Nonprofit Website Design
For organizations with a lot to say
A nonprofit, church, or association website talks to many people at once, like donors, volunteers, members, the people you serve, and staff. Each of them arrives with one question and little patience for a maze. I plan, write, design, and build sites that give every group a clear path to its answer, with search planned in so the right people find you. Then I can look after the site for years, through every change of staff and volunteers.
What a nonprofit website has to do
Each group that visits came for something different, and none of them should have to dig.
Nonprofit website design starts with the people who use the site. A nonprofit website speaks to several groups at once, and each one came for something different. A member wants the calendar. A donor wants to know where the money goes. A volunteer wants to know when to show up. A board member wants last month’s minutes. The site has to serve all of them without making any of them dig.
Serve several audiences at once
The plan starts by naming the groups who use the site and the one or two things each one comes for. For a school, that usually means prospective families, current families, students, alumni, and staff. For a nonprofit, it's the people you serve, donors, volunteers, partners, and the local press. For an association, it's members, people thinking of joining, and the public. Each group gets a clear way in from the homepage and pages written in words that make sense to them.
Hold a lot of pages
Programs, classes, teams, staff, policies, forms, reports, news, and events add up quickly. Many of these sites run to dozens of pages, and they keep growing as the organization does. Every page needs a place in the structure where people expect to find it, and a reason to exist. A school site might need a page for every grade, team, and club, plus the forms parents look for each fall. A nonprofit adds a page for each program, each event, and each year's report.
Bring in gifts
For a nonprofit, the donate button may be the most important link on the site. It belongs in the header of every page. The page behind it should make giving quick, with a few suggested amounts, a monthly option, and a line on what each gift pays for, like a week of groceries for a family. Donors give more readily when they can picture the result.
Bring in families
For a school, the admissions pages do the selling. A family comparing schools wants to see an ordinary day, read what sets you apart, learn about tuition and aid, and know the next step, like a tour, an open house, or an application. Those pages lead to a short inquiry or tour request form, so a parent can take the first step from a phone.
Keep events and news current
Events, game schedules, deadlines, and news change every week. An event that already happened, still listed as "upcoming," tells visitors nobody is minding the site. Events live in one calendar, past dates drop off on their own, and news posts carry their dates. The site stays current with little effort from your staff.
Tell the story with real people
People give, enroll, and volunteer because of what they see an organization do. Real photos of your students, volunteers, and the people you serve, each with a sentence about what's happening in it, do more than any statement of values. Before a child's photo goes on the site, get written permission from the family. Many schools already collect it at enrollment.
Keeping a big site simple
A structure settled up front, and a few rules that hold as the site grows.
A site with many pages and many audiences turns into a maze one page at a time. Someone adds a page for a new program, someone else adds a menu item for it, and after a few years nobody can find the lunch menu. Staying simple takes a structure settled up front and a few rules that hold as the site grows.
A menu people can scan
The main menu holds five to seven items, named in the words visitors use, like Admissions, Programs, Give, Get involved, Calendar, About. Everything else sits beneath those, no more than two levels deep. A visitor should be able to read the whole menu in a glance and guess correctly where their page lives.
A path for each audience
Near the top of the homepage, a short row of links speaks to each group by name, like Families, Donors, Volunteers, Members. Each one leads to a page that gathers what that group needs most. A parent can find the forms, the calendar, and the contact for the front office without learning how the rest of the site is organized.
One home for each fact
Every date, deadline, and policy lives on one page, and other pages link to it. When the application deadline moves, it changes in one place, and the site never contradicts itself. Visitors trust a site more when its pages agree with each other.
Layouts that repeat
Pages of the same kind share a layout. Every program page has the same sections in the same order, and so does every team page or staff page. Visitors learn the pattern once. Your staff can add a new program by filling in the same layout, and the site still looks like one site five years later.
Fewer PDFs
Nonprofits often post important information as PDF files, like handbooks, schedules, forms, annual reports. PDFs are hard to read on a phone, often hard for screen readers, and easy to let go out of date. Information people check often becomes a real page. Documents that have to stay PDFs, like a printable annual report, get a clear name and a line saying what's inside.
A search box for the rest
On a big site, some visitors know exactly what they want, like "volunteer form," "spring schedule," "annual report." A search box takes them straight there, and it saves your staff from answering the same question by phone.
I've built a site of more than 130 pages by myself. On a site that size, the structure decided at the start is what keeps page 90 as easy to find as page 9. When you add a page later, it has a clear place to go.
Have a lot to say?
