Slovene Nonprofit Web Design
There’s nothing quite like the adventure of grasping the brand, vision, and voice of a nonprofit and unleashing its inspirational dreams onto the World Wide Web. Not to mention trying to do that in a language you’re pretty much limited to ordering a coffee in.
Translation Notes
Word Choice:
The site was built in Slovene. Some of the following screenshots have Google Translate turned on. This means that some translations in English might feel clunky or awkward to a Native English speaker, but rest assured, in the original Slovene, these words pack the heat.
Grammar:
In Slovene, it is proper to capitalize only the first letter of the first word in a title and to leave the rest lowercase. This can take some adjusting to and may seem like a typo at first glance! For example:
If the title was: “Looking for Something More.”
…with Slovene grammar rules, it would be: “Looking for something more.”
Inspiration from the get go.
Live at: drustvovec.si
Using principles from Donald Miller’s Building a Story Brand, I created a page that addresses the need and the problem we’re setting out to solve right from the start, while also making it clear that the reader is part of the “we” in providing that solution.
“Young people are looking for something more. What are we going to do about that?”
Looking for something “more” is also a play on words, because Društvo Več in English means: Organization More.
I also leveraged the “above fold” space by clearly highlighting the top four reasons someone might visit our site using four images right beneath the hero banner so these services could be easily found: camps (mladinski tabori), youth resources toolbox (mladinska orodjarna), fusion, and youth groups (mladinke skupine).
Design Objective
Launch a dynamic website for Društvo Več, a Slovene nonprofit organization, to inspire and mobilize its diverse audiences: youth, parents, churches, and schools. The challenge was to create a platform that clearly communicates the organization’s vision while catering to the unique needs of each audience group.
Design Philosophy
This project combined strategy, creativity, and cultural insight to create a site that doesn’t just serve users but invites them into a movement. The site effectively amplifies Društvo Več’s mission to empower the next generation, bridging gaps between youth, their families, and their communities.
Unique Challenges
Cultural Sensitivity and Localization: Designed in Slovene with grammar rules and cultural nuances in mind, the site balances professionalism for credibility with parents and an authentic youthful energy.
Strategic translation by a young Slovene professional ensured the original Slovene content conveyed warmth and inspiration while remaining true to the organization’s mission and messaging.
Program pages
Vibrant photos of young people laughing and having fun draws our audience in, making them feel, "Wow, I want to be a part of that."
Descriptions continued to follow the Building a Story Brand framework as they helped the audience “solve their own problem” and “not miss out” on the opportunity to invest in the young person in their life.
Invitational descriptions provided various ways to get involved or support the movement, followed by strategically placed and clear “calls to action” for their next steps.
Reaching multiple audiences
Nonprofit sites can be tricky because we have to ask the question: Who is this site for? Some NFPs utilize their site to mobilize donors and others to serve their specific audience.
Društvo Več had four distinct audiences. Each made sense for us to highlight given their context and relationship with youth: Churches, Schools, Parents, and Youth.
Using mega menus and anchor links
We empowered each specific audience to find the content relevant to them by leveraging anchors on these individual program pages and including a brief message for how they were invited to contribute toward supporting the next generation.
za šole / for schools
za mlade/starše / for youth and parents
za cerkve / for churches
Key Features
Engaging Narrative Structure
Leveraging Donald Miller’s Building a Story Brand principles, the homepage establishes an immediate connection by addressing both the problem and the solution:
“Young people are looking for something more. What are we going to do about that?”
This aligns with the organization’s name, “Društvo Več” (Organization More), reinforcing the theme of seeking more in life.
Above-the-Fold Optimization
Clear, visually striking hero banners and prominent CTAs guide users to four core services: youth camps, the youth resources toolbox, Fusion programs, and youth groups.
Impactful Backend Integration
Anchor links simplify navigation for targeted audiences, while CMS tools empower the organization to update and maintain the site efficiently.
Audience-Connected Design
Recognizing the complexity of engaging four distinct audiences, the site uses mega menus and anchor links to guide users—parents to summer camp registration, schools to educational programs, and churches to partnership opportunities.
Menu sections directly address its audience, meaningfully connect with and empathize with the unique challenges they are facing, and then highlight how they can support the next generation in their “search for more.”