Mobile Enabled Charity Websites Increasingly Important
A recent US survey of more than 6,500 young people in their 20s and 30s has highlighted the importance of having a website that works well on mobile devices.
77% of survey respondents owned a smartphone and of those 80% had used a phone to connect with a non profit either by reading emails or e-newsletters or otherwise getting updates e.g. via social media.
Websites remain the first and preferred way for younger people to learn about an organisation. 65% said they preferred to learn about a charity from its website with 89% saying that they first went to a page that described the mission of the organisation e.g. an "about us" page.
The high degree of mobile interaction with charities demonstrates that having a mobile strategy - beyond simple texting - is becoming increasingly important with web enabled websites now considered pretty essential.
Focus groups also found:
that people preferred sites that limited options to the most important content
that mobile sites must make it easy to click on the address or phone number from the home page (for example to make a call or get directions)
that whilst young people enjoyed mobile apps they didn't feel they were necessary for individual non profits
that most respondents would prefer not to receive texts or calls from charities as this should be reserved for more personal forms of communication
