Your “About Us” Page

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Today, most non-profit organizations, even small ones, have their own websites. They are an essential vehicle for information sharing and storytelling in the community, as well as for fundraising.

Non-profit websites generally include an “about us” page or element. This is an often visited part of your organization’s site, especially by individual donors, institutional funders, and of course, by people interested in the services you provide. One’s online profile is really important in creating and maintaining the trust of your stakeholders. What do you say about yourself as an organization?

Although some non-profits have chosen to rely on Facebook, a social media vehicle, websites probably matter more in terms of organizational legitimacy.((There is much for a non-profit to consider in deciding whether to invest more in a website or rely on social media. Many smaller organizations that have opted for Facebook because it is free and easy. Facebook may be a better online vehicle for some kinds non-profits, childcare centres for example, whose goal is to interact with their client families. Most non-profits, in Canada certainly, do not have a social media strategy, which in terms of Facebook use is important. Check out early reporting on the 2019 Global Tech Report. Facebook has certainly cultivated the sector with appeals to the value of their products (Group, Page and Stories) for marketing and fundraising. For further reading see: Facebook vs Website: Which Is more Effective; and Face-off: Website vs Social Media Profile or Page, and Why Your Nonprofit Website Matters More than Your Facebook Page)) In the last few years many non-profits have had to invest in the redesign of their websites to make them compatible with mobile devices. And, the use of images on websites has become a standard design feature.

Content, is however, still very important.

This post offers some suggestions on the structure and content of a “About Us” or “Who We Are” part of one’s non-profit website. “About us” is a key part of a non-profit’s community accountability and transparency.

I am not a website designer or web analytics specialist. I have spent a lot of hours online keeping track of organizational leadership changes in the non-profit sector in Nova Scotia. I regularly visit a great variety of organizational websites. Our non-profits are pretty much like those elsewhere. At the end I will offer some examples.

In addition to my experience, for this post I investigated website good practice ideas offered by some others.((My sources include: Amy Jacobus, How To Make Your Nonprofit’s About Us Page Awesome, Wild Apricot-Blog, February 27, 2018; It’s All About Us in The Nonprofit Times (USA), October 15, 2015; Miun Gleeson, How to Write an About Us Page for Your Nonprofit, Wired Impact, June 29, 2016; and Kelly Jarrett, Top ten elements of a non-profit website, Tech Soup Canada, June 2012)) My suggested “About Us” or “Who We Are” menu, a second level one as organizational websites go, is as follows:

  • Our mission
  • Our organization
  • Our team
  • Our board
  • Our funding
  • Contact Us

Almost everything written about non-profit websites stresses the importance of the “landing page”, the first thing visitors see and read when they click on your site.  The second most important element, if your organization depends on fundraising, is “How To Help”. There is lots of available design advice on landing pages and making a website a convenient vehicle for accepting donations.

Landing pages often involve an element of self-description, some of which will overlap with the “About Us element. And, the “About Us” piece is critical to one’s online fundraising efforts, even if most of the work involves personal approaches.

Our Mission

It is very important to give some prominence on your website to describing your mission, purpose, cause or goals. Each of these could have their own subheading. Keep these statements brief but there is no need to limit them to 20 words or so as some sources suggest.

Organizations often have both vision and mission statements although there does not seems to be common understanding of the difference.((The difference between organizational vision and mission, is that one’s “vision” is statement about the kind of community you and similar organizations are working towards and “mission” is about your organization’s particular piece or role in achieving it. For more on mission and vision see this 2013 piece from the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits. I also have a guide on Vision, Mission and Values that includes a work sheet ))If you have both, they could be in the under a shared heading like ” Our Vision and Mission”

I am also great believer in having a set of well-considered organizational values. They tend to be stronger as statements rather than a list of words. If you consider them more as a guide to internal decision-making perhaps they do not need to be shared. Whether they need to be on your website is up to you.

Our Organization

I often see the terms ” community organization” or “community-based organization” used. This may sound good but it may not be clear what this really means. It may be fine as a basic message although a simple statement about what your organization does, its primary areas of action may be better that describing the type of organization you are.

I strongly favour a phrase something like: “we are a volunteer-led, non-profit organization” or “we are a community organization incorporated as a non-profit.”((There is little agreement in Canada on sector terminology. There has been grumbling on and off for at least 30 years with some terms going out of favour, like “voluntary sector,” and others, like the “social sector” coming into favour. The term “nonprofit” is widely accepted in the U.S.A. In Canada one sees “non-profit’ (with the hyphen) or “not-for-profit”. The use of terms like “social enterprises” and “social propose organizations” as organization types also adds to the confusion)) One could add, in this Province, “we are incorporated under the Nova Scotia Societies Act and our society registration number is 000245678“.

