The Complete Guide to Nonprofit Website Design, Development & Hosting

First Impressions

Your website may be the first place someone goes to learn about your organization.

It’s where a potential donor may decide whether or not to give. A volunteer may look for an opportunity. A family may search for services. A member may register for a program. A community partner may decide to contact you.

That makes your website much more than an online brochure.

A good nonprofit website helps people quickly understand who you are, find the information they need, and take the next step. It should also make things easier for the people on your staff who manage it.

For more than 27 years, OneEach has worked exclusively with nonprofit organizations, helping teams build websites, manage content, improve fundraising, and keep their technology running.

Whether you're planning a new website, considering a redesign, or wondering whether your current site is still meeting your needs, this guide will help you know what to consider.  

1. Start With Your Goals

Before you start talking about colors, photos, or page layouts, start with a more important question:

What do we need our website to accomplish?

Maybe your current site is difficult to update. Maybe visitors can’t find your programs or services. Maybe your donation process is too complicated. Maybe the organization has changed significantly since the website was built.

A new website should solve real problems, not simply give you a newer design.

One of the most common problems we see is a website that made sense five or ten years ago but no longer reflects the way people use the organization today.

Start by asking:

• - What isn't working well with our current website?

• - What do visitors have trouble finding?
• - What do staff have trouble managing?
• - What actions do we want people to take?
• - What are our most important programs and services?
• - How should the website support donations?
• - What systems do we have that must connect to the website?

And don't forget your staff. You shouldn't have to be a web developer to manage your nonprofit website. 

We often hear from nonprofit staff who are nervous about making website updates because they're afraid they'll break something. That's one reason training is such an important part of our approach.

We believe your staff should be able to update the website without submitting a ticket every time they need to change an event or add a new page.

A website can look great on launch day and still become a source of frustration if employees can’t easily manage it afterward. Your team needs to be part of the planning conversation from the beginning.

At OneEach, we often see organizations come to us because their website has become difficult to manage over time. The problem is rarely just the design. The website may have grown without a clear structure, accumulated outdated content, or become dependent on technical help for even simple changes.

Good planning helps prevent those problems.

2. Organize Your Website Around Your Visitors

Nonprofit websites can be complicated because nonprofits often serve many audiences. Donors, volunteers, members, program participants, families, partners, board members, job seekers, and community members may all come to the same website looking for very different things.

The answer is not to put everything on the homepage.

Instead, organize the site around what your visitors are trying to accomplish.

Your navigation should use clear, familiar language. Important information should be easy to find. And your homepage should quickly answer four basic questions:

- Who are you?

- What do you do?

- Who do you serve?

- What can I do next?

Think about the language your audience uses, too. Someone who needs assistance may not know the name of your department or the formal name of a particular program. They may simply be looking for help. Your website should help them find it.

This is one of the most important differences between organizing a website around your organization and organizing it around the people you serve.

3. Design for People, Not Just for Appearance

A professional website should look good, but good design is about much more than appearance. It should make information easier to understand and actions easier to take. That means using clear headings, readable text, logical page layouts, noticeable calls to action (CTAs), and navigation that feels natural.

Your website also needs to work well on mobile devices (cell phones, iPads, tablets). A large percentage of your visitors may first encounter your organization on a phone. Menus, forms, donation pages, event registration, and other important features should work just as well on a smaller screen.

And don't overlook the emotional side of design.

Nonprofits often have powerful stories to tell. Photography, video, testimonials, and stories can help people connect with your work. But those elements should support the information on the page, not make it harder to find.

Your website should feel welcoming. Visitors should not have to think too hard about where to click or what to do next.

After working with nonprofits for nearly three decades, we've learned that simple is often harder to achieve than complicated. It takes thoughtful planning to decide what belongs on a page, and what does not.

4. Make Accessibility Part of the Plan

Accessibility should be considered from the beginning of a website project, not added at the end.

An accessible website makes it easier for people with disabilities to navigate your site, understand your content, complete forms, and interact with your organization.

Important considerations include:

Accessibility is not simply a technical requirement. It is part of creating a website that welcomes more people. It also needs to continue after launch.

When staff add a new page, upload an image, create a form, or publish a document, accessibility still matters. That's why training is such an important part of maintaining an accessible website.

5. Choose Technology That Fits Your Organization

There is no single website platform that is right for every nonprofit.

