Imagine this: Gabriella, a manager at a local boutique, hears about your nonprofit when her boss agrees to be an event sponsor for your upcoming gala. Inspired by your mission and eager to donate, she googles your nonprofit’s website.

But when she gets there, the site has outdated branding, with a jumble of disorganized resources floating around on various pages. And your content appears to be out of date, too! No posts in the last three years, event pages up for fundraisers that finished ages ago…

Deterred by your questionable-looking site, Gabriella decides not to donate today.

If you’re looking at your website and starting to worry (or panicking because you don’t have a website at all!), don’t fret. It’s entirely possible for you to design or redesign a beautiful website for your organization—no matter your level of technical expertise. Using a website builder for nonprofits makes inspiring donors a breeze!

Check out this handy guide for choosing the best nonprofit website builder for your organization, along with useful tips for getting started.

How do I Create a Website for my Nonprofit?

If you want to create a website for your nonprofit, your best bet is to use a nonprofit website builder. Also known as a content management system (CMS), a nonprofit website builder is a software platform specifically designed to—you guessed it!—build a website for nonprofit organizations.

This tool makes it easy for you to create a great-looking and useful website without having to code the entire thing from scratch. For example, you’ll typically gain access to the platforms’ built-in themes and templates, which take care of a bunch of technical work.

The best nonprofit website builder will save you time, money and stress—and leave you with a website you can be proud of!

What Should a Nonprofit Website Builder Include?

When you’re choosing a nonprofit website builder, it’s essential to search for nonprofit-specific tools and features. For example, your builder should allow you to integrate a contact database so you can manage your contacts, members, donors and event registrants. A generic website builder might not have that capability!

Your nonprofit website should also include:

• An events calendar
• Resources for member experience
• News and blog posts
• Social media integration
• Donation page

No matter how much or little you know about design and coding, a nonprofit website builder should make including all of these elements (and more!) easy.

Here’s a features shopping list to have handy when comparing your options:

• Drag-and-drop widgets
• Professionally-designed website templates
• Simple content editor
• Easy uploads for images and other resources
• Password-protected pages for members, volunteers, or staff only
• The ability to easily incorporate your nonprofit’s visual brand
• Built-in donation pages and buttons
• Membership management tools
• Event management tools
• Mobile responsiveness

With all these features in place, you’ll be set to build a website that shines.

4 Tips For Getting Started Designing Your Nonprofit Website

Choosing a nonprofit website builder is just the beginning of designing a beautiful and functional nonprofit website. Next you’ll need to work on bringing your vision to life!

Here are four tips that will help you get started on the right foot:

1. Choose the resources and content you want to include on your website.

Your website won’t be useful to any of your supporters if you don’t choose your content and resources carefully. Consider what it is that inspires your audience to visit your website in the first place!

A few popular resources nonprofits typically choose to include on their sites are:

• A regularly-updated blog. A blog dedicated to your nonprofit’s operations is a community-building tool. Providing regular updates on your programming, volunteer opportunities and fundraising progress gives your website visitors a reason to keep coming back.
• Educational resources for staff and volunteers. You can also use your website to house important information for those who regularly work with you to further your cause. For example, you might create a library of staff-only educational resources, like internal process PDFs or nonprofit training webinars. You can do the same thing for volunteers and host training videos or documents on a volunteers-only page.
• Impact reports and updates. Including reports on how much money you’ve raised and who it has gone on to help inspires people to stay involved and keep giving. These updates should include both hard numbers and personal anecdotes.

The exact resources and content you decide to include on your website are really up to your needs as an organization! Consider what information will encourage visitors to take action and what resources are most valuable and easy to create.

2. Brand your website.

Your brand is everything that makes your nonprofit stand out from the crowd. This includes your mission, your approach to your work and how you treat constituents, volunteers, donors and members. But it also includes a number of visual elements which support your web design!

