Nonprofit Learning Lab Presentation Resources

On May 12, I’ll be leading a session with the Nonprofit Learning Lab (shoutout to the folks doing great work there!) where we’ll talk about practical, doable ways to strengthen your digital presence—without needing a whole IT department or a massive budget. Whether you were there live or you’re just catching up now, I’ve gathered all the resources I’ll mention during the session—and added a few bonus goodies for good measure. Hope this helps you sharpen your website and feel a little more in control of your digital world!

If you were in the session – and even if you weren’t – please feel free to drop any questions or comments below!

Accessibility

• Video demo: Running a Lighthouse Accessibility Test in Google Chrome
• Video demo: Using Google Chrome Inspector to get font size and color contrast ratios
• Tool: WebAIM’s Color Contrast Checker
• Resource: New Why’s Free Website Accessibility Audit for Nonprofits
• Related blog post: Boost Your Website’s Accessibility Score, Boost Inclusion and SEO!

Page Speed

• Testing Tools:
  • Google’s Page Speed Insights
    Remember you can also use Lighthouse to run a performance/speed test as well. The results are similar.
• Image Optimizers
  • Tiny JPG
    Great for optimizing one image at a time; free
  • JPEG Mini Pro
    Great for bulk optimization and resizing; $59
• WordPress Caching Plugins
  • WPRocket ($59/year)
  • WP Super Cache (freemium)
  • W3 Total Cache (freemium)
• Database & File Cleanup Plugins
  • WPRocket mentioned above, if you pay for it, can do this, too.
  • WP Bulk Delete to delete pending comments
  • Advanced Database Cleanser
  • Media Library Cleaner
• Related Blog Post: The Need For Speed. Website Speed, Specifically.

Security

• Related Blog Post: “Help! My Website’s Been Hacked!” Or, A Case For Great WordPress Hosting & Managed Updates

UX: No Dead Ends and a Better Donation Page

• Tool: Nonprofit Website Audit Template
• Video Demo: Audit walkthrough

Google Ad Grants

• Google Ad Grants Trailguide and 12 months of tips (form to sign up is on this post)
• New Why’s Free 15-minute Google Ad Grants campaign audit
• Related Blog Posts:
  • Nonprofits! Don’t Miss Out on $10,000 Per Month in Free Advertising
  • Why Aren’t My Google Ad Grant Ads Working?!
  • Anatomy of a Great Google Ad Grants Campaign