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A well-designed nonprofit website is essential for amplifying your mission, engaging supporters, and driving meaningful action. It serves as a digital hub for storytelling, fundraising, and volunteer recruitment and is at the center of your digital marketing efforts for your nonprofit.
We'll take you through a comprehensive roadmap for creating an effective nonprofit website, covering everything from goal-setting and team assembly to a donation page, content creation, and performance analysis.
We'll explore key design elements, best practices, and top web design firms specializing in the nonprofit sector. Whether you're a first time website builder or you’re revamping an existing nonprofit website, this resource will help you create a powerful online presence that resonates with your audience and fulfills the search engine demands.
The Importance of designing a great nonprofit website
When you follow essential design principles for your nonprofit website and provide valuable content, you’ll have a huge impact on your audience. The result will be more website visitors, a smoother donation process, and an emotional connection with your site visitors. Here’s what powerful web design does:
Showcases your impact through storytelling
Nonprofits can bring their organization's impact to life through storytelling. A narrative that touches the hearts of visitors, combined with visual content, is more effective than mere data or numbers.
Stories stay in people's minds and lead to a clear call to action. They help nonprofits to showcase the transformational difference outreach efforts make in communities.
Genuine stories on your nonprofit website can positively evoke emotions and inspire action. This creates a connection between the cause and the giving process, inspiring potential donors to act and contribute to your mission.
Builds credibility and trust
Professionally designed nonprofit websites improve your credibility and build trust with donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries. Studies reveal that 75% of people judge an organization's credibility based on the design of its nonprofit website.
Consistent branding on an appealing website — across the content page, donate page, etc. — can help visitors see that your nonprofit organization is reliable and credible.
Using testimonials, impact and beneficiary stories, social proof, and annual/impact reports shows the positive impact you bring to communities and community members. These elements build trust and encourage supporters to collaborate with your nonprofit for the greater good.
A well-designed nonprofit website simplifies the donation process and enhances the donation experience. It also makes it easier for you to manage donations.
It offers simple, accessible, and secure payment options, allowing donors to choose their preferred option and contribute. Consider creating just a few clicks for giving, turning website visitors into donors.
For example, the example above features a clear mission statement and prominent "Donate" button, while a less ideal example found on many nonprofit websites typically has cluttered text and a poorly placed, hard-to-find donation button. This hinders search functionality and potential contributions.
With fewer steps and clicks to donate, you can improve their donation experience and raise more funds.
A UX-optimized website not only creates a lasting first impression on potential donors but also sends positive signals to search engines like Google. This improved user experience can boost your website's ranking, increasing visibility and awareness for your nonprofit organization.
When Google loves your website, the search engine results page will reflect that love and improve your ranking. And it only takes a few changes like making your website friendly to both desktop and mobile users.
Donor outreach and engagement
Engagement is key for raising awareness. A well-designed nonprofit website creates a communication line with potential supporters, effectively conveying your message and connecting over your mission.
You can include social media icons, so potential donors can follow you and learn about upcoming events. Social media integration is essential in today’s online world.
You can also make sure you have up to date content on the website—blog posts, news articles, and event announcements. Keeping your content fresh keeps visitors informed about activity and recent developments. With extra engagement elements like email sign-ups, contact forms, and volunteer registration, you can communicate and establish deeper connections.
How to design the perfect website for your nonprofit
When thinking about how to get started, there are a few ways to think about the best nonprofit website for your organization. While there are some critical elements all websites should have, like a donation page, other factors are more subject. The following nonprofit website design tips are the essential steps to ensuring your nonprofit website is at the top of its game.
Well-defined goals will guide your design choices and functionality decisions, ensuring your website effectively supports your nonprofit's mission.
As you make your way through your goals, double check that they are clear, actionable, and measurable. You don’t want to start throwing items up on the board you have no way of tracking.
Step 2: Assemble expertise/resources
Depending on your budget and resources, consider the following options for website design expertise:
Seek a volunteer web designer from your network or local community
Hire a freelance web designer through platforms like Upwork or Fiverr
Partner with a local marketing agency that may offer discounted nonprofit rates
Consult with a nonprofit-specific web design firm for specialized expertise
Remember, one experienced designer can often handle the entire project for smaller nonprofits.
People with UI/UX experience can help create visually appealing graphics for your website. They can also help choose different design elements and content types to show on the website, which will help search engines understand your nonprofit’s mission and improve your ranking.
If you do not have people with expertise on the team, consider seeking outside help. Hire a web design company if you have the budget. Nonprofits with smaller budgets can search for freelance web designers.
Before assembling your team, ensure you have a clear brand identity and visual guidelines for your organization. This foundational step will inform all design decisions and create a cohesive online presence.
