms (Remove Every Unnecessary Field)

The Problem: Your donation form asks for title, full address, phone number, date of birth, and three security questions before someone can give you £20. Each additional field is another chance for donors to abandon the process.

The Fix: Strip your donation form down to the absolute essentials. You need name, email, payment information, and amount. That’s it. Everything else can wait until after the donation is complete.

Why This Works: Research shows that reducing form fields from 11 to 4 can increase conversions by up to 120%. When it’s easy to donate, more people will.

Do This Right Now:

• Audit your donation form and remove any field that isn’t legally required
• Offer suggested donation amounts that correspond with actual outcomes (e.g., “£25 provides shelter for one night” or “£50 feeds a family for a week”)
• Enable one-click donation options for returning donors
• Make sure your form is mobile-friendly (over 50% of donations now happen on mobile devices)

Copy Tip: Use outcome-based language for donation amounts. Instead of generic “£25, £50, £100” buttons, try “Feed 5 families,” “Shelter 10 people,” or “Provide 20 vaccines.” Specific impact language increases average donation amounts by showing donors exactly what their money accomplishes.

3. Use Clear, Concise Language (Write for Everyone)

The Problem: Your website is filled with sector jargon, complex sentences, and language that requires a university degree to understand. According to the National Literacy Trust, many people best understand short, straightforward texts on familiar topics—yet charity websites often sound like academic papers.

The Fix: Rewrite your key pages using simple, direct language that anyone can understand. Aim for a reading level accessible to ages 12-14. This doesn’t mean dumbing down your mission; it means making it accessible to everyone.

Why This Works: Clear language removes barriers. The easier your content is to understand, the more people will engage with it, trust it, and act on it. Complexity doesn’t equal credibility—clarity does.

Do This Right Now:

• Run your homepage and donation page copy through a readability checker (Hemingway Editor is free)
• Replace long sentences (20+ words) with shorter ones (15 words or less)
• Cut jargon and insider language (“stakeholder engagement,” “holistic approach,” “capacity building”)
• Use active voice instead of passive voice (“We help families” not “Families are helped by us”)

Copy Examples:

❌ Before: “Our organization facilitates the provision of nutritional sustenance to economically disadvantaged populations experiencing food insecurity.”

✅ After: “We provide meals to families who can’t afford food.”

❌ Before: “Through capacity-building initiatives, we empower stakeholders to achieve sustainable outcomes.”

✅ After: “We train community leaders to create lasting change.”

Pro Tip: Read your copy out loud. If you stumble over a sentence or need to take a breath mid-sentence, it’s too complex. Simplify it.

4. Add a Strategic “Th-ask” to Your Thank You Page

The Problem: Your donation thank-you page says “Thank you for your donation” and nothing else. You’re missing a critical opportunity to deepen engagement at the exact moment when donors feel most connected to your cause.

The Fix: Transform your thank-you page into a strategic “th-ask” – a genuine thank you followed by an invitation to take one more small action. The timing and tone are crucial: thank first, then invite (not demand) further engagement.

Why This Works: The peak-end rule tells us people remember emotional highs and how an experience ends. Right after donating, supporters are experiencing positive emotions and feel invested in your mission. This is the perfect moment to invite them to share, subscribe, or learn more – but asking too aggressively can minimize those good feelings.

Do This Right Now:

• Rewrite your thank-you page to include genuine gratitude FIRST (2-3 sentences about the impact they just made)
• Add ONE optional next step: share on social media, sign up for your newsletter, or watch a 60-second impact video
• Include visuals or stories that reinforce their pride and connection
• Make it clear this action is optional, not required

Copy Example:

“Thank you for your donation of £50!”

Your gift just provided a week of meals for a family in need. Because of supporters like you, we’ve served over 12,000 meals this year.

Want to multiply your impact? Share why you gave with your network – every share helps us reach more people who want to make a difference like you just did.

[Share on Facebook] [Share on Twitter] [Share via Email]

Not ready to share? No problem. We’ll send you impact updates via email so you can see exactly how your donation changes lives.”

5. Optimize Every Page for Mobile (More Than Half Your Visitors Are on Phones)

The Problem: Your website looks beautiful on your desktop computer but is nearly impossible to use on a smartphone. Buttons are too small to tap, text is microscopic, forms don’t work properly, and images take forever to load.

The Fix: Ensure your website is fully responsive—meaning it automatically adapts to look great and function perfectly on any device, from large desktop screens to small mobile phones.

Why This Works: Over 50% of website traffic now comes from mobile devices, and mobile donations are growing faster than desktop donations. If your site doesn’t work seamlessly on mobile, you’re losing half your potential supporters.

Do This Right Now:

• Pull up your website on your smartphone right now (do this before reading further)
• Try to complete your donation form on mobile—note every frustration
• Check that buttons are large enough to tap easily (minimum 44×44 pixels)
• Ensure text is readable without zooming (minimum 16px font size)
• Test your page load speed on mobile (use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool—it’s free)
• Make sure pop-ups and forms work properly on small screens

Critical Mobile Copy Considerations:

• Keep headlines shorter on mobile (they take up more screen space)
• Break long paragraphs into 2-3 sentence chunks (easier to read on small screens)
• Use subheadings frequently to break up text
• Put your most important information and CTAs above the fold (visible without scrolling)

Mobile Donation Form Checklist:

• ✓ Donation amounts are large, tappable buttons (not a dropdown menu)
• ✓ Form fields are properly spaced so users don’t accidentally tap the wrong one
• ✓ Keyboard automatically switches to numbers for donation amount
• ✓ Autofill works for name, email, and address fields
• ✓ “Donate Now” button is easy to reach with one thumb

Bonus Tip: Build Your Email List (Then Use It Strategically)

Throughout all these improvements, remember that email is still the #1 preferred communication channel for supporters. Research shows 88% of people prefer email contact from organizations they support.

Add email signup forms in multiple locations:

• Footer of every page
• End of blog posts
• Thank-you page (after donation)
• Strategic pop-up (after 30 seconds, shown once per visitor)

Once you’re building your list, make sure every email you send is compelling, clear, and conversion-focused. That’s where proven fundraising email templates become invaluable – they help you turn subscribers into donors without spending hours writing every campaign from scratch.

The Bottom Line

Good website UX isn’t about how your site looks – it’s about how it feels, how it works, and how effectively it supports your mission. Small improvements in clarity, simplicity, and mobile experience can dramatically increase the number of people who donate, volunteer, and engage with your cause.

Start with just one of these five improvements today. You’ll see results immediately, and you’ll build momentum to tackle the others over the coming weeks.

Your supporters want to help. Make it easy for them to say yes.

Our email templates give you proven, fill-in-the-blank campaigns for every stage of the donor journey – from welcome sequences to thank-you notes to year-end appeals.
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