---
title: VCEDC Donate Page Strategy
type: article
created: '2026-04-05'
updated: '2026-04-05'
source_docs:
- raw/2025-10-09-vcedc-website-meeting-93167960.md
tags:
- website
- vcedc
- donate
- design
- strategy
layer: 2
client_source: null
industry_context: null
transferable: true
---

# VCEDC Donate Page Strategy

## Overview

The VCEDC donate page requires careful design consideration to avoid the appearance of favoritism toward any particular financial institution. Because multiple banks in Vilas County are donors to VCEDC, imagery that features a specific bank's branding or check stock is politically untenable and risks alienating institutional donors.

This issue surfaced during the October 2025 website review meeting, when Kathy Schmitz flagged that the existing bank check donation photo needed to be replaced before launch.

## The Bank Neutrality Problem

VCEDC receives donations from approximately four different banks in Vilas County. Featuring a check or image associated with any one of them on the donate page would signal preference and could jeopardize those donor relationships.

> "I can't feature one bank over another, because I've got, like, four different banks in Vilas County that donate to us, and I would just lose all of them if I chose one over the other."
> — Kathy Schmitz

This is a meaningful constraint: the donate page image must be visually neutral with respect to financial institutions.

## Recommended Image Direction

Kathy's preferred alternative is a **township photo** — imagery representing one of the municipalities in Vilas County. This approach:

- Avoids any financial institution association
- Reinforces the community-wide scope of VCEDC's mission
- Invites broader civic identification with the organization's work

Other neutral options considered include generic money imagery or a technical/broadband-style aesthetic, but the township direction was Kathy's stated preference.

## Page Content Structure

The donate page includes the following sections (as of the October 2025 review):

- **Two ways to give:** Send a check / Donate online
- **Reasons to give**
- **Donate Now CTA button**

The page layout and copy were noted as needing a full review pass by both Melissa and Kathy before developer handoff.

## Action Items

- [ ] **Kathy** to select a replacement image for the bank check donation photo — preferably a township photo from her personal files or the master Google Drive
- [ ] **Kathy and Melissa** to conduct a thorough review of the full donate page (copy and layout) before sending to the developer for build
- [ ] **Melissa** to flag the donate page as pending in the developer queue until image and review are complete

## Related

- [[clients/vcedc/_index]]
- [[knowledge/website/vcedc-events-page-strategy]]
- [[knowledge/website/vcedc-about-us-page-strategy]]