Step 3: Choose your host and domain name
Websites run on web hosting services. Choosing a hosting service is a crucial step, as it affects how your website will perform.
Check reviews on third-party websites from existing users, especially about technical support. Consider the uptime, hosting plan, and security features of these web hosting services. Also, look for a hosting service that is more nonprofit dedicated as they can help invite visitors to your site and encourage donations with better templates and services that cater to your design team’s needs.
Choose a domain name that closely matches your nonprofit's name for brand consistency and easy recall. It should be the name of your organization, or a close variation, allowing visitors to connect your cause to your site. Your virtual address is crucial for your online identity, so select wisely and budget for annual renewals.
Creating a well-organized website structure makes it easy for users to navigate and find information. You can create an outline of the important pages, what elements you would create, and the site menu.
All these bits ensure visitors can find the desired details about your nonprofit, mission, impact, and donation-related information without any trouble.
Here is how you can create the structure of your website:
Include the most crucial information visitors would want to learn on the "home page."
In the menu, list pages in a way that is easily understandable for visitors. For example, under the "About Us" section, include pages like "Our Mission," "Our Team," and "Our Work."
Add a "Donate" or "Support Us" button in your main navigation and strategically place it throughout your website, especially on high-traffic pages.
Avoid hiding crucial pages or CTA buttons in a menu or making visitors click multiple times to access the donation link. You should have a clear call to action and a donation page that is easy to access.
Add a header and a footer, which are visible regardless of the page. These two sections serve as website maps to help locate specific pages quickly.
Remember that the outline of your website should form a logical and effortless flow. Create the right balance between graphics and text, and use ample white space for a clean look and feel.
Step 5: Choose a website builder
Select a user-friendly website platform that balances ease of use with the features your nonprofit needs. Popular options include:
WordPress: Offers both a content management system and customizable templates
Wix or Squarespace: Provide drag-and-drop builders with nonprofit-specific templates
Specialized nonprofit platforms: Like Morweb or Firespring, tailored for charitable organizations
Before creating content, have a strategy to ensure your nonprofit's success. Define your goals and the types of content you will need to drive organic traffic to your website.
Content like blogs, news, and tutorials help inform and educate your supporter base about relevant topics and events.
Use search engine optimization (SEO) practices to include relevant keywords related to your content. This will help rank your website higher in Google and other search engines. Consider using tools like Ahrefs, Google Trends, and Yoast SEO to create SEO-friendly content.
If you need an eCommerce website for fundraising, pay attention to product listings. Ensure that the listings are accurate and include up-to-date information.
After launching your website, track metrics and make changes to meet your visitors' needs and preferences. CMS such as WordPress and Wix allow you to make changes without any coding knowledge.
Use analytical tools to gather data and learn the following details:
The most popular pages on your website
How people access your website, from mobile, desktop, etc.
Supporter demographics, location, etc.
Click-through rate (CTR)
Engagement rate
Of course, your website also needs to be registered on Google Search Console, so you can get valuable Google Analytics information to help you monitor and improve the performance of your nonprofit website.
Google Analytics will also help you find which keywords and phrases people search for before they visit your website. You can use all these details to improve your website's performance.
5 essential elements to add to your nonprofit website
Now, you know how to design your nonprofit website, but what does your site absolutely need to have? Common wisdom says that nonprofit website search engine optimization best practices demand a specific website layout. Indeed, every single site that hopes to effectively raise funds must have at the very least these five pages:
1. Homepage
A homepage is the front door to your website. It should communicate who you are and what you do. You do not want it to overburden the visitor with loads of information from the get-go. The user experience is all about making it simple and easy to navigate your website.
This means you should avoid large chunks of text on the homepage. Instead, provide an overview of your organization's mission and causes.
Add CTA buttons like “Donate” or “Learn more about your mission.” Make the page visually appealing with different images, videos, icons, and to-the-point messages.
2. About us page
The ‘About Us' page delves a bit deeper into your mission, history, vision, values, and key people involved. Engaging visuals and storytelling elevate the journey and help visitors form an emotional connection with your organization.
Your ‘About Us' page should convey the impact your efforts are bringing to the community. Make the message personable yet professional, representing your organization. Users come to this page to learn about you. Make your story one that is relatable and inspires compassion. Again, make it easy for your user to join your cause.
3. Program and services page
If your organization has notable programs and services, inform visitors about them. Create a short, sweet, informative page to provide the necessary details to supporters.
Avoid relying too much on text; instead, convey the activities using high-quality images, short program descriptions, and videos.
Include impact stories, inspiring donor stories, and case studies to show the real difference made to the community. Make sure the contact and enrollment information is easy to find, and don’t forget your call to action or donation buttons.
