The UK’s charity and not-for-profit sector is the second-worst for website performance, according to new research.
The study, carried out by Midlands-based communications agency Warbox, ranked charities as having websites that are slower in use than any other sector except fashion companies.
The exercise, which employed metrics generated by Google, scored performance across areas such as how long websites take to load on entry, how long the largest pieces of content take to load and the response time to interactions by visitors.
Slow loading on both mobile devices and desktops can influence the likelihood of visitors abandoning websites, with marketing expert Zoe Amar warning that this could hit charities’ engagement and donations.
Other sectors ranked low-performing by Warbox’s research include education, marketing and property.
Sector website performance ‘needs improvement’
Warbox used five key metrics from Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool to compile an average ‘index score’ for each industry analysed, based on the UK’s top 100 websites based on traffic figures by sector.
It analysed just under 100 sector sites – out of around 1,000 evaluated overall – based on those with the largest numbers of visits.
The charity and not-for-profit sector scored 395 overall, compared with 384 for fashion and 399 for education.
The agency found charity sector websites had an average overall performance score of 78, based on the search giant’s tool. According to Google, scores between 50 and 89 indicate that a site “needs improvement”, while those below 50 are “poor”.
The time it takes for the biggest items on charity-sector websites to load, known as the largest on-page content (LCP), was another area of slow performance, at 2.3 seconds on average. This was significantly behind the performance of related industries such as healthcare and the public sector, and low scores on this metric – resulting in people exiting websites – can have an impact on search rankings and so reduce charities' visibility.
Charities did however score highly by some metrics, including their visual stability – the extent to which content jumps or moves while pages are loading. Warbox said this was most likely due to charities prioritising accessibility in their website designs.
Sight Concern Bedfordshire’s website is currently ranked as the most accessible in the charity sector by the Silktide Index.
‘A slow site will hurt income and impact’
Charity marketing and digital communications expert Zoe Amar told Civil Society the new findings matter “because they impact donor engagement and donations”.
“Donors will abandon a site if it's too slow, costing charities valuable income, and people seeking support from charities' services and their information and advice may lose patience,” she said. “In short, a slow site will hit a charity's income and impact.”
Amar noted that the 2024 Charity Digital Skills Report found almost a third (29%) of charities are poor at making the most of their website, something that had barely changed since the previous year.
“Support for charity websites was identified as a key area of need by charities, and it's no surprise charities are struggling to improve websites when we know there is limited digital funding available to them,” Amar said. “Funders need to understand that websites aren't just a shop window – they're a gateway to generating income and reaching people who need vital services.”
Amar said charities must prioritise their website speed alongside accessibility. “They should focus on simplifying designs, optimising images, and creating frictionless donor journeys with fewer steps,” she said. “Even small improvements could lead to significant increases in income without requiring major investment.”
Three-quarters of charities embracing AI
The Warbox research came as another study, commissioned by JustGiving, found that 76% of UK charities are using artificial intelligence in some capacity in their work.
The survey of 150 sector leaders found 26% were already using AI “widely” across their organisations, while 29% were using it in a limited way but planning to expand its use this year.
A further fifth (21%) said they were using AI in a limited way and had no immediate plans to expand this.
Some of the key areas where AI is being used are evaluating the effectiveness of fundraising activity (39% of those using AI), monitoring sentiment and attitudes around their charity (37%), analysing data and supporting fundraising strategy (35%) and improving communication with donors (29%).
“It’s evident that a significant majority of charities are already leveraging AI across a wide range of activities,” said Pascale Harvie, JustGiving’s president and general manager.
“What’s more, many charities are actively looking to expand its use in the coming year. It will be interesting to see how that impacts the future of fundraising and charitable giving.”
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