Being visible is crucial for non-profit organizations. Yet, becoming well-known among the millions of other organizations is challenging. Especially when it’s not raining money for these non-profits.
A good website is an essential and affordable option to boost visibility. A great website will also work as a fundraising tool.
The good thing is, it’s now possible to create a beautiful website without any specific coding skills.
Website builders are hosted website creation platforms (meaning that you only need to worry about design elements and content). Most of them offer user-friendly drag-and-drop or similar editors. So creating a website becomes a similar experience to using PowerPoint or Word.
Here are my top three
- Wix: over 300 beautiful and customizable templates to choose from, easy drag and drop builder.
- Weebly: user-friendly interface and flexible ecommerce opportunities
- Squarespace: award-winning designs to create a visually stunning website, and specific non-profit help.
Wix
Wix checks all the boxes when talking about non-profit website builders. It’s beautiful, it’s easy to use, and it’s affordable. There’s no doubt why Wix is the industry leader.
Wix website builder is based on a “blank canvas” principle, meaning, you have all the freedom to customize.
So, what makes it stand out?
Features
- 16 non-profit templates. All of them are free and all of them are mobile-optimized, meaning they’ll look good on any device.
- Wix App Market offers a variety of tools to customize your website. It includes ecommerce tools, apps for fundraising, analytics, and boosting the page.
- Powerful SEO tools to help you reach the top of the search results list.
- Custom domain name registration or the possibility to connect your own domain name.
What makes Wix unique?
Wix offers two ways of creating a website. You can go the classic route and use the classic drag-and-drop editor.
Or, you can answer a few technical and content related questions and Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) will build a site for you. Once ADI is done, you can remodel your site however you want.
Wix ADI is a good choice for those who have never built a site before and are not keen on doing that. Also, it’s faster than customizing everything yourself.
Wix website builder is based on a “blank canvas” principle, meaning, you have all the freedom to customize.
Cost
Wix offers a free plan, however, you would have to agree to a subdomain, Wix ads, and data limitations. Various tiers are available for paid plans, with a monthly $14 giving you unlimited bandwidth.
Best non-profit website designs
Pure Joy Foundation have created a colourful and visual site using Wix website builder. They explain their aims and initiatives clearly over multiple pages, and have easy ways to donate via their site.
Weebly
Weebly is a leader among ecommerce communities. And it can be an advantage for your non-profit website.
How? One way of raising money for your cause is through sales. This can increase your visibility and everything you can earn can be ploughed back into your work.
Features
- Choose from over 300 responsive and fully customizable templates.
- Video headers and backgrounds help to bring the site to life.
- Many third-party apps from the App Center to fully customize your website.
- Wix mobile app allows you to manage and update the site on the go.
What makes Weebly unique?
Weebly is principally designed for ecommerce, but this is something that can be highly relevant and useful for non-profits.
Cost
Weebly offers a free plan but this is best used only for testing, to see if the builder is right for you.
Premium plans start at $5/month. A Pro plan, designed for groups and organizations would be a good option for a non-profit. It costs $12/month and offers a domain name, shopping cart feature, and unlimited storage.
Best non-profit website designs
Copper’s Dream animal rescue website proves that non-profit websites can be modern and functional, without a huge financial investment.
Built using Weebly, this animal rescue organisation has created a modern, clean, and beautiful website. It’s easy to navigate and has all the necessary functionality including a simple donation system and extensive information about pet adoption.
Squarespace
Squarespace is like a Rolls Royce among everyday cars. If your budget allows you to spend a little extra for design, Squarespace might be worth it.
You can create a website using award-winning designs to stand out from other organizations. And it won’t be more difficult than using any other tool as a non-profit website builder.
Squarespace has a dedicated section for non-profits, offering specific advice to this community, including building a site, choosing templates, accepting donations, asking for volunteers and much more.
Features
- Squarespace recommends 16 free and polished designs for non-profit websites; you can choose from many more templates that all are mobile-optimized to look good on any device.
- Squarespace is designed to showcase your best visual content, including videos that you can place as a background. Their pre-made grid is customizable but will ensure the final result is well ordered and clear.
- Powerful built-in SEO tools without any other plugins required (though available if you need).
- Free domain name included when purchasing a yearly plan.
What makes Squarespace unique?
Squarespace is polished from top to bottom. Your content will look beautiful on any chosen design template, without you needing professional design skills. It’s a great choice for highly visual websites.
Squarespace has a professional Support team to help, so even if you’ve never built a website before, Squarespace has you covered.
Cost
Prices offered by Squarespace start a bit higher, but that does not mean you’ll pay more. The cheapest option of $12/month will provide everything you need including unlimited data, free domain registration, and SSL security. That should be enough for a non-profit organization so you wouldn’t need to consider more expensive options.
Squarespace doesn't have special pricing for non-profit organizations, but they do have a 10% off for non-profits using the code NONPROFIT.
Best non-profit website designs
The Friends of the Library website, built on Squarespace, is a perfect example of a non-profit organization website. Highly visual and informational, modern with easy to find information and donation pages. Every page inspires trust in the project.
The Friends of Multnomah County Library website has a “call to action” approach, meaning every page has something you can do - donate, join, visit, etc.
So, which is the best non-profit builder?
Each of these builders offers a great range of templates and unique features.
Wix is the best choice for those who have never built a website before, with hundreds of templates, an easy to use interface and a smart Wix ADI feature to help you build a beautiful website.
Weebly is easy to use and great for non-profits aiming to use ecommerce for active fundraising.
Squarespace has award winning templates and designs to make your organisation stand out, plus specific help for non-profits.
Depending on your aims, one of these should fit the bill.