What are these visual elements? Here’s a list of the most common ones:

• Logo
• Slogan
• Color Scheme
• Imagery
• Fonts

A consistent visual brand will make your website look more professional. Plus, website visitors will be more likely to recognize other aspects of your nonprofit such as your events or marketing materials.

One last word on branding—don’t overdo it. Instead of plastering your logo and slogan on every single page and resource, lean into your color scheme and fonts. Keep it tasteful!

3. Optimize for mobile

One of the other first crucial steps to creating a website is ensuring it can be viewed properly on all kinds of devices—desktops, tablets and phones. Mobile optimization lets your visitors interact with your website no matter whether they’re at home or out and about.

Mobile interaction should be smooth and simple. Your nonprofit website builder should automatically resize your website so visitors don’t have to zoom and pinch to see your homepage properly or to read your blog.

With some nonprofit website builders, you’ll have to do this manually. With others, this will be taken care of automatically. Make sure you know what your chosen website builder offers in terms of mobile responsiveness before you start designing.

4. Make donating easy

Remember how Gabriella gave up on a clunky-looking page? That’ll happen even faster if donating feels like a chore! The best nonprofit website builder is the one that offers the best user experience (UX).

A website builder for nonprofits should have features that support:

• Visible donation buttons. A big, colorful button with a motivating call to action is a must-have! Include one of these on every page of your website, including your homepage.
• Easy to fill out forms. Your donation form should be branded, easy-to-find and even easier to fill out. Be sure it includes pre-set donation amounts to save donors the question of how much makes sense to give. If they want to give more or less, they can always change it!
• Multiple giving options. Donors love to have options, especially when they’re giving to a nonprofit they love. Be sure to include suggested amounts (with the impact of each!), monthly giving options and a matching gift tool.

What Makes a Good Nonprofit Website?

It’s one thing to have a website that works and another to have a website that does the work for you! Your website should inspire people to keep coming back—and to donate.

A good nonprofit website:

• Is easy to navigate. At a glance, users should know exactly where they need to click to get to where they want to go.
• Makes donating a breeze. A simple process will prevent donors from giving up midway through filling out the form on the donation page.
• Keeps it easy for volunteers to get involved. Not all support is financial—your volunteers are one of the best resources you have!
• Clearly represents you. Your website represents your mission, vision and values. How you brand and organize your information is a virtual pitch of your organization.
• Tells your story. Donors want to know who you are and why you’re here. Telling your story adds a personal touch which motivates donors to give.
• Highlights activities and events. These are your community builders! Show off the ways donors new and old can come together and learn more about your nonprofit.

Building the ultimate website for nonprofit organization success is a matter of considering your donors, members and supporters every step of the way. Consult some donation website templates to get inspired!

What Websites do Nonprofits Use?

Nonprofits use a LOT of different websites to build their personal pages. We’ve made a big list of them below—with all their pros and cons—but WildApricot is one of the most popular picks.

Why? Because it’s far more than just a nonprofit website builder!

Among its many features, WildApricot also serves as a:

• Member management system
• Event planner
• Payment processor

Trusted by 26,000+ organizations and listed as the #1 Nonprofit Software on Capterra, WildApricot is easily one of the best website builders for nonprofits. Check out our 60-day free trial and see for yourself!

19 of the Best Nonprofit Website Builders to Choose From

 

1. WildApricot

WildApricot is an all-inclusive solution for organizations to create and host their site without any coding knowledge, all while managing their members, donations and events on the same platform. It’s a customer relationship management (CRM) system and website builder all in one!

What sounds like the most expensive website builder on this list also turns out to also be the cheapest available solution for all your needs (and you can even start a 60-day free trial to test it out for yourself).

