The best charity websites of 2023
Despite wanting to be fair, wanting to support other businesses, and wanting to work in harmony… it’s still competitive isn’t it - this website game?
You want your site to be noticed and found and appreciated and, most importantly, engaged with!
This round up of charity websites showcases ones we think have done a great job in 2023.
We admit that we haven’t asked the charities:
How much money did you raise?
How many new people did you link with? Did your website traffic increase?
Are you higher up the search engine rankings at the end of 2023 than you were at the start?
But, as users and visitors of charity websites ourselves, we can take a step back and think about the websites that have impacted us the most this year.
And, we can all learn from their techniques and get some new ideas to take with us into 2024.
First: what makes a website stand out?
1. Interesting design
It’s probably the most obvious and easiest thing to judge on a website, whether the design is interesting to you and visually appealing. It’s an easy question: is the website enjoyable to look at?
2. Great user-experience
Is the website easy to use? Can you find what you are looking for quickly and does the navigation make sense as you use the site?
3. Good storytelling
The majority of charities are aiming to raise awareness for a specific cause or topic. They want you to care about what they care about.
And, one of the most effective ways of doing this is to tell a good story. A story draws people in, engages them, makes people want to know more and hopefully encourages people to act, donate, campaign or advocate for their cause.
People remember good stories and will tell them to others.
4. Defined and obvious requests
It is clear what the charity wants you to do? Is it obvious how you can help their cause? Is the ‘call to action’ (a jargony phrase that really just means: request to do something specific) clear and easy to follow?
5. Thinks about what the audience needs
Also known in the website business as ‘accessibility’.
Accessibility is an absolute must for good website design and user-experience. Does your website take into consideration users of your site with restricted vision, mobility or hearing?
And the category winners (in our eyes) are…
1. Visually appealing winner - Only One, a charity on a mission to restore oceans and tackle the climate crisis.
We love: the unique design is different and stands out without being so complex that it’s distracting from the charity’s message.
2. Brilliant user experience winner - Charity Water, a charity trying to solve the world’s water crisis.
We love: it’s immediately obvious from their homepage where you can donate, where you can get more involved and find more information.
By using drop-down menu options in the top navigation bar of the website there aren't overwhelming navigation choices to work through straight away.
3. Great storytelling winner: Tearfund, International Development charity
We love: the way that Tearfund incorporates the voice of those who they are working with into their stories. They don’t just write about people, they include them in their own stories.
(To be honest, Charity Water could win this category too!)
4. Clear call to action winner: WWF, global environmental charity
We love: it’s really clear what WWF wants you to do!
WWF has two really clear calls to action that they repeat on every page of their website. No matter what the page content is about you can always find the ‘adopt’ or ‘donate’ buttons on the top navigation bar of their site.
The call to action buttons are designed using contrasting colours to the rest of the site’s design making them easy to see and read.
5. Accessibility winner: Mira, a charity offering free guide and service dogs to people living with visual impairments and physical disabilities.
We love: everything…
Content written in both French and English to cater for different audience needs
The clean and simple design might not look as jazzy as other websites, but by using a simple colour palette it helps users with visual impairments to process information
The option to turn the animations on and off is unique and something you don’t see everywhere, helping to reduce distraction and maximise focus.
Clear and large font used in the drop down menu options
The list could go on! Mira has nailed the accessibility on their website.
Accessibility is one of the most important things to be able to support and look after the people who are visiting your website. To help people feel valued and to treat all the users of your website equally, we’ve written another blog on how to make your website more accessible.
Want to implement some of these ideas on your website? Then get in touch, we’d love to help you make a plan to improve your website in 2024.