5 Things About Building a Nonprofit Website to Know Before You Start
Summary
Don't even think about building a nonprofit website until you've learned these five truths.
Get the free guide — How to Turn Your Nonprofit Website Into a 24/7 Fundraiser Without Hiring a Marketing Team → marketyourmission.co/nonprofit-website-into-24-7-fundraiser
In this video, I'll show you:
Why building a nonprofit website is a strategic undertaking — and the key questions you need to answer before you write a single word
How long a website really takes to build (add at least 20% to whatever you're thinking)
Why assigning one dedicated webmaster matters more than which platform you choose
How to create an update schedule that keeps your website working as your #1 marketing tool
What it means to "write for the web" — and why it's completely different from grant writing or academic writing
"I tell my clients a really well-built website takes at least 6 to 8 weeks of solid work."
If you want to build a nonprofit website that attracts donors, volunteers, and the people you serve — you need to start with strategy, not a template.
"Technology isn't the issue. Your time is."
In this episode, learn how to set your nonprofit website up for long-term success before you build a single page. Plus, you'll discover the five critical truths that separate a thriving nonprofit web presence from one that goes neglected and costs you donors.
Watch the video to get the full training.
Free Guide
HOW TO TURN YOUR NONPROFIT WEBSITE INTO A 24/7 FUNDRAISER WITHOUT HIRING A MARKETING TEAM
Ready for your website to work for you, attracting donors, volunteers, and clients around-the-clock? Use this free guide to start building an effective nonprofit website.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How long does it really take to build a nonprofit website?
Plan for more time than you think — at least 20% more. From nearly 20 years of experience building nonprofit websites, I consistently find that a well-built website takes a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks of solid, focused work. That includes strategy sessions, content development, design reviews, stakeholder feedback rounds, and testing. If your team is already stretched thin — delivering programs, chasing a grant deadline, or navigating a busy season — this is not the right moment to launch a redesign. Protect the time your website truly requires, or the result will reflect the shortcuts you took.
2. What is a nonprofit webmaster and do we really need one?
Yes — every nonprofit website needs a designated webmaster, and it should be one person (not a committee). The webmaster is the staff member who owns the website: they coordinate with contractors, manage content contributors, enforce brand and messaging standards, and make sure the site stays current. This doesn't have to be someone whose only job is the website, but it does need to be a professional staff member — not an intern, not the volunteer who's good with social media, and not a rotating group of managers. Without a single owner, websites become disjointed, messaging drifts, and quality suffers. Visitors notice — and it erodes donor trust.
3. What strategic questions should we answer before we start building our nonprofit website?
Before you write a word of copy or choose a template, answer these three questions: Who are we trying to serve with this website? (Think about your circle of support — donors, volunteers, clients, community partners, and funders.) Why are we online, and what do we expect our website to do for our organization? And finally, how does our website fit within the broader landscape of nonprofits and organizations working in our same mission area — and how can we stand out? These questions force you to think about audience, purpose, and positioning before you get lost in colors and fonts.
4. What does it mean to "write for the web," and how is it different from grant writing?
Web writing is marketing writing — specifically, direct-response marketing. Every page of your nonprofit website should guide the reader toward one clear action: make a donation, sign up to volunteer, complete an intake form. That's fundamentally different from grant writing (which is formal, evidence-based, and written for program officers) or academic writing (which is detailed and discursive). On the web, you write in short paragraphs, use descriptive headers, organize content into scannable sections, and design every page around a single call to action. If your site still reads like a grant narrative, it's likely losing visitors before they ever engage.
5. How often should a nonprofit update its website?
At minimum, weekly. And not just static pages — your home page, about page, and program pages need periodic review, but it's fresh content (like blog posts and news updates) that brings new visitors to your site and gives existing supporters a reason to return. Before you launch or redesign your website, build an update schedule: decide which days content will be published, who is responsible for writing it, and how often static pages will be reviewed for accuracy. An update schedule isn't optional — it's part of the website build plan.
6. What happens when you give website responsibilities to the wrong person — like an intern or the "tech kid"?
The messaging loses focus or potency. When someone without deep organizational knowledge manages the website, they often don't have the context to communicate the mission effectively. The writing becomes generic, the calls to action get buried, and the brand starts to drift. When website duties are split among multiple people without a clear owner, the site starts to feel disjointed — different pages sound like they came from different organizations. Website visitors pick up on that quickly, and it undermines the trust you're trying to build with donors and the people you serve.
