Website for business types · 11 Nov 2026 · 7 min read
Nonprofit website: what to include for donors, volunteers and the people you help
A nonprofit website serves people who want to give, people who want to help and people who need help, often on the same visit. This guide sets out the pages, the donation steps and the signs of trust that matter.
The short answer
A nonprofit website should state the mission in plain words, show what the organisation does, make giving and volunteering easy to find, and offer proof that it is legitimate: who runs it, where it is registered if registration applies, and how money is used. A short, clear donation page and a way to contact a real person come next.
What a nonprofit website needs
A nonprofit website is where a stranger checks you out before deciding to trust you with time or money. It has to explain the cause quickly and prove the organisation is real. The terms differ by country, with charity, not-for-profit and non-governmental organisation all in use, and the rules on registration and fundraising differ as well, so check with the regulator or official source where you operate.
Whatever the legal form, the site needs these things:
- a plain statement of the mission and who benefits
- a clear account of the work you actually do
- a visible way to give
- a visible way to volunteer or take part
- a route for people who need help
- evidence of who runs the organisation and how it is governed
- a way to contact a named person or team
Who visits and what each person wants
Different visitors arrive with different questions. A page that answers only one of them will lose the others.
| Visitor | What they are trying to do | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Prospective donor | Decide whether the cause and the organisation deserve a gift | A clear mission, honest account of the work, a simple donation page, proof of legitimacy |
| Volunteer | Find out what is involved and sign up | Roles described plainly, time expected, a short sign-up form |
| Person seeking help | Find the service and how to reach it | Simple wording, a clear contact route, no jargon |
| Funder or partner | Check governance and results | Reports, finances, named leaders, policies |
| Journalist | Find facts and a contact | A press page with contact details and an up-to-date description |
| Existing supporter | See what happened and how to keep helping | Dated news, stories, a regular giving option |
If a person who needs help is likely to visit, put that route in the main menu or on the home page. Do not bury it behind the fundraising pages.
Pages a nonprofit website usually has
| Page | Purpose | Key content |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Say what you do and send each visitor on | Mission, one proof point, routes to give, volunteer or get help |
| About | Show who you are | Story, values, people, how the organisation is governed |
| Our work | Explain programmes and who they serve | What happens, where, and what has changed, without invented figures |
| Donate | Take gifts with little friction | One clear ask, payment options, reassurance |
| Get involved | Recruit volunteers and supporters | Roles, expectations, sign-up form |
| Stories and news | Show recent activity | Dated updates, real people with consent |
| Reports and finances | Show accountability | Annual report and accounts, as your regulator expects |
| Contact | Make it easy to reach a real person | Email, postal address, form, press contact |
| Policies | Set out how you handle data and people | Privacy, safeguarding where relevant, complaints |
How do I make a donation page clear?
A donation page should let someone give without having to work anything out. Aim for one clear ask on the page and remove everything that competes with it. A workable order is:
- Say what the gift does, in one or two sentences, before showing any form.
- Offer a one-off gift and a regular gift as clear alternatives.
- If you suggest amounts, link each to what it provides and set them from your real costs. Always allow another amount.
- Ask only for what you need to process the gift and send a receipt.
- Show the payment options that donors in your main countries use, and show any processing fees plainly, including whether donors can choose to cover them.
- Say whether tax relief applies. Only state it where it does, and link to official guidance, because rules differ by country.
- Reduce the page furniture: a short header, no sidebar, no unrelated banners.
- End on a confirmation page and an email that thank the donor, state what happens next and include the receipt.
List other ways to give as plain text, such as bank transfer, post, workplace giving or gifts in kind, for people who do not want to pay by card. Test the whole journey on a phone, because many gifts start on one. Make the form usable with a keyboard and a screen reader, and give a contact route for anyone whose payment fails.
How do I show trust to new supporters?