Tell me about your organizationFound by the people looking for you
People search for what you offer long before they search your name.
Most people search for what a nonprofit offers before they ever search its name, like "food pantry near me," "preschool in Golden," "volunteer at an animal shelter," "youth volleyball tryouts." Each program, service, and team gets its own page, written around the words those people use, so the site has a page ready for each of those searches.
Three more pieces help the right people find you:
- 1
A Google Business Profile
The free listing that puts your school or organization on Google Maps. It needs the right category, current hours, real photos, and a link to the right page on your site.
- 2
Structured data
Code called schema that tells search engines and AI tools what kind of organization you are, where you are, and what you offer. Your events can carry it too, with the date and the place in a form search engines read directly.
- 3
Plain answers to common questions
Each page answers the questions people ask about it, such as how to enroll, where donations go, or what a volunteer shift involves. Those answers help AI tools like ChatGPT name you when someone asks where to volunteer or which schools to tour.
A site everyone can use
Built for grandparents, parents in the pickup line, and people using screen readers.
Nonprofit sites reach a wider public than most business sites, like grandparents, parents reading on a phone in the pickup line, students, people who use screen readers, and people who read English as a second language. Accessibility is the work that makes a site usable for all of them, including visitors with a disability.
- 1
Text you can read
Strong contrast between the text and the background, and type large enough for a small screen.
- 2
Descriptions for photos
Alt text on every image that carries meaning, so a screen reader can say what the photo shows.
- 3
Pages a screen reader can follow
One main heading, clear sections beneath it, and links that say where they go instead of "click here."
- 4
A keyboard path
Every menu, button, and form works with a keyboard alone, for visitors who can't use a mouse.
- 5
Captions on video
Every video has captions, for visitors who can't hear it and for parents watching with the sound off.
- 6
Forms with labels
Every field has a visible label, and every error message says what to fix.
Some schools and organizations have to meet a formal standard, usually WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. If yours does, say so in the form. I build to the WCAG guidelines.
Nonprofit websites I've built
An association first, then other sites that show what a site can do.
I’ve built sites for nonprofits, including an association of veterinarians. Each project below links to the full story and screenshots.
Relief Rover
The first website for a job board and community for relief vets, built in 2018.
Read the case study
Medrock Pharmacy
A pharmacy's logo and website, built to grow from one location to three.
Read the case study
Family Value Flooring
A flooring store with two locations, a new name, and one website for both.
Read the case study
Therm-A-Guard
A product for electric utilities, sold through the online store on its site.
Read the case study
Maconachy Stradley
An independent agency in Ohio that insures businesses across the country.
Read the case studyYour organization
Tell me who visits your site and what you need them to do, and I'll show you where I'd start.
Start your project"He is an excellent business partner, really listens to your needs and delivers impeccable service."
"If you want a great web presence, one that works and effective implementation, where you know you will get the results, use Josh. When a lot is riding on how your customers gain information and you have to be sure that the outcomes will be positive use Josh.
He is an excellent business partner, really listens to your needs and delivers impeccable service. I highly recommend him to other business owners who need a new or revised website."
A project your board and staff can keep up with
One point person on your side, and decisions that arrive one at a time.
Nonprofit websites often stall because too many people weigh in at once. The project runs best with one person on your side who gathers the feedback and speaks for the group. Decisions reach that person one at a time, each with my recommendation and the reason for it.
Your part stays small. Your point person spends 20 to 30 minutes on a call with me. Then comes discovery, where they answer my questions in writing, at their own pace, while I research your organization and the people you serve. By the end, I know your organization well enough to build the site as if I were one of you. Next, your point person shares the site plan with whoever needs to approve it. I write the first draft of every page from what you tell me, and your staff correct it and fill in what only they know. When the site is ready, your team reviews it together and tells me what to change.
New faces on your side, the same one on mine
Staff and volunteers change. The board member who pushed for the new site rotates off, and the volunteer who posted the news moves away. The site keeps the same caretaker. A website care plan covers hosting, updates, backups, and security, and every request reaches the person who built the site, whoever on your side sends it. When someone new takes over updates, I show them how the site works.
"Josh delivers and does not walk away when that product is delivered."
"I have worked with Josh on two major projects. A web site for our veterinary professional association and, more recently, the web site for a new business, Motoride Tours. Motoride is a motorcycle tour business and the web site needed to promote, educate and allow purchasing of tours.
Josh took the time to find out about us, the business, and our vision for it. He then took this information and made it a reality. More importantly, he was there for the follow through. Managing the things that either needed to be tweaked after the site went live or to help us learn how to operate the site.
