Planning a nonprofit website: donations, programs and board pages

A donation flow that works on a phone

Many gifts start on a phone, often from a link in an email or social post. If the donation page loads slowly, asks for an account, or sends people through several screens, some of them stop partway.

Keep the path short: a clear donate button on every page, a donation form that loads quickly, suggested amounts with an option to enter any amount, and a recurring gift option that is easy to choose. After the gift, show a thank-you page that says what happens next and send a receipt right away.

• 01Donate button in the header of every page
• 02Suggested amounts plus an open amount field
• 03A clear monthly giving option
• 04Apple Pay and Google Pay where the payment provider supports them
• 05An immediate receipt with the organization's legal name and tax information

Program pages your staff can edit

Programs change. Dates move, new cohorts open, services are added. If every change requires a developer, the site falls out of date and people stop trusting it.

Build program pages from a simple, repeatable structure: what the program is, who it serves, how to join or refer someone, and who to contact. Then give staff an editor they can use without training sessions, with limits that keep the design consistent.

Board, staff and annual report pages

Funders and major donors look for signs of good governance before they give. A current board list, key staff, the mission, and recent annual reports or financial documents answer many of their questions before they ask.

Keep these pages plain and current. An out-of-date board list or an annual report from several years ago raises more questions than having no page at all.

Telling the story without overclaiming

Donors respond to specific stories more than broad statements. Describe what a program does in concrete terms, and use real stories with permission from the people in them. Avoid claims the organization cannot support with records, since grantmakers often check.

Accessibility

Nonprofits often serve people who use screen readers, larger text or older devices. Readable type, good color contrast, descriptive link text, alt text on meaningful images and forms that work with a keyboard make the site usable for more of the people you serve, and they are expected by many funders.

Built to be handed over

Communications roles turn over. Write down where the domain is registered, who has admin access, how donations are processed, and how to update each type of page. Keep the accounts in the organization's name, not a staff member's personal email, so the site survives the next transition.

Events and volunteer signups

Events and volunteer shifts are often the first way people get involved, and they are the pages most likely to go stale. List upcoming events with a date, a place and one clear way to sign up. When an event passes, move it to an archive or remove it, so visitors never land on an event that already happened.

For volunteers, say plainly what each role involves, how much time it takes, and what happens after someone signs up. A short confirmation email with a named contact makes it far more likely they show up.

Choosing a platform

The right platform is the one your team will actually keep current. Before choosing, write down who will update the site, how often, and what they need to change most. Then pick a setup that makes those tasks easy, connects to the donation processor and email tool you already use, and keeps the accounts in the organization's name.

Avoid choosing a platform because a single volunteer knows it well. When that person moves on, the organization is left with a site no one can maintain.

Questions.

Can staff update the website without a developer?

They should be able to. Program, event and news pages can be built so staff edit text and images directly, while the layout stays consistent.

Which pages do grantmakers look for?

Mission, programs, board and staff lists, and recent annual reports or financial documents are the pages funders most often check.

Should donations happen on our own site?

A donation form embedded in your site usually keeps more donors than sending them to an unfamiliar page, as long as it loads quickly on a phone.