Katy Teson Educate. Motivate. Entertain. Content serves many purposes on a nonprofit website and can take many forms, from text and videos to interactive graphics. Get tips and inspiration for your organization with 21 examples of websites with amazing content.
But first, what do we mean by “content” exactly? At the most basic level, content is made up of pieces of information that are packaged and presented in a way that adds value and builds understanding. And content can take different forms depending on what you want to convey.
As we scoured the internet looking for high-quality content, we looked at website pages, blog posts, videos, photos, calls-to-action, infographics, written text and more. There are thousands of nonprofits out there sharing important, motivating and live-saving content, and we want to share some of our favorites with you.
Amazing Content By Category
The content you decide to use on your website depends on your nonprofit’s marketing goals and how you want visitors to respond. The following examples (in no particular order) demonstrate this variety along with tips and resources to help you make compelling content of your own.
- Inspirational Storytelling
- Compelling Multimedia
- Educational Resources
- Supporter Recognition
- Communicating Impact
- Driving Action
- Transparency & Accountability
Inspirational Storytelling
Using real stories on your website adds emotion to your messaging and can help visitors connect with your mission in the moment and long after. Storytelling is a tool for everyone (even organizations just starting out), and these nonprofits demonstrate how to use it on your website.
CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia
The Our Stories section of the CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia site is full of powerful, well-formatted, and highly visual stories in words and photos.
Point Foundation
The Voices of Point page on the Point Foundation website shares audio recordings of personal stories from program alumni and organizational leaders. And if that wasn’t cool enough, website visitors can also share words of encouragement below the stories.
Special Olympics New Jersey
As one of our website clients, our team always looks forward to seeing the latest video stories produced by Special Olympics New Jersey. In addition to showcasing incredible athletes, the videos are uplifting and put their participants front and center, just like the organization’s mission.
Compelling Multimedia
While storytelling is one of the main reasons that nonprofits use multimedia on their websites, some of the best nonprofit websites use fantastic images, audio and video throughout their sites. Content that’s not text-based can engage more of the senses, be more accessible, and communicate your mission without as many words.
Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium website puts all of their charismatic and colorful residents on display, showcasing photos and videos throughout their animals and exhibits pages. The Live Web Cams page is not to be missed, and be sure to snag some of their animated gifs!
WaterAid (Canada)
Beginning on the homepage, the WaterAid Canada website wows its visitors with video. Other pages on the site make use of brilliantly large photos that convey hope and progress without saying a thing.
350.org
The 350.org website takes multimedia content to the next level. In addition to repurposing highly visual and approachable scientific information (with extra props for including sources), the site shares digital materials, instructions and community-generated examples for people to create their own art for climate justice.
Educational Resources
Many nonprofits and charities harness the power of websites to distribute resources, kits and tools to their constituents, helping them build stronger and healthier lives. Asset-rich websites often use well-crafted navigations and resource libraries to keep their content organized and searchable, and these examples are no exception.
Shelter Scotland
The Get Advice section of the Shelter Scotland website offers advice and guides on a wide range of topics. Resources can be browsed by category or searched, and the information is full of internal links to move people through the site to find what they need. Best of all, the pages offer the chance for visitors to offer feedback on whether or not the content was helpful.
Shatterproof
The Learn section of the Shatterproof website directs visitors to the resources most relevant to their interests, whether that’s learning about addiction and prevention or finding information about treatment and recovery. Within each page, visitors can easily find additional tools, fact sheets, links and access a family resource center.
Be The Match
The Be The Match website provides a wealth of resources for Patients and Families, plus those who want to learn more about Transplant Basics. The content has been well-planned to help people at all stages of the donation process, positioning the organization as a reliable and caring partner.
Supporter Recognition
Expressing gratitude for your supporters can (and should) go well beyond the donation receipt you send out. Donors, partners, volunteers and other types of supporters are some of your most loyal champions, and the ways you celebrate them through content tells potential supporters what they can expect when they get involved with you.
Malaria No More
With the Your Impact page, Malaria No More positions donors as the key to success. The content showcases what’s possible with ongoing support, the different ways to help, and those who’ve already stepped up for the cause.
American Battlefield Trust
American Battlefield Trust made profiles of Preservation Champions to put the spotlight on their ambassadors and supporters. Each profile acknowledges the person’s commitment and reasons for supporting the mission, inspiring others with the same interests to get involved.
Alzheimer’s Research UK
Not all annual reports are created equal, and this online annual report from Alzheimer’s Research UK goes above and beyond. The report is donor-centric, saying thanks again and again while making it clear that the achievements made in the past year were “powered by you.”
Communicating Impact
Why wouldn’t you want to show all that your nonprofit has achieved? Creating content that demonstrates your impact means more than a link to your financial documents or a simple bullet list of accomplishments. See how these organizations take a show and tell approach to communicate impact.
First Book
First Book combines the reason for their work and their impact on a single page called The Need. By framing the problem, setting up the solution and offering stats and stories that demonstrate each, it’s a comprehensive approach that makes for an effective landing page.
