The 5 Website Mistakes That Are Undermining Your Mission
A clean and clear website will accelerate the growth of your mission.
Welcome back to the Grow Strong Playbook, the go-to weekly newsletter for non-profit leaders who want simpler systems and stronger teams.
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This week, we’re exploring the 5 website mistakes that are undermining your mission.
Our thesis: A clean and clear website will accelerate the growth of your mission.
1. Your Website Has Too Many Pages
If your website is cluttered, your audience is lost.
A sprawling website with endless pages doesn’t make your organisation look comprehensive, it makes it confusing. When visitors land on your site, they should immediately understand the problem you solve and how they can take action to either receive the solution or be part of the answer.
But don’t we need all that information available?
No. If something isn’t essential to action or trust-building, it doesn’t need to be front and centre. Keep your website clean and prioritise the most important pages. If you must have a stack of pages (you don't), bury them in the footer.
Here’s the point: A simple, focused website makes it easier for people to take action.
Quick Play to Grow Strong in Website Strategy:
Make a list of every page on your website
Choose the top 7 (either user traffic or mission critical)
Archive the rest of them (I know, I'm ruthless)
2. Your Website Has No Clear Call to Action
Tell me what to do!
Your website should make it painfully easy for visitors to take the next step. That could be buying, donating, signing up, or contacting you. If your primary call to action is buried or competing with five other requests, people won’t take action at all.
But what if we have multiple important actions?
You can still have multiple actions, but one should be dominant and everywhere. Everything else should be secondary. Guide people towards the action that will drive the biggest impact. Eg. "Buy Now", "Sponsor Now", "Volunteer Now".
Here’s the point: If people don’t know what you want them to do, they’ll do nothing.
Quick Play to Grow Strong in Website Strategy:
Identify the single most important action for your audience
Make that call to action the most visually prominent element on each page
Repeat your call to action multiple times across key pages
3. Your Website Is Clunky And Takes Too Long To Load
Don't organise your website like a Chemist Warehouse store.
People are impatient. If your site takes forever to load or is difficult to navigate, visitors will leave before they even see your message. Amazon did a study in the mid-2000s on the impact of their website speed on sales. Guess what they found...
Amazon would lose $1.6 billion in sales per year if their website were just one second slower. For Amazon, an excellent website is worth billions.
What's it worth to your organisation?
But if they're on our website, won't they take the time to navigate it?
If it was a website user in 1998, sure. But that's just not user behaviour anymore. If your website is too hard to navigate they'll click off or search a competitor.
Here’s the point: A slow, clunky website loses
potential supporters who were open to your cause.
Quick Play to Grow Strong in Website Strategy:
Use a free speed test tool (like Google PageSpeed Insights) to diagnose issues.
Compress images and remove unnecessary plugins or scripts.
Ensure your website is fully mobile-friendly and easy to navigate.
4. Your Website Is About You, Not Them
Make your website a clarion call to make a difference, not a bulletin board.
Many non-profit websites focus too much on their organisation: what they do, their history, their achievements. But visitors don’t come to your site to read your autobiography; they come to see how they can be part of the solution.
But don’t we need to share our story?
Yes, but through the lens of your audience. Treat them like a hero who you are calling to partner with in your mission.
Here’s the point: Your website should make the user the focus, not your organisation.
Quick Play to Grow Strong in Website Strategy:
Rewrite your homepage so it speaks directly to the visitor and their role in your mission.
Use "you" language more than "we."
Make sure every call to action highlights the impact the visitor can have.
5. Your Website Has No Trust Building Elements
Assume you have no reputation.
People won’t donate or engage unless they trust you. If your website lacks testimonials, impact stats, financial transparency, or social proof, then you’re asking for support without providing enough evidence.
But we have a great reputation—why should we worry?
Because online visitors don’t know that yet. You need to show, not just assume, that your organisation is credible and effective.
Here’s the point: Trust-building elements on your
website turn hesitant visitors into committed supporters.
Quick Play to Grow Strong in Website Strategy:
Add testimonials and success stories to key pages.
Showcase impact numbers and financial transparency in a clear, accessible way.
Highlight media mentions, partnerships, or endorsements where relevant.
A final note…
I've met very few people who think their website is perfect (me included). I know it can seem overwhelming and discouraging, or that it’s not worth the effort. But you can make fantastic changes with minimal amount of effort, in fact, it's usually just deleting stuff.
Alex Farncomb Director, Grow Strong Institute.