How to Spot a Dysfunctional Organization (Without a Single Conversation)

When I was working in the digital media/web space years ago, we had a saying that you could spot how dysfunctional an organization was by looking at its website.

Sadly, that statement remains true today.

There was a wonderful article about this written by Ilma Ibrisevic on the Donorbox blog, and it highlights a number of important points about websites vis-a-vis donors.

Here are a few:

1. Today’s online donors expect smooth, sleek, and efficient websites.

2. Per a survey by Target Analytics, 47% of donors surveyed were turned off by website usability problems.

3. The time it takes an average user to make a judgment on your website is 50 milliseconds.

4. Users are making assumptions about your nonprofit, how credible it is, do they trust you enough to give you their money, do they want to volunteer with you, and so on.

5. Only 3% of charities rate their board and executive leadership as being digitally savvy.

I’m not sure if #2 or #5 are more disturbing. When I see a website that isn’t cohesive, intuitive, professional, and with a clear message, I’ll click away pretty quickly. But I don’t just leave the site. As someone who’s worked in online businesses for decades, I immediately think of the long and unproductive meetings that the “powers that be” (board included) must have had — and when they finally allowed their new site to be launched, the result was a “meh”, watered-down website that doesn’t reflect well on the organization and its mission. That’s where the organization’s dysfunctionality starts to appear.

So what makes a website poor enough that users flee from it? A recent survey from Storyblock tells us that “…6 in 10 of consumers say they wouldn't return to a site after the first visit because of poor design and layout.”

As a donor, I completely agree. You can’t disconnect the website from the nonprofit — the website IS the representation of your nonprofit. If your board and executive leadership tell you differently (because 3% of your board and executive leadership aren’t digitally savvy, perhaps?), you need to make changes to your board and/or executive leadership.

Before I talk about website design and construction, I first need to address the one thing that trumps all other issues with nonprofit websites. Did you know that according to the 2021 Nonprofit Digital Marketing Benchmark Report by M+R, the average online donation completion rate across all nonprofits was 21%. This means that 79% of donors who started the donation process did not complete it. You must make it easy for a donor to get their money to you. While the “frictionless” discussion is concerned about experience and emotion vs. quick “in and out”, the fact remains that the execution of the transaction must be seamless, simple, intuitive and quick. I wrote about this a few years ago in my “The KISS Method” article, and the imperative remains.

Once you’ve made the online transaction piece simple and customer-oriented (Venmo or Zelle anyone?), you’re not out of the woods. Chances are that consumers still won’t return to your website or your company because of some of the things included in Tema Frank’s article on the Mirasee blog called “42 Ways to Scare Off Your Customers With Bad Website Design”. Hopefully, you haven’t made all of the 42 mistakes, but this list can be very helpful and enlightening. (Note that “customers” can apply to different business sectors, but the points are absolutely relevant to nonprofits.)

Still, since trust is one of the top reasons for donors to give or not give to a nonprofit, you can send a donor fleeing — in seconds or milliseconds — because your website isn’t up to current standards of usability and professionalism.

Personally, when looking at nonprofit organizations’ websites, I often see many (if not most) of the mistakes that are listed in the “42 Ways” article. Misspellings, in particular, make me absolutely crazy. For the nonprofit sector, there are also issues with websites that make me (and I’m sure other donors) turned off from giving. These include:

1. Having to go through multiple pages to find the donation page, and then finding it difficult to navigate. Very often only credit card payments are offered, and since I typically use my DAF, I get stuck and eventually give up. (This would likely be the same issue for people who want to send checks.)

2. Having to fill out loads of information that doesn’t seem important or meaningful — the best practice would be to require only information that is absolutely necessary to put through the donation. (These “required” fields should be clearly marked — usually with a red asterisk — so I can get through the form quickly.)

3. Not showing a clear way that I can contact someone at the NPO if I have a question. Often it’s a phone number, but rarely is it an email address to someone who would actually respond.

4. Messiness. Make sure that your links work. If you have a page or section that isn’t quite complete, it’s okay to write “this section is under construction” or “this section coming soon.” It’s not okay to have a title with the “lorem ipsum” copy filling the space.

5. Not including an immediate thank you pop-up that tells me why my donation is important. Many NPOs make these pop-ups all about my tax-deductible donation, but at this point, I’m not donating because of tax deductibility. I’m usually giving because something about the organization (and what it does) is compelling and has likely emotionally moved me. The tax piece is fine, but shouldn’t be front and center on that initial acknowledgment/communication.

6. In going to an organization’s website (when I’m giving for the first time), I want to know who the leadership is (ideally with linked bios of them), how the organization started, where they’re located, who they serve, and what their accomplishments have been. Where my money’s likely to go (what the funds will likely support) is ideal. Note that operational costs, IMHO, should be included in that, as I want to know that the organization has the resources to pay their staff a living wage (or better) and keep their business going. The last thing I want to glean from a website is that the nonprofit’s operations don’t seem to be able to support its mission.

7. Another piece that’s important — and that I look for — is the opportunity to become a monthly/sustaining donor. If that piece isn’t clearly offered in the “donate” section, that tells me that they aren’t up-to-date on how people give, and they have no problem leaving potential donations on the table. It also connotes that they are likely to be like the board members and executive leadership who aren’t even reasonably tech-savvy. In other words, leaving out the options for monthly giving, and multiple methods of giving (there are many — including DAF gifts) tells me that this organization is stuck in the mud and won’t be successful. I’ll happily give my money elsewhere.

A final note — once I see a poorly done website, I will remember that organization’s name and brand long-term. I might tell my friends about it, too. In other words, there are lasting implications — not just the air of dysfunction — of having a lousy, poorly constructed, website. Having some cute videos on TikTok won’t help.

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