7. Who should manage a nonprofit website if you don't have a dedicated staff member?
If you're a small or mid-sized nonprofit, the webmaster role often falls to the Executive Director, a fundraising leader, or another director-level staff member — and that's okay. What matters most is that one person has clear ownership and accountability for the website. This person doesn't need to know how to code. They need to understand your mission, know your audience, and have the authority to make decisions about messaging and content. They'll be the point of contact for any web contractors, the final reviewer of all content, and the person ensuring the site reflects your standards.
8. How do we balance building a website with everything else we're already doing?
The key is to block time deliberately and protect it. Building a nonprofit website while also running programs, managing staff, and chasing funding is entirely possible — but only if you treat website time like any other organizational commitment. Put review sessions on the calendar. Set content deadlines. Assign specific website tasks to specific people with specific due dates. If you don't schedule it, it won't happen — and a half-built or neglected website can actually damage your mission by presenting an inaccurate or low-quality picture of your organization.
9. What is the biggest mistake nonprofits make when starting a website build?
Treating it as a quick task rather than a strategic investment. Many nonprofits rush to "get something up" so they can apply for a grant or start promoting their services — then they neglect the site for months or years. The website becomes a liability instead of an asset. The organizations that thrive online are the ones that treated the build as a real strategic undertaking from the start: they answered the hard questions, they allocated the right people, they scheduled the time, and they planned for ongoing maintenance before the site ever went live.
10. How does your nonprofit website connect to your broader fundraising and marketing strategy?
Your website is the center of all your outreach and marketing efforts — everything points back to it. Social media posts, email campaigns, grant applications, community partnerships — they all drive people to your website. That means your site needs to be ready to convert visitors into donors, volunteers, and clients at any time of day. If your website isn't strategically built to communicate your mission and inspire action, you're leaving fundraising on the table every single day. A world-class nonprofit website doesn't just sit there — it works for you 24/7.
Full Video Transcript
Don't Build Your Nonprofit Website Without Thinking Through These Five Truths
Don't even think about building a nonprofit website until you've learned these five truths. Hi everyone, Ricardo Ibarra with Market Your Mission. And today I'm talking about the five things you must know before you start building your nonprofit website. Let's jump right into it.
Truth #1: Building a Nonprofit Website Is an Exercise in Strategy
Number one is it's an exercise in strategy. This isn't just about putting information on your organization on the web and hoping for the best.
Building a nonprofit website is a massive strategic undertaking, and so you need to think really strategically. Be prepared to dig deep into your mission — what you're trying to accomplish. If you have a strategic plan, this is a great time to pull that up. You'll be talking with your stakeholders, your staff, and doing some deep introspection on how you want to communicate about your mission online.
More on that later. What's really important here is to think about who you want to attract and who you want to inspire to take action from your website. Now, a lot of nonprofits think, "Oh, I'll come back to my website. Let me just get something up so I can apply for this grant or so I can start offering my services to the community."
And sadly, that website goes neglected for a while. One of the reasons why those nonprofits struggle — and I've seen so many nonprofits struggle — is because they didn't devote the necessary time or strategic thought to their website.
So a couple of strategic questions for you: Who are we trying to serve with this website? I've talked in a number of my previous videos about your circle of support and those five key groups that you need to be communicating with and persuading to support your mission.
Another strategic question is: Why are we online? I know it seems like a fundamental thing in this day and age — of course you need to have a website — but truly, why is having a world-class website that attracts and converts donors, volunteers, and the people you serve so important to you? What are you trying to get out of it? What do you expect your website to do for your organization? Those are key parts of that strategic question.
And the final strategic question is: What is this going to do for our broader mission? Where will we play in the sphere of all the other nonprofits and organizations, government policies, and community groups that are in our same space? You want to get the lay of the land and really think about how your website can stand out — and be different than, or do something different than, the other folks who are also working in your same mission area.
Truth #2: It's Going to Take Longer Than You Think — Plan for It
Number two is it's going to take longer than you think. Like 20% more. So you need to schedule review time and schedule work time for your website.
When I say it's going to take longer than you think, this is from nearly 20 years of experience building websites for nonprofits. And let me tell you, it always takes longer than you think.
I tell my clients a really well-built website takes at least 6 to 8 weeks of solid work. Now, if you're currently delivering services, if your staff is overburdened, if you are in crunch time, if you have a big grant due — now is not the time to rebuild your website. That's not saying you can't build your website while you're super busy doing the good work that you do in the world, but you need to be really careful to block time in your schedule and make sure that you have the time your website truly requires.
Because it could be damaging to your mission to just throw something up on the web — throw something up on the internet and hope folks don't misinterpret your words or damage your brand because you've put something up that is inaccurate or doesn't function well. You want to have a world-class presence on the web.