The best choice depends on the size and complexity of your organization, how many people will manage the website, how often content changes, what systems need to connect to it, and how much room you need to grow. A small local nonprofit may have very different needs from a larger organization with multiple locations, hundreds of pages, or several staff members managing content.

For example, a United Way may need a very different website structure from a local Meals on Wheels organization. One may have multiple initiatives and partner organizations to organize, while the other may need visitors to quickly find meal services, volunteer information, and local contact details.

It’s important to consider these questions:

- Who will manage the website? If several employees will make updates, you may need user permissions, content workflows, and a system that is easy to manage.

- What kind of content do you publish? Programs, events, locations, staff directories, news, resources, forms, and other content may need different structures and functionality.

- What systems need to connect to the website? Think about fundraising, CRM, email marketing, events, membership, volunteer management, forms, and analytics.

- What will happen in the future? Your website needs to serve your organization today, but it should also give you room to grow.

And remember, choosing a platform is only part of the decision. Ask who will host the website, provide technical support, handle maintenance, and help your team when questions come up.

6. Make Your Website Work With the Tools You Already Use

Your website probably isn't the only technology your organization uses.

You may rely on a fundraising platform, CRM, email marketing system, event registration tool, membership database, volunteer system, forms, or analytics platform. Your website may need to connect with some or all of them.

Good integrations can reduce duplicate data entry, save staff time, and create a smoother experience for visitors. The important thing is to think about integrations early. Don't wait until the website is almost finished to ask whether your systems can connect. Build those questions into your planning process so your website team can determine what is possible, what information needs to move between systems, and what the visitor experience should look like.

The goal is not to connect everything simply because you can. The goal is to make the technology work better for your organization.

7. Think About SEO and AI Search

Your website needs to work for people, but it also needs to be easy for search engines and AI-powered search tools to understand.

For years, nonprofit organizations have focused on appearing in traditional Google search results. Today, the search experience is changing.

When someone asks Google a question, they may see an AI-generated answer at the top of the page rather than a traditional list of website links. People are also using AI tools to ask more detailed, conversational questions and get answers based on information found across the web. That means your goal is not simply to rank for a keyword. You want your website to be a useful, trustworthy source of information that search engines and AI systems can understand and reference.

Answer the questions your audience is asking

This is where Answer Engine Optimization, or AEO, comes into the picture.

AEO focuses on making your content easy for answer engines and AI-powered search to understand.

Think about questions someone might actually type into Google or ask an AI tool:

Your website should answer those questions clearly.

Use straightforward headings, useful page titles, direct language, and well-organized content. Give people specific answers rather than vague statements. Keep important information current.

And don't abandon traditional SEO. Good SEO fundamentals still matter for AI search. One of the most useful things you can do is stop thinking only in terms of short keywords and start thinking about the questions your audience wants answered.

Your content should help a person first. That's also one of the best ways to make it useful to search engines and AI.

8. Make Giving Easy

For many nonprofits, the website is an important part of the fundraising experience.

Your donation button should be easy to find. Your donation page should work well on a phone. And the process should be as simple as possible. Look at the experience from the donor's perspective.

• - Can they quickly understand how to give?

• - Do they know where their money goes?

• - Is the form easy to complete?

• - Are there unnecessary steps?

Your website can also help donors understand the work behind the donation. Program information, stories, photographs, videos, and clear explanations can help people see the difference their support makes. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words.

A donation form can complete the transaction, but the website helps build the confidence that leads someone to give in the first place.

9. Don't Overlook Website Hosting

Hosting is one of those parts of a website that most visitors never think about. And that's a good thing.

They simply expect your website to load quickly, work reliably, and be available when they need it. Your hosting environment plays an important role in making that possible. When comparing hosting providers, look beyond price. Consider:

- Reliability: Is your website monitored and supported when something goes wrong?

- Security: How is your website protected?

- Backups: How often is your website backed up, and what happens if something needs to be restored?

- Performance: Can the hosting environment handle your organization's traffic and future growth?

- Support: Who do you call when there is a technical problem?

- Scalability: Can the hosting environment grow with your organization?

For a nonprofit team, reliable hosting can also mean fewer technical problems landing on the desks of people who already have plenty to do.

At OneEach, hosting is part of the larger relationship we have with our clients. We don't think of hosting as simply a place to put a website. It is part of providing a reliable, supported website over the long term.

And when you do have a question about your website? You're not left searching for an answer. Your OneEach Account Manager is just a phone call away.

