AIDS Organization’s Site Lacks Passion, Power

Broadway Cares should start with easier navigation for a better online experience.

January 2008 By Sarah Durham and Farra Trompeter

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For an organization with a strong, highly visible logo, this site’s design drops the ball. Black and red are the dominant colors, which makes it feel heavy and, oddly, somewhat reminiscent of an “adult” Web site. Copy on the homepage is topical, which is great, but the type is too small and varies between all caps, and upper and lower case, which makes it feel hastily executed at best. The homepage is dominated by a large image that rotates, displaying items such as signage with its logo or a snow globe you can buy, rather than images of, say, grantees or meaningful programs in action.

Positive points
Perhaps the best part of this site is its online annual report, which saved the organization more than $40,000 in design, printing and production costs, according to a staff person we spoke with. Accessible from the home-page, this report is built in straightforward HTML (financials are PDF) and provides all the usual content in a very no-nonsense style. In the future, BC/EFA could enhance this offering by integrating videos and/or audio to better tell the organization’s story and bring its work to life.

There are a few other nice features on the homepage, like the corporate sponsors’ logos at the bottom and clear, actionable buttons at the top, through which we can donate, join the e-mail list, get tickets or shop in the store.

We also did a little snooping around some of the more popular social-networking sites and were pleased to see how popular BC/EFA is on Facebook. The organization’s group boasts more than 6,000 members and has active discussion postings, auction items, pictures and event listings. As Facebook increases its own nonprofit-friendliness with applications like Causes, ChipIn and Change.org, BC/EFA could further engage its Facebook community to take action for the organization (including making a donation).

As an organization with star power, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS should consider leveraging its celebrity connections to put stories and testimonials online (through callouts and, ideally, video). But most of all, what’s missing from this site are some obvious “warm fuzzies.” After all, an emotional connection to the cause is why we — the site’s visitors and would-be donors — will care to support it. This can be achieved through stories that remind us of the importance of fighting AIDS and connect us to this organization in a way that is as inspired and creative as its mission. FS

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