In this digital age any enterprise needs to have a website. This extends to the 3rd sector, where the technicalities of creating and maintaining a website can be daunting to charity workers who may have little IT experience.
At Make Do we love working with charities and non-profits but the reality is that delivering web projects in this sector can sometimes be a daunting experience. Here are some reasons why hiring web experts can be a great move for a charity and are not an unnecessary expense.
Guaranteed Expertise
This one goes without saying, but expertise is an especially important commodity for charities. As charities are often small and localised, it’s not uncommon for teams to lack IT knowledge.
IT can seem daunting and managing a new website can feel like navigating a minefield. Hiring expert help will put your charity on the right track and can significantly help with fundraising, increasing profile as well as staff and volunteer recruitment. Hiring someone with insufficient skill or expertise will cost more in the long run.
Fixing Someone Else’s Mess…
At Make Do we’re often hired to sort out tech tangles left by other companies. We know that experience counts! Read more about Why Expertise Matters when working with a digital agency and how to avoid hiring the wrong partner for your project.
Accessibility
A charity’s website needs to be as accessible as possible. A simple and easy website helps you get to the people who need your help faster and it might even boost fundraising and volunteer enquiries.
Following Accessibility Guidelines
All sites made by Make Do are crafted to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) v2.0 to double A (AA) standard (the standards that the UK Government recommend).
Layouts are designed with modern web standards in mind (HTML5 and CSS3) and will render consistently in modern browsers, and degrade gracefully in older browsers.
Once published all pages will be tested to these standards using industry-leading tools Total Validator and WebAIM.
Value for money
Some charities might think that hiring an external web expert is an unnecessary strain on an already limited budget. Charities have a responsibility to spend money carefully and hiring a professional, with experience of working in the charity sector is good practice. Ask your web team if they can demonstrate a return on investment.
Website analytics can help track your website’s success and your outsourced web designer or team should be able to help with this.
Just look at the case study on our website for our work with St John’s Hospice – you will see that, with the potential boost in reach and fundraising, a professionally designed website is a profitable asset to any charity.
