The one thing every home page needs
- Fri, July 27 2012
- Filed under: Websites and web usability
On your home page, you should have an image, and the best ones feature:
1. A living being (preferably just one)
2. Looking right at you
3. Evoking emotion
If you don’t have that, you’re missing out on the single most powerful element of your site.
For more on nonprofit imagery, check out a list of resources here.
Comments
Love this Katya. What an awesome image. And this is SO true. I often look for exactly this kind of image for my fundraising appeals. And if she were holding a kitten instead of a beverage it would be even better. 
Thanks for reminding us of this too-often overlooked truism.
That is a great picture. How do I get one person to represent all the protected classes?
Guess we just need a link to other pictures.
What if our focus is on animals? We deal with retired Throroughbred broodmares, but not all non-profits focus on people.
What kind of image would be better for nonprofits that help, say, child victims of sexual slavery? A smiling child or a sad child? Which one will elicit more interest and donations from constituents?
I am not sure it’s appropriate to show victims at all in that level of detail. I think you need a lot of sensitivity around that. Check out Together for Girls for photos that honor victim privacy but are moving nonetheless.