Several weeks ago I offered a free website critique to one of my nonprofit subscribers. The selected organization, Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, was chosen because I am keenly aware of the vast inequities in our nation’s public school system and admire those organizations who are taking up the slack. I also confess that Mr. Holland’s Opus, starring Richard Dreyfuss, has always been one of my favorite flicks.
What does Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation do? From their site:
The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation (MHOF) was inspired by the acclaimed motion picture Mr. Holland’s Opus, the story of the profound effect a dedicated music teacher had on generations of students. The film’s composer, Michael Kamen, started the foundation in 1996 as his commitment to the future of music education.
The foundation donates both new and refurbished instruments to school and after-school music programs that lack the resources to keep up with equipment loss due to attrition, depreciation and wear over time, and to accommodate students on waiting lists or who have to share instruments. An infusion of instruments enables more students to participate and to experience a quality music education. It is vital that efforts are made to give youngsters every tool available within the small window of time when they can make the most of their education, and experience the benefits inherent in learning to play music.
What a mission! What a legacy!
First off, the pluses:
- The site is easily navigated.
- It features a nice-sized donate button located in a prime spot on the home page. The donation process, via Network for Good, is clear and offers the option of monthly giving.
- The grant application process is clear and easy to locate.
- There are a number of excellent and touching stories and photographs as well as a video.
- They offer a clear social media link as well as a link to their eBay auctions.
- MHO provides an option to subscribe to enews and I received a prompt thank you email in response to signing up:
Dear Pamela,
Thank you for your interest in The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. Our goal is to keep music alive in our schools and communities by giving the kids a chance to play an instrument. From time to time, we will send brief updates highlighting some of the touching and powerful stories of those affected by our work.
Your privacy is very important to us and we will never share, sell or rent your name or contact information. If at any time, you feel that you don’t want to hear from us or you want to receive fewer emails (there won’t be many) you can easily unsubscribe from the list or let us know your preferences.
If you do not wish to receive our emails, or this email has reached you in error, please use this link to remove yourself from our list: (https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:OptOut/state:Unsub/signupId:1402398/mid:1401835.6699965212)
Thanks again for joining us and please contact us with questions or comments. Also, if you have a story to share about your experience with playing music, we would love to know about it.
Sincerely,
Felice Mancini
Executive Director
I’d like to see a little less emphasis on privacy and how to unsubscribe. Of course those are important things to cover but we don’t want to sound apologetic now, do we? A subscriber has signed on for the glorious purpose of hearing wonderful stories about all the good Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation is doing. No need to apologize.
That said, let’s venture into the “room for improvement” area:
- The colors and overall design are horrible. According to John Haydon’s article Can colors influence actions on your nonprofit website, 93% of how we make purchasing decisions is based on visual cues. A whopping 85% of consumers say that color played a primary role in their purchase. Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation could use an overhaul with a fresher, more modern look and feel, while still highlighting the signature logo.
- Did you laugh and cry when you watched Mr. Holland’s Opus? So did I, and so did my unsentimental daughter during a recent viewing. Take a moment now and read through just a few of the success stories on Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation’s website. I guarantee that you won’t be dry-eyed. Yet these beautiful success stories, which highlight the organization’s work and engage the reader emotionally, are buried on a separate page under the “Get Involved” tab. One or two should be featured, in all their glory, on the home page.
- Landing upon Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation’s page should be a vivid, joyful experience, one that includes music and video alike. An organization espousing the magic of music needs to share that magic and bring it home. Since the organization’s focus is music education, how about some down-loadable songs or tunes created by kids? Maybe Holly’s, one of the many inspiring success stories?
- The donate button should be located on every page. Additionally, the option for monthly giving needs to highlight what the donor’s monthly gift will accomplish. Give me outcomes. Provide a reason to give.
- One of the primary, if not sole, goals of a nonprofit organization’s website should be to collect email addresses. Remember my mantra: It’s all in the list! While Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation does offer an email list, their opt-in is buried on the bottom left of the home page. Rather than “Join our email list to receive occasional updates, photos and stories about the joy and fulfillment you bring to students across the country,” I’d like to see a bright opt-in box (first name, email) located above the fold on the right.
- How about a “how can you get involved/how you can help” button on the right, under the opt-in, leading to a page similar to this wonderful engagement page? Perhaps including a way for a visitor to “Donate, Follow us on Facebook, Subscribe to Our Enews, Donate an Instrument, Buy on eBay, Volunteer.” Always remember that cultivating donors is a multi-step process that usually begins with one small action.
Overall, the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation website can be made a good deal more donor-centric without losing any of its functionality to the grantseeker.
View Pamela Grow's profile
I can’t wait to meet with you personally.
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