10. Remember That Your Website Needs Ongoing Care

Launching a website is an important milestone, but it is not the finish line.

Your organization will continue to change. Programs will be added. Staff will come and go. Events will happen. Contact information will change. New stories and resources will need to be published.

Your website needs to change with you.

That means keeping content current, reviewing important pages, checking forms and links, and making sure your staff know how to update the site. Keeping a website current is easier when you have someone who knows your organization and can help you along the way.

Technical maintenance matters, too. Depending on your website and hosting environment, that may include security updates, backups, performance monitoring, troubleshooting, and other technical work.

You don't need to become a technology expert. Your Account Manager can help you understand your options and make decisions based on what makes sense for your organization.

A website is a long-term investment. Plan for what happens after launch just as carefully as you plan for the launch itself.

11. Make Sure Your Team Has People to Turn To

A website partner should be more than the company that builds your website. You should have real people you can turn to when you have a question, need to learn something new, or aren't sure what to do next.

One of the most important questions to ask when choosing a website partner is:

Who will help us after our website goes live?

A website can be well designed and still become frustrating if your staff are left on their own after launch. At OneEach, every client has an Account Manager.

Your Account Manager is the person you call when you aren't sure how to approach something on the website. They know your organization, know your website, and can help you figure out what to do next. They have worked for nonprofits themselves, so they understand the reality of managing communications, programs, fundraising, events, and everything else that competes for your team's time.

They can help you work through questions, understand your options, and figure out the next step without making you learn a new language full of technical terms.

Support means more than fixing problems

We believe good support is proactive. That's why OneEach provides more than someone to call when something breaks. Our customers also have access to:

The goal is not to keep your staff dependent on a developer. The goal is to help your team become comfortable and confident using the website.

You shouldn't have to be a web developer to manage a nonprofit website. And you shouldn't have to figure everything out by yourself.

Our Account Managers can help with questions, education, guidance, training, resources, and ongoing improvement. Not just technical problems.

12. Choose a Website Partner for the Long Term

When you compare website companies, it is easy to focus on the design, the feature list, and the price.

Those things matter. But they are not the whole decision.

Your website partner should understand nonprofits, listen to your team, explain technical issues clearly, and help you make decisions that fit your organization.

Make sure you ask:

At OneEach, we have spent nearly three decades learning that a website is not a one-time project. It is an ongoing relationship.

The technology matters. The design matters. The development matters. But having knowledgeable people who understand your organization and are available to help matters, too.

That is why our Account Managers are such an important part of the OneEach experience.

Is It Time To Redesign Your Nonprofit Website?

You may not need a completely new website.

But it is worth taking a closer look if your site is difficult to manage, hard to navigate, outdated, inaccessible, slow on mobile devices, difficult to find in search, or no longer reflects the organization you are today.

Ask yourself:

If the answer to several of these questions is no, your website may be holding your organization back.

Your Website Should Support Your Work, Not Create More Work

Your nonprofit has enough to manage.

Your website should help your organization communicate clearly, connect with the people you serve, raise money, recruit volunteers, share information, and move your mission forward. It should be easy for visitors to use and practical for your staff to manage.

Your communications director shouldn't have to wait three days for a developer to change an event date. Your staff should be able to make routine updates themselves, and when they have a question, they should have knowledgeable people they can reach.

That's the approach OneEach has taken for more than 27 years.

We work exclusively with nonprofit organizations, helping them with website design, development, hosting, training, and ongoing support. Our Account Managers bring nonprofit experience to the relationship and stay involved after your website launches.

Because a good website partner should not simply hand you a website and walk away.

Your website should have people behind it who know your organization, understand nonprofits, and are there when you need them.

Ready to take a closer look at your nonprofit website? 

Explore OneEach's Nonprofit Website Design & Development Services →

Learn About OneEach Website Hosting →

See Examples of Federated Nonprofit Websites We've Built → United Ways and YMCAs

Frequently Asked Questions About Nonprofit Websites

Final Thought

A nonprofit website is a long-term investment in your organization.

The best one is not necessarily the most complicated or the most expensive. It’s the one that helps people find you, understand you, connect with you, and take action. And helps your staff manage the site with confidence.

Start with the people you serve. Build around the needs of your organization. Choose technology that fits. Plan for accessibility, SEO, AI search, fundraising, hosting, and ongoing maintenance.

And make sure you have knowledgeable people to turn to along the way.

Want to learn more about OneEach Technologies?