Trust comes from details that a stranger can check. Show those you have and leave out those you do not.
| Signal | What to show | Care needed |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | Your registration number and regulator, where your country requires or offers one, with a link to your entry on the official register | Ask your regulator how it expects registration to be shown |
| People | Names, photographs and roles of trustees, directors and key staff | Get consent. Keep it current as people change |
| Money | Annual report, accounts and a plain account of how funds are used | Publish only what is accurate and up to date |
| Real stories | Named supporters or beneficiaries, or anonymous accounts that are clearly labelled | Written consent, and dignity for the people involved |
| Policies | Privacy, safeguarding, complaints | Written for your country and activities; ask a lawyer |
| Contact | A postal address, an email and a form | Reply to messages, or remove the form |
| Activity | Dated news and updates | An out-of-date news page suggests the organisation has stopped |
Avoid statistics you cannot source, impact claims you cannot back up and stock photographs presented as beneficiaries. A plain, modest page that tells the truth is more convincing than a polished one with unverified claims.
Stories, photographs and video
Stories bring the work to life, but they carry duties. Get written consent before publishing an identifiable photograph or personal story, and take extra care with children and vulnerable people: obtain consent from a parent or guardian, avoid details that identify a person, and check your safeguarding policy. Write captions that describe what the photograph shows. Show people with dignity, as participants rather than props.
A short film can explain a cause faster than text, but video can slow a page badly if it is added carelessly. The guide to adding video to a website without slowing the page covers hosting, embedding and loading. Add captions so the film works without sound.
Volunteers, events and campaigns
Describe each volunteer role in plain terms: what the person will do, how much time it takes, any training or checks required and how to start. Keep the sign-up form short, and tell people what happens after they send it.
Fundraising events and campaign days need their own pages with dates, venue, registration and contact details, and the guide to what an event website needs covers those. Keep campaign pages on the main site where you can, so supporters stay in one place. A separate site makes sense only when a campaign has its own name and audience, and someone must be named to keep it running.
Planning and building the site
Start with a simple outline of each page before design begins. The guide to website wireframes explains how a basic layout lets you test the structure with staff and volunteers. If you already have a site, read redesign versus rebuild to judge how much needs to change.
Choose a platform that the people who will run the site can use. Many nonprofits rely on volunteers or small teams, so easy editing matters more than clever features. The comparison of a WordPress website and a custom website sets out the trade-offs, including who maintains each.
Register the domain in the organisation's name, keep logins in a shared record, and have at least two trusted administrators so the site is not stranded when a volunteer leaves. Supporters include older people and people who use assistive technology, so build to the W3C's accessibility guidelines (WCAG) as good practice. Whether accessibility law applies to you depends on the country and the organisation, so ask a lawyer.
If you need help planning or building, Liftup Technologies offers website development and can work to a brief that reflects how your team works.
What to review each month
Look at how many people start a donation and how many finish, how many volunteer forms are sent, which pages bring people to the donate page, and where visitors leave. Compare month with month, not against other organisations. Fix one thing at a time, so you know what made the difference. Review the site content too: out-of-date news, closed programmes and old contact names damage trust faster than a plain design.
Related guides
- Website development
- Website redesign vs rebuild which does your business need
- Website wireframes what they are
- Wordpress website vs custom website
- How long does it take to build a website
- What a startup website needs first
Questions and answers
What should a nonprofit website include?
It should include a clear mission statement, an account of your work, a visible way to give and to volunteer, a route for people who need help, evidence of who runs the organisation and how it is governed, and contact details for a real person. Add reports, policies and dated news as they apply.
How do I make a donation page clear?
Explain what a gift does before showing the form, offer one-off and regular gifts, and ask only for the details you need. Show payment options and fees plainly, remove distractions and finish with a thank-you page and a receipt email. Test the whole path on a phone.
How do I show trust to new supporters?
Show details a stranger can check: registration information with a link to the official register where one applies, named leaders, annual reports and accounts, real stories used with consent, and a working contact route. Avoid statistics you cannot source and keep news and policies up to date.
Who should own the domain and website logins?
The organisation, not an individual volunteer or supplier. Register the domain in the organisation's name with a role-based email address, keep at least two trusted administrators and store logins in a shared password manager. That stops the site being stranded when someone leaves.
Should each campaign have its own website?
Usually a campaign page on the main site is enough, and it keeps supporters in one place. A separate site makes sense for a campaign with its own brand and audience, but it needs its own upkeep. Decide who will maintain it before building.
Do nonprofit websites have to meet accessibility rules?
Requirements differ by country and by type of organisation, and they change. Whatever applies to you, building to WCAG is good practice because supporters include people who use screen readers, zoom or keyboards. Ask a lawyer or the official source in your country about legal duties.
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