While many web developers can give you product, Josh delivers and does not walk away when that product is delivered."
Ready to bring in your board?
Send a requestQuestions nonprofits ask
Still have a question?
Ask me directlyWhat should a nonprofit website include?
A nonprofit website should include a clear statement of your mission, a page for each program, a donate button on every page, ways to volunteer, an events calendar, and proof of where the money goes. A school adds admissions pages and forms for current families. Each group that visits should find its one or two things within a click of the homepage.
What should a church website include?
A church website should include service times, directions and parking, what a first visit is like, ministries and groups, an events calendar, and a way to give online. People who have never been want to know what to expect before they walk in, so the first-visit page matters most. Members come back for the calendar, so it has to stay current.
How do you design a nonprofit website?
To design a nonprofit website, name the groups who visit and what each comes for, give each group a path from the homepage, keep the menu short, and put a donate button on every page. Write each page in the words visitors use, and build it so a screen reader can follow it. The same steps work for a church or a school.
What are nonprofit website best practices?
Nonprofit website best practices include a menu of five to seven items named in visitors' words, a clear path for each audience, a donate button on every page, accessible pages, and current events and news. Settle the structure up front, so the site stays easy to use as it grows. I've built a site of more than 130 pages by myself, and the structure set at the start is what keeps page 90 as easy to find as page 9.
How much does it cost to build a nonprofit or church website?
The cost to build a nonprofit or church website depends on how many pages and audiences it serves, whether it takes donations or applications, and how much search work it calls for. An organization that answers to donors or a board needs to spend carefully, so I'll tell you what the site needs now and what can wait. We talk through the cost on our call.
What is the best website builder for a nonprofit?
The best website builder for a nonprofit is one the organization owns, with its own login for each staff member and room to grow without starting over. Wix and Squarespace are fine for a small site one person runs. Whatever you choose, make sure the organization, not a volunteer, owns the domain and the logins.
Can a nonprofit get a free website?
A nonprofit can get a free website on a builder's free plan, but most free plans put the builder's name in your web address and its ads on your pages. Some builders offer nonprofit discounts, and Google for Nonprofits offers free tools, so both are worth checking. The bigger cost is time. A site nobody keeps current costs an organization more than its price.
Can people donate through the website?
Yes, people can donate through the website. A donate button sits on every page and leads to a short giving page with suggested amounts, a monthly option, and a line on what each gift does. If you already use an online giving service, the page connects to it, so gifts and donor records stay in one place.
Can families apply or book a tour on the site?
Yes, families can apply or book a tour on the site. Each admissions page ends with a clear next step, such as a short inquiry form or a tour request, sent straight to the person who handles admissions. If your school uses an admissions or enrollment system, the site sends families to it at the right moment, after a page that explains the steps.
Can several people on our staff update the site?
Yes, several people on your staff can update the site. Each person gets their own login, and access can be limited to the sections they look after. A teacher can post class news without touching the donation page. Events go in one calendar, and past events drop off on their own.
Will the site work for visitors with disabilities?
Yes, the site will work for visitors with disabilities. Readable text, descriptions for photos, a clear heading outline, keyboard access, captions, and labeled forms go into every page. If your organization has to meet a formal standard such as WCAG, tell me in the form. I build to the WCAG guidelines.
We have years of old pages and PDFs. What happens to them?
Your old pages and PDFs each get a decision before I plan the new site, whether to keep it, update it, merge it with another page, or retire it. You approve that list before anything is retired. Information people check often moves out of PDFs and onto real pages. Old addresses that still get visits or links are redirected to their new pages, so bookmarks and search results keep working.
Our board has to approve the website. How does that work?
When your board has to approve the website, name one person to coordinate on your side. That person collects comments from the board or committee and sends them to me in one place. The board approves the site plan before any writing starts and reviews the finished site before launch. The steps in between move without a meeting for every decision.
Do you build websites for nonprofits?
Yes, I build websites for nonprofits and schools. I've built sites for a professional association of veterinarians and a volleyball club. The same planning fits food banks, arts groups, animal shelters, preschools, private schools, churches, and member associations. It suits any organization with several audiences, a lot to say, and one or two things it needs visitors to do. Discovery is how I learn who you serve, who supports you, and which questions your staff answer every week.
Give every visitor a clear path.
Tell me about your organization, like who you serve, who visits your site, and what you most need them to do there, whether that’s giving, enrolling, joining, or signing up. Your request comes straight to me, and my reply sets up a short call. Your organization’s new site begins with the form.