This is an examination of how well a major donor site performs according to a low bandwidth test, derived from "Web Design by Donor Organizations for Low Bandwidth".
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was selected primarily because it is one of the largest private donor organizations in the world. Although most of its funding goes to United States-based organizations, its assistance ultimately touches much of the globe. It stands to reason that it is one of the models donor organizations look to for an example, and one of the sites NGOs around the world visit when looking for funding. In examining its site, the first page is a whopping 940 KB, and its Grant Seekers page is 932 KB, though some of that could be attributed to trying to look credible to their primary audience. Moreover, there isn’t a low bandwidth version, which would help overcome the page size issue. Fortunately, it took me less than one minute to find granting information, and only one click to find current granting information. Unfortunately, I needed a login to get to an actual application. I applied for one, but did not even receive one on the same day, which would have added a lot of time for my funding search, had I been an NGO in the developing world. Another limitation of the site is that it is in English only, which means the Gates Foundation is making it difficult to share the great work it is doing with the non-English speaking world. (Screenshots of relevant pages below)
Donor: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Website: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx
First Page size test: 940 KB
Time spent seeking grant info: Less than 1 minute
Clicks to granting info: 1
Clicks to actual grant application: Login required for access
Low bandwidth version: No
Application (PDF, doc, or online): Login required for access
Available languages: English
Grant Seekers page size: 932 KB
Return to "Examination of a Sample of Current Donor Sites".