We have long passed the point where having a website for your organization is optional. You know you need one in this day and age, and you understand that you have to include it in your budget. But what if your website starts to cost more than money? What if it starts to chip away at other parts of your organization? An ineffective nonprofit website could cost you more than hosting and design fees by slowly becoming heavy over time.

An Ineffective Nonprofit Website Costs Time

In the business world, you often hear that time equals money.

For nonprofits, time equals help.

I recently worked with a nonprofit that serves the homeless community in Richmond. We did an audit of their processes and discussed how much time they lost each week. I saw multiple faces react when I said that every minute they waste is one they could use to help an unhoused person. I legitimately think they had never considered that.

Don’t get me wrong. You aren’t sitting around, twiddling your thumbs, intentionally wasting time. You just get stuck doing work that your website could do for you, like answering the same questions time after time and writing emails you can now recite in your sleep.

Time equals help.

Your Website Could Cost Energy

Those in the nonprofit space never lack fires to put out, both external and internal. In addition to the physical nature of setting up events and hosting trainings, you carry the mental load of keeping all the balls in the air.

The last thing you need is for your website to add to the friction.

Energy isn’t infinite. Managing a website that has become burdensome over time takes energy your organization needs to make a difference. Instead of using your energy to move your mission forward, you find yourself managing outreach, handling registrations or donations, and filling in other gaps your website could handle for you.

An Ineffective Website Loses Focus

Most nonprofits keep a constant eye on their mission statements. After all, that’s what drives the entire organization! I’ve seen too many organizations allow that focus to shift to other things that muddy the waters. You want to focus on moving that mission forward, not on tasks that cause you to divide your attention.

You have probably been there… deep in work that makes a difference, only to be called away because something on your site doesn’t work properly. Maybe you answer the same question over and over when your site could handle that load for you. Perhaps the outdated contact form has stopped working and you have to handle it.

I’ve been interrupted during productive work (hello, cat sitting in the way) enough times to know that deep focus doesn’t easily return. You have to get back in the right headspace, and sometimes the focus is just gone.

An Ineffective Nonprofit Website Costs Credibility

How many times have you gone to an out-of-date or ineffective website and questioned the seriousness of the business or organization? I’ve had that happen and wondered whether I could trust the information on the site.

Nobody intentionally neglects their site or lets it get outdated. Over time, however, busy nonprofits juggling too many tasks say they’ll work on it “next week,” only to be bombarded with more fires to put out. Next week becomes next month, which becomes next quarter… you get the idea.

You’re dedicated. You care. You don’t want your website to give the opposite impression.

Your Website Could Cost You Money

You may read that and think, “Of course it costs us money! I pay hosting and domain fees.”

Let’s look at it from a different angle. Most of us have tried to make an online purchase and given up (or looked elsewhere) because of a complicated or frustrating process. Often, the site owner doesn’t even realize that their site makes it difficult to pay. They “set it and forget it” and figure that everything just works.

In the same way, many nonprofit organizations set up donations on their website and forget to “check in” with the user experience. When this happens, they often don’t realize that donations could be higher if the process was just a little less complicated.

If things have felt “off” and you haven’t been able to put a finger on why, an ineffective nonprofit website could be part of the problem. Once you’ve named the issue, you can start to figure out what to do about it. At the risk of seriously dating myself, a cartoon from my childhood used to say “knowing is half the battle.”

Now that you know what your website could cost you, consider taking a good look at it to see where it could improve. I have a free quiz below that can help you swim forward.

Until next time, keep swimming along!