If your non-profit is also a registered charity include this fact as well and perhaps add your charitable registration number. In Canada the term registered charity means your organization operates under criteria established by the Federal government, specifically the Canada Revenue Agency. If your organization is a charity it is also a provincially or nationally incorporated non-profit.

You could also consider here, or below under funding, a brief statement of your organization’s funding or business model, at least something simple such as: our work is funded through a combination of donations, client fees, government grants and service contracts.((For an excellent piece on crafting a business model statement see Jan Masaoka, Nonprofit Business Model Statements, Blue Avocado: Nonprofits Helping Nonprofits, March 13, 2010.)) If your organization operates, in part at least, as a social enterprise, say so and explain what this means. This page could also include information on your major funders, a thank you perhaps, especially if they are not mentioned elsewhere on your website.

Our Staff Team

One should certainly consider providing some information on your staff team. This offers a glimpse into one’s organization’s structure and, in terms of job titles, the type of work and skills sets involved. The name of the executive director should always be included.

Some organizations go so far as to include names and photos of all staff (if you are small organization) or at least key departmental or program/area managers.  Brief bios can add a lot.((Here is an 2013 article on the U.S. site Nonprofit Hub, by Marc Koneig: 7 Steps to Compelling Staff Bios on your Nonprofit Website ))

Our Board of Directors

Given my governance interests I am disappointed that a surprising number of non-profits are mum on the fact that they have a board. One of the defining features of being a non-profit organization is that it is governed by a volunteer board of directors.

A list of the board members is important not only for increased transparency,  it can also help a little with board recruitment. Consider including the board members’ positions. Listing the executive director as an ex officio and non-voting board member is also good.

I applaud those organizations that mirror their “staff team” description with a short bio on each board member and even a photo.  A sentence or two on how one is selected to serve on the board and who to contact if you are interested in applying is also a good idea.((Here is a possible board statement: Our board members are recruited from the local community (or from our membership) based on their interest in what we do and their range of perspectives and skills. They are elected and serve for a minimum of two years. If you are interested in knowing more please contact us.))

How We Are Funded

I think it is important to describe somewhere how your non-profit is funded and how it spends it money. If you have a separate “Donate” section on your website, the same, or somewhat more detailed financial information, could go there.

One need not go into great detail in describing how you are funded. Two or three sentences about your three or four major sources of funding and one or two sentence breakdown of your main expense categories can be sufficient. For most non-profits salaries will be a major expense category. Consider describing expenses more by function or program area than by line item.

In terms of revenues, one should avoid general categories like “government grants”. Consider identifying both the source of the grant (provincial, federal, municipal), the departments or funding programs involved, the perhaps even their category (e.g. project grant, subsidized spaces, program delivery).

You might want to consider the use of a couple of simple pie charts depicting your revenue and expense categories by type and percentage. Keep the number of categories to between 4 and 8. For most organizations where the pattern of revenues and expenditures changes little, pie charts of rough percentages will do you for awhile.((It is recommended that expenses not be described in traditional program and administration categories. One option is: program specific expenses, shared program expenses, mission support expenses (finance, HR, training, board) and mission support (fundraising)  See Curtis Klotz (2019), A Graphic Revisioning of Non-profit Overhead in The Nonprofit Quarterly))

Some organizations post, as PDF documents, a year or two of annual reports. This can be a good idea. People will not likely read them but seeing them there says volumes about how seriously you take good management and accountability.  Keep in mind, providing PDF financial reports may not be a great strategy for people accessing your site from mobile devices.

Contact Us

Some organizations choose to put their “Contact Us” element under “About Us”, others make it a stand-alone website element. Here or as a stand-alone piece is up to you.

Website designers often suggest that your website have an online form to enable members of the community to send a query. Usually these contact forms, like the one this website, provide an automated “thank you”, sometimes as a separate e-mail to the person sending the message saying the organization will respond promptly.((Here is a useful 2017 pierce from the UK on the “Dos and Don’ts of Contact Form Web Design))

It is essential that the messages sent to your organization are responded to promptly and personally by someone on your staff even it a full response needs more time. An alternative to the automated form is a general contact e-mail address, or if interaction with your community is important, a set of addresses depending on the nature of the question. 

Some Website Examples

I have selected a few website examples from Nova Scotia non-profits. Take a look.

All of the above follow my “about us “model in spirit. If you have other good Canadian examples, including your own non-profit, please send them along with any questions you might have or suggestions you would offer on this topic. Please use the comment feature below.  Thanks!