Great nonprofit websites go the extra mile to integrate their unique brand personality and call to action into every aspect -- even error messages! Find out how one nonprofit takes what could be a frustrating experience and makes it a positive one.
Effective nonprofit websites help a visitor better understand your organization and inspire supporters to act. Great nonprofit websites go the extra mile to integrate their unique brand personality and call to action into every aspect -- even error messages! Save the Children has made getting an error a positive experience with this humorous, adorable and on-brand message that appears when you attempt to access a page that doesn't exist. It brought a smile to our faces and impressed us with the attention to a detail that many overlook. (Check out the video for yourself.)
Your nonprofit website should always help work to build relationships with those you serve as well as current and potential supporters. While it's important to plan how you direct users through your site, what happens if they take a wrong turn? Or follow a bad link? Are you making this experience one that helps visitors to your site feel good about your organization?
Save the Children does several things right with their error message experience:
- They take responsibility for the error -- by blaming it on the web intern. Poor web intern!
- They use humor to make the visitor feel good about the organization.
- They provide other suggestions for what to do next -- donate or find what you're looking for in the search bar.
- They make the message on-brand by featuring an adorable star.
- Bonus: they take the opportunity to call attention to their donate button.