This month's candidate for a website review is the Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia. Thanks to fund development manager Gwen Atkinson for volunteering her organization!

Fraser: Hi, Ryann. This month's site has me a little stumped I'm afraid.

As you know, I always try to look at websites through the eyes of a prospective donor - somebody who's decided to check out the site before deciding whether or not to make that all-important first gift.

The little engine that could ... inform

I'll start out this way: This site would appeal to me more if I were looking for free legal information. On that front I think it does pretty well. I'm impressed that these guys seem to be the little legal engine that could - lots of information and help with a small staff and budget.

But as a potential donor, I'm less impressed.  I don't hear people's voices spoken here. I don't see stories of people who've been helped. They tell me that they've been around for 25 years but they don't list their accomplishments - their track record so to speak. There could be a lot of drama and emotion here, but I don't see any.

I also think that charities that are government funded should be very explicit about why they need donated dollars - and how donations help them give more or better service. This was weak, in my opinion.

On the bright side, they did tell me what they believe in - and I love that. Most charities don't bother.

So - if I were looking for legal information, I'd probably give this site a very good grade. As a potential donor, I'm afraid that C- is the best I can do. I love the cause. I like the organization very much. I'm afraid the site just doesn't turn my crank the way it could.

What do you think?'

Ryann: Fraser, I love your line that these guys are the "little legal engine that could," and I agree. They offer a valuable service to the community. But the bottom line is, if they're looking for an engaging website that shows the need and attracts individual donors, the site needs a bit of work. They need to present themselves better as a nonprofit, not just a service provider.

Here are my thoughts.

Fundraising

If it's a serious goal to attract individual donors, they need to take this page seriously. Whatever the percentage of users of the site who also donate, I bet this can be increased by some changes to the website donation strategy:  the call to action, the button (on other pages), the messaging on the donation form, the emotional appeal, and the ease of donating.

Add a person's name and email beside the phone number to encourage a human relationship behind the donation. Explain where the money goes and the need. Specifics help ($50 staffs our phone line for one day). Make the page appealing and rewarding. And infuse the rest of the site with reasons to give.

Engagement

As long as the info is available online and they have someone staffing the phone lines, I don't think other channels of engagement are all that important to LISNS.

Messaging

Are they showing the need? Not that well. It doesn't matter how un-sexy the material is, LISNS needs to show how it provides a valuable service that people depend on. They should share stories of people they've helped.

Voices

I think they strike a good balance between a personal and informational tone and try to use a friendly voice.

The site

The site is functional, but it's not pretty. They should change the three column structure so that content is easier to read, content isn't repeated on every page, and the white space can be removed.

I have to give this site a C+. I don't think it needs to be scrapped entirely, and considering their audience is using them as a resource, they do a good job of fulfilling that role. What the site needs is a makeover, with special attention paid to the donation strategy and the fundraising strategy throughout the site - showing the need and speaking like a nonprofit.

Gwen's comments

We have been focused on accomplishing our mission through the site - which is getting the easy to understand legal information out to people. The jury's comments come at just the right time, as we are re-doing the site and clearly need to put more focus on donation and fundraising strategies.

Due to the nature of what we do and the privacy issues around it, it is difficult to get personal stories. We have used composite stories in the past, but they just don't feel fully authentic. The jury has inspired LISNS to offer a place (on the renewed site) where service users can leave their own stories. (This just 90 minutes after receiving an advance copy of the review! - Ed.)

To submit your site for review, contact the eNEWS Editor.

Ryann Miller is director of nonprofit services at Care2, where she helps charities and nonprofits recruit online supporters. She is the former managing director of DonorTrends and was a senior fundraising consultant at HJC New Media.

Fraser Green is chief strategist at Good Works, a consulting firm that teaches charities how to tell their stories with more passion, emotion and soul. He specializes in donor listening and coaching charities on how to meet their donors' expectations, wants and needs.

Ryann's web site is www.Care2.com and Fraser's is www.goodworksco.ca - in case you want to pronounce your web jury judgement on them!