Nonprofit Website Engagement through Data Storytelling

Nonprofit organizations are increasingly recognizing the power of data to tell compelling stories and engage website visitors. While many organizations rely on text-based narratives, data can strengthen your message and allow you to more effectively communicate your mission and achievements. Does your nonprofit website engagement strategy include data in stories?

Integrating Data for a Holistic Picture

By connecting your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to your website, you create a seamless flow of data that engages visitors. What data should you share? What’s of interest to your visitors? Answer those questions and you’ll know what data will be most engaging to integrate with your website. What are some improvements you can make? Here are 3 to get you thinking:

Real-Time Data

Integrating your website with other tools allows for real-time updates on fundraising progress, volunteer activities, or program outcomes, keeping supporters informed and engaged.

This can be particularly useful for fundraising campaigns. You can set up a “thermometer” gauge to track progress towards your holiday fundraising goal, demonstrating momentum and encouraging more people to donate and join the fun. Letting your website update based directly on data from your CRM means no one has to manually adjust it as donations come in, but visitors can still be inspired by the ongoing progress.

Personalization and Engagement

CRM data can also be used to personalize your nonprofit website experience for individual visitors. By tailoring content to specific interests and demographics, you can create a more relevant and engaging experience that encourages repeat visits.

Adding a member portal to your website offers a personalized experience, showing targeted information to each member group. You can provide a snapshot of personal data such as donations made, funds raised from their network, number of years they’ve been a member, or details of trail maintenance they’ve done. You can then highlight ways to continue being involved based on their specific interests and your organization’s needs.

Data-Driven Storytelling

Nonprofit websites can leverage data to tell compelling stories about their programs, volunteers, and fundraising efforts. For example, land conservation organizations can showcase the number of acres conserved, while volunteer-driven organizations can highlight the number of hours contributed, meals delivered, or other specific impact achieved.

ArcGIS storyMaps are becoming prevalent across a wide swath of organization types. There are obvious benefits to using this tool for telling stories with a geospatial component, because it has the unique capability of showcasing accomplishments through maps, such as conservation results over time or arboretum plants in different areas of a public garden.

Key Considerations for Data Integration

When integrating data into your nonprofit website, consider the ease of getting data from your CRM, the availability of integrations that already exist, and the frequency you update data. For highly active data, an API integration may be worthwhile, while less frequently changing data can be entered manually.

You’ll need to evaluate both your website’s Content Management System (CMS) and your CRM to see what’s possible. A modern CRM is easier to integrate than a membership management system that masquerades as a CRM, but both have the opportunity to improve your website.

Embrace Data-Driven Storytelling On Your Nonprofit Website

Through real-time updates, personalization, and compelling visualizations, nonprofits can leverage data to tell their stories in a more impactful and meaningful way, inspiring support and action. Of course, we are always here to help you assess and implement a system integration when you’re ready. Email support or contact us to get started.