One Acre Fund
Be still our nerdy hearts. The Impact page from One Acre Fund includes an Impact Dashboard to report on progress over multiple years plus a projection for the year ahead. And for the super detail-oriented visitors, there are supporting pages to explain the methodology, offer country-level reporting and more.
Girls Who Code
Visitors to the About Us page on the Girls Who Code website really get a full picture look at the organization, moving from the mission to why it matters to outcomes. You’ll also find alumni stories, endorsements, a list of partners and annual reports, putting their impact into a larger context and building trust along the way.
Driving Action
If you’re counting on your website to support your organization’s goals, it’s crucial to offer content that helps motivate people to take action. That can mean posting volunteer opportunities, promoting awareness campaigns and highlighting other ways to get involved or follow through with the next steps. Once you have clear objectives, make sure your content funnels people to them.
ShelterBox (USA)
Within the Do Something section of the ShelterBox USA website, the Do Your Own Thing page empowers supporters to join Team ShelterBox with whatever hobby or bucket list event means the most to them. From cake bakes to bike rides, the page gives ideas and open-ended encouragement with lots of calls-to-action throughout.
Fight Colorectal Cancer
We know from making their website that Fight Colorectal Cancer pushes people to join the fight. Their Biomarked campaign is no different, motivating people with colorectal cancer to be their own best advocates for treatment. The campaign page promotes a free downloadable resource, treatment tips and personal stories that drive the message home.
Meals on Wheels
In the push to get more volunteers, the Meals on Wheels website has a video-rich and colorful page for the “America, Let’s Do Lunch” campaign. The page packs in real stories paired with quick stats and prompts to get involved.
Transparency & Accountability
Having a financials page is an important part of showing credibility, but it’s not the only type of trust-building content that your website visitors might be looking for. Consider accreditation seals, privacy policies, accessibility standards and statements on diversity, inclusion and equity. These websites offer good examples of content that explain organizational values and commitment.
Bottom Line
In the About Us section on the Bottom Line website, they include a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion page along with a sub-page about Support of Gender Inclusive Pronouns. While the content is a nice segue to talking about job openings, it also serves as welcoming and reassuring messaging for potential program participants.
Navy SEAL Foundation
The Financials and Accountability page on the Navy SEAL Foundation website acknowledges the importance of responsible stewardship when it comes to managing donor dollars. Along with financial reports, visitors find third-party seals of approval, spending information and the donor privacy policy.
Mercy Corps
The Ethics and Policies page on the Mercy Corps website outlines their commitments and policies regarding inclusion, diversity, safeguarding and anti-trafficking. In addition to giving visitors access to the policies themselves, the content makes it possible for supporters to hold the organization accountable and watch for progress over time.
Tips for Making Great Content
What lessons have you learned from these nonprofit examples of amazing content? Here are some key takeaways as you look at your website and find ways to take it to the next level.
- Mix it up and offer variety so that you can connect with people in more than one way.
- Know your audience, producing content for different stages of their journey.
- Wow your visitors with value and not just nice looking design
- Plan your website for a purpose that’s obvious to your visitors
- Don’t forget about usability and accessibility, making content easy to discover and consume
To help you get on your way to creating high-quality content, check out our free online guides with advice and tools for making your website stand apart. The guides start from the beginning with planning worksheets and formatting tips and then give actionable tips and ideas for the types of content you can include on specific pages of your site.
Amazing content goes hand in hand with a website that’s powerful enough to put it on display. Working with the right partner to build your website can help give your content the framework it needs to flourish. If you’d like to learn more about Wired Impact’s platform for nonprofit websites, we’d love to chat with you to see if it’s the right fit.
What are some other websites you’d add to our list? Are there other categories of inspiring content that we missed? Let’s talk and share more examples in the comments.
P.S. If you’re looking for more information about and inspiration for building a new website, don’t miss our online resource hub, Nonprofit Websites: The Ultimate Guide to Building Your Dream Site.
Hi Katy,
I am interested in learning more about what you do and how our organization could benefit from what you offer.
Hi Lisa,
We’d be happy to chat about the different ways that Wired Impact works with nonprofits. In addition to our website platform, we also help organizations with their marketing on an ongoing basis. Here’s the best way to get in touch with the team: https://wiredimpact.com/contact-us/
Hi Katy
I am just about creating a website for my foundation. The foundation was borne as a result of the demise of my father. He had an intention of providing water for our community but couldn’t so I and my siblings were able to do that. And I took it further by giving more to the community,the orphans and less privileged. So I have decided to create a website to better create awareness of what we do to people and also to those that have been asking to support us. This is necessitated for transparency and accessibility by the public. But my challenge now is what to put on the website as the contents.
Hi Ola – It sounds like a website will be a great tool for your foundation. As you think about the information that goes on the website, I recommend checking out our guide to nonprofit website content. It offers tips and ideas for different pages, including things like financial reports that can help demonstrate transparency. Good luck!