If your potential donor has to go back, click through, and get lost trying to find out how to join you, they may give up. It can be that easy to gain a new donor and that easy to lose one. If you want to increase your conversion rates, make your donation button and contact information readily available on every page.
4. Contact us page
As the name suggests, the Contact Us page lists the details for reaching out to you. It lists crucial information like email, phone number, and the organization's postal address.
Include a contact form to make it easy for people to send a message and reach you directly.
The Contact Us page is also an opportunity to bring your potential donors to your social media profile links. They should be able to click on the social media icons and get right to your profile, where they can follow you, engage with you, and share your posts. Social media will help them engage further, learn more about your organization, and pull in other interested parties.
Most people spend their time on social media accounts today, so one of the best ways to improve nonprofit website usability is to link your social media accounts to the nonprofit website and vice versa.
5. Donation page
Your donation page is the heart of your fundraising efforts. Keep it simple and focused and clearly show how donations make an impact. Include success stories, a ticking meter that increases as donations are made, and images of lives your nonprofit has changed.
You can also offer suggested amounts to guide donors.
Make sure it works well on mobile devices and include security badges to build trust. Partner with platforms like Zeffy's 100% free donate button to offer flexible donation options without fees.
You’ve got your pages, now what do you do with them? After all, pretty much anyone can create a website and add some pages. How do you make your visitors stay? How do you draw them in and encourage them to become donors? How do you increase your website’s credibility? Here are some essential tips:
1. Use storytelling
Stories add a personal touch to a nonprofit website and make it stand out in the crowd. While many organizations work on similar causes and missions, an impactful story can be unique to your organization.
Storytelling appeals to the human side more than the straightforward message of your mission. Promote your story on different platforms to attract supporters to your website. And tell the story in different ways, from different angles, to a variety of target audience members. Different listeners and readers will respond to different parts of your story.
2. Minimize page loading time
Your organization can increase engagement and retention if you minimize the page loading time on your website.
Slow loading times can frustrate visitors, leading them to abandon your site and potentially seek information or donation opportunities elsewhere.
Choose website elements wisely to ensure they don't slow your website down. Work with web designers to select the best hosting services to reduce the load time.
Here are a few strategies to ensure quick loading times:
Resize and compress images to reduce the load on the website
Use scripts, plugins, and custom fonts wisely and remove unnecessary elements
Choose HTML and CSS over Flash Player, as they take less processing power
Consult web design companies to improve the website load time and seek their expertise
Use consistent branding elements to make people familiar with your nonprofit organization. If a visitor lands on a page that looks completely different from the rest of the site, they may mistake it for someone else's page.
Consistent branding across your website builds trust and recognition. Develop a cohesive visual identity by:
Using a consistent color palette that aligns with your mission
Selecting one or two legible fonts for all text
Maintaining uniform button styles and calls-to-action
Creating a style guide for images, formatting, and logos
Ensuring your brand voice remains consistent in all written content
This uniformity helps visitors feel secure and familiar with your organization, increasing their likelihood of engaging and donating.
4. Use impactful photos
Pictures convey messages and emotions better than mere words. They draw people in, making them view and click through the website. Compelling and relevant images enhance the user experience, increasing retention and decreasing bounce rates.
Visual elements can trigger emotions and show how your organization creates an impact, providing a more powerful message than words alone.
Here are a few ideas for using images in website design:
Include emotionally charged images of your impact, including people you serve
Use real photos of staff, volunteers, and attendees of your fundraising event
Create and add infographics to break down a complicated but essential concept
Show real people on your website (avoid overusing stock images)
5. Improve accessibility
Make your website more accessible to different people and supporter groups. One good practice is to use text/backgrounds that cater to people with visual difficulties, such as color blindness.
Include alt texts on images and graphics to describe them verbally. It helps people who use screen readers to navigate a website.
Using headings and subheadings helps the structure of your page. A proper heading outline helps non-visual users (including search engines) understand the page's layout.
Avoid any technical jargon or phrases that make your content difficult to read and understand. Your supporter base can include people from all walks of life who may lack the technical knowledge to understand difficult words or language.
6. Enhance usability with mobile optimization
Nonprofit websites should work on different devices, especially smartphones. Many supporters will drop off without engagement if they need to zoom in to read the content on their phones.
When choosing a design for your website, look for one with mobile-friendly features for mobile users:
Mobile responsiveness: Your website pages should fit and adjust to different devices and screen sizes
Mobile forms: Donation forms, volunteer sign-ups, and event registrations should match and work well on mobile, tablet, and computer screens alike
Mobile-friendly navigation: Header navigation helps expand on a simple button click and keeps your page neat and compact.
Work with a nonprofit-focused CMS with automatic mobile optimization. Check the features before narrowing down your options to increase the usability of your website design.