So number two is it's going to take longer than you think. Make sure you schedule ample review and work time.
Truth #3: A Successful Nonprofit Website Requires a Dedicated Webmaster
Number three: running a successful nonprofit website requires a dedicated webmaster. Don't just give this to the tech-savvy whiz kid, or the intern, or your cousin's kid who's really good with social media. You need to assign ownership to a staff member. Maybe that's you as the ED or the fundraising leader or another director-level position. Or if you're in a small mom-and-pop nonprofit, that's probably you.
One of the most important things you can do is ensure that there is one person — just one person on your team — whose sole responsibility is to make sure that the website is functioning. Now, granted, most organizations don't have the money to have a solo person whose entire job description is managing their website, but you need to make sure that on your team, there is one person who owns the website.
They are the person who will interact with any contractors. They're the person who will work with the rest of your team — any volunteers or donors who are contributing or writing for your website. You need to have one person be the website manager so that you know your website is the level of quality and meets the communication standards that your organization needs.
If you get too many cooks in the kitchen, that's a recipe for disaster. I've seen folks assign website duties to a young person who doesn't have much experience with the nonprofit — and the messaging loses focus or potency. I've seen folks assign things to multiple managers, and the website starts feeling disjointed because one group is saying one thing and another group is using the website for another thing, and there's a lack of cohesion.
Your website visitors notice that. When they start browsing around, they go, "This is different. This page sounds very different than the other pages I was on. What's going on?" We don't want to inspire anything but confidence with our website. That's why you need to assign ownership and make sure that before you start building your nonprofit website, you assign one person to be the website master — responsible for coordinating all the other moving pieces it takes to run and build your website.
Truth #4: Technology Isn't the Issue — Your Time Is
Technology isn't the issue. Your time is. This is so key as you think about building or redesigning your nonprofit website. Start from the ground up with a plan to make regular updates. I'm not talking about just the static content like your about page — think about your blog. What sort of content are you posting to attract new website visitors?
Having an update schedule — one that is the responsibility of that key person on your team whose job is to manage the website — is so important. Because, as you know, you're really busy. As you get into the thick of things or life throws some curveballs at you, and you're delivering your programs and services, it is so easy for the website to fall by the wayside.
But if you've been following along on my channel, you know I believe that your website is the center of all your outreach and marketing efforts. So of course you don't want that to fall into disrepair or lose the trust and faith of your donors.
Updating regularly, carving out time in your schedule to post regular updates — not only to the static pages like your home page, about page, and programs or services pages, but also thinking about how you're updating your website with new, fresh, interesting content that your core audiences are going to want to come and see.
Truth #5: Building a Nonprofit Website Requires a New Way of Communicating
And finally, building a nonprofit website requires a new way of communicating. You're going to have to write differently. Writing on the web is different than academic writing, prose writing, or grant writing. Those all have their values and are important. But writing on the web is marketing writing — and it's marketing for a direct response on most of the pages of your website.
As I've said before, you want the reader to understand that there is one action you want them to take on every page. That might be volunteering for the next river cleanup. It might be making a donation so you can purchase more books for the school library. Or it might be completing an intake form so that they can get the much-needed services that you provide.
As you're thinking about building your nonprofit website, do some research and follow this channel for tips and ideas on how to write for your nonprofit website — to make sure that you're doing a good job of attracting, convincing, and inspiring the people on your website to take the actions you need to further your mission.
Recap: The 5 Things You Must Know Before Building Your Nonprofit Website
All right, let's review the five things that you must consider before you start developing your nonprofit website.
Number one: it's an exercise in strategy. Think strategically and be prepared to do a deep dive into who and what you serve.
Number two: it's going to take longer than you think. Make sure you schedule ample time to review, update, and pass that content and those website mockups in front of lots of people so that your entire community can get behind your website.
Number three: it requires a dedicated webmaster — one person on your team whose responsibility it is to manage and oversee all website activity so that you know it's meeting your standards. Don't give your website to the tech kid. Don't give it to the whiz kid or your cousin's son who's really good on social. Make sure that you have a professional staff member — maybe it's you — whose job is to ensure the website meets your standards and ultimately drives trust in your donors and supporters.
Number four: technology isn't the issue. Your time is. You need to make weekly updates at a minimum to your website, so make sure that you have a plan before you start. When are we going to update our website? What day are we going to post our blog? How often are we going to review our static pages to make sure they're still accurate and doing a good job of communicating in a way that drives people to action?
Number five: write differently. A nonprofit website requires a new way of communication that includes shorter paragraphs, descriptive headers, and thinking and writing in sections rather than long streams of text.