7. CTA or donate button
Strong CTAs guide supporters to take action and support your cause. Make sure you use clear, action-oriented language like "Donate Now" or "Join Us” and make buttons stand out with bold colors. Keep testing different CTAs to see what works best for your audience.
Here are a few other ways you use CTAs to drive action and engagement:
Learn more: Use CTAs effectively to encourage new donors or potential ones to learn more
Sign up/stay in touch: Create a CTA to ask for sign-ups for email newsletters or maybe an “About Us” page
Follow us on social media: Ask them to stay connected over social media with a “Follow Us” CTA
Download: “Download our latest impact report” is another way to engage supporters
8. Keep it minimal
Complex websites can put your donors off and compel them to leave without engaging with your content. A cluttered and complex site will dampen their desire to donate or spread your mission's message. Keep your web design minimal to ensure a great donation experience.
Here are a few things you can do or ask web designers to implement for minimalistic design:
Ensure there is ample white space on the nonprofit websites for a clean look
Avoid distractions by including only essential information on each page
Use images and fancy design elements, but avoid their overuse
Loop is one of the top web design agencies for nonprofits, helping with discovery, content, page building, development, and more. It is a full-service creative agency offering strategic branding and web design services.
They implement their technical expertise with a deep understanding of nonprofit goals to create impactful digital solutions.
Some of their services include:
Custom web designs
Improving responsiveness
Donation and fundraising integrations
SEO-optimized websites
Pricing:
Available on demand
2. Wired Impact
Wired Impact is another popular and specialized nonprofit web design company.
Their web design process involves:
Dedicated project managers
Structure development
Web design tools
Wired Impact offers a free website trial to test their services and see if they are the right fit for your organization. You can check their services with a 60-day trial period - 30 Days to create the website and 30 days to show it to your team and the board members.
Pricing:
Core Plan: $99/ month, One-time fee: $400
Grow Plan: $219, One-time fee: $1,200
Amplify Plan: $329, One-time fee: $2,700
3. Fat Beehive
Fat Beehive creates bespoke web designs for nonprofits. Beyond website designs, they help build websites, brands, and delightful digital products.
With 20 years of experience, Fat Beehive specializes in design and branding for organizations focusing on distinctive presence.
Their services range include:
Branding and visual identity
User experience (UX) and audience research
Digital strategy
Members' areas and CRM integrations
Hosting and support
Pricing:
Available on demand
4. Cornershop Creative
Cornershop Creative is another popular and reliable nonprofit website design company. They work for nonprofits in diverse niches and sizes to deliver full-service web design support.
Their services include:
Improved visual design
Enhanced user experience design
Custom web development
CRM integration
Organizations focused on better user engagement can use these services to increase their digital presence and mission impact.
Pricing:
Available on demand
5. Ironpaper
Ironpaper is a web design firm and digital marketing agency that caters to nonprofit organizations.
Their team builds beautiful websites to engage donors in line with the marketing strategy. The multichannel marketing effort goes beyond design, covering content, social media, SEO), and more for better impact and outcomes.
Their services help nonprofits extend their reach and attract more donations by creating visually appealing, user-friendly, and engagement-optimized sites.
Pricing:
Available on demand
Final thoughts on nonprofit web design
A well-designed nonprofit website is a powerful tool for advancing your mission and engaging supporters. By implementing the strategies outlined in this guide, you can create an online presence that effectively communicates your impact, attracts donors, and nurtures connections with your community.
Remember that your website is just the beginning. To maximize its potential, consider integrating it with powerful fundraising tools. Zeffy's 100% free website builder offers customizable donation forms and a user-friendly online store that seamlessly aligns with your website's design.
WordPress is an open source that allows anyone to download and use it for free. Nonprofits can build a website and blog using free WordPress plugins and themes. For example, Giving Press Lite is a free version of a premium theme for nonprofits. Benevolent is another free WordPress theme for nonprofits.
Some advanced plugins and themes are available for a price. Other costs associated with building a nonprofit website include hosting and domain registration.
Creating a website can cost from $0 to over $25,000 for nonprofits. Here are some details on varying costs depending on how you create the website:
WordPress is available for free if you can manage and customize it yourself
Do-it-yourself (DIY) options like Wix and Squarespace start around $16-$23/month
If you hire a freelancer for a WordPress website, the cost can range from $500 to $10,000
Professional websites from full-service web design agencies can cost $8,000 to $25,000+ depending on the complexity and the customizations needed
Creating a website comes with additional costs for web hosting, domain registration, maintenance, etc.
Check out the best nonprofit website examples and best practices to make yours stand out. Learn what to include on your site, what to leave out, and creative ideas.
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