Features

• Membership management
• Email marketing
• Event organization
• Mobile event check-in & payments
• Unlimited member emails
• Online store
• Special member pricing
• Automatic invoices
• Recurring payments
• WordPress integration

Builder Type

• Drag and drop
• Custom HTML coding options

Pros

• Super feature-rich
• No extra fees
• Transaction fees charged in lump monthly sums
• Thorough membership database

Below is a GIF showing how easy it is to choose a theme for your new website (ready-made with all the pages you’ll need) in just one click. From there, it’s simply a matter of uploading your own pictures and editing the copy:

 

Cons

• Lots of options on the platform
• No peer-to-peer fundraising options

Pricing

• Base pricing $48/month

You can try a free 60-day trial of WildApricot and have your nonprofit set up with a professional-looking website and easy to search member database in just a few afternoons!

2. Duda

Duda is a perfect marriage between a clean, user-friendly platform, and functionality. While this website builder might not have many fancy features, you might find their pricing makes up for it and so do their mobile capabilities.

Features

• HTML coding customization
• Online store
• Online payments & donations (including recurring)
• Tax and shipping processing
• Events management (for extra $$$)
• Membership management (for extra $$$)

Builder Type

• Drag and drop

Pros

• Pricing transparency
• Superb support staff
• Easy-to-understand template layout

Cons

• Not for complex, multi-functional site
• Minimal email functions

Pricing

Total Cost: $60/month

• Base pricing $22/month
• Membership management (GoPaywall) $30/month
• Event management (Tockify) $8/month

3. Morweb

Morweb provides many services to its nonprofit customers, including its website builder platform. Its newbie-friendly builder makes nonprofit web design and management simple with drag-and-drop capabilities, internal form builders and more!

Features

• Event registration modules
• Blog management
• Donation pages
• Volunteer-sign up forms
• SEO features and strategy services

Builder Type

• Drag and drop

Pros

• Features ideal for nonprofits or professional associations
• CRM integration capabilities
• Content migration and site launch support
• Complete agency services (strategy, website design, development, migration)

Cons

• Can’t register domains
• No manual theme switching

Pricing

Total Costs: $99/month

• Covers website builder, store and accounts
• Does not include email sending capabilities

 

4. GoDaddy

GoDaddy has made its mark on the online world with affordable domain registration. In the last few years, GoDaddy has also rolled out many new products and services, including its website builder and email marketing capabilities.

Features

• Cheap hosting
• Professional email/newsletter templates
• Member-only areas (for extra $$$)
• WordPress integration
• Email marketing
• Automatic invoices (for extra $$$)

Builder Type

• Drag and drop
• HTML coding customization

Pros

• Over 300 templates
• Hosting and domain set up in minutes
• Intuitive builder
• Many free images included

Cons

• Not enough features for recurring transactions
• Less helpful for regular site updates
• No features to support event management

Pricing

Total Cost: $160.98/month

• Base business pricing $39.99/month (store, email marketing, event management)
• Automatic invoicing & financial reporting (GoDaddy Bookkeeping) $21.99/month
• Membership management plugin (MemberMouse) $99/month

 

5. Shopify

As a leader in e-commerce website builders, Shopify is a popular solution for many organizations focusing on selling goods. To help their users build online stores, Shopify partners offer loads of features and apps that allow you to sell through the website and social channels such as Facebook, Amazon and Pinterest.

Features

• HTML coding customization
• Email marketing
• WordPress integration
• Designer-created email/newsletter templates
• Online event registration

Builder Type

• Drag and drop

Pros

• Payment processing
• Store Management
• Statistics reporting
• Banners, buttons and pop ups

Cons

• Non-ecommerce capabilities are less developed
• Need basic HTML knowledge for simple tasks

Pricing

Total Cost: $162.98/month

• Base business pricing $79/month (store, report builder, discounts)
• Email marketing plugin (Klaviyo) $25/month
• Automatic invoicing & financial reporting (Invoicify) $19.99/month
• Membership management plugin (BOLD) $$9.99/month
• Event management (Evey) $29/event OR month

 

6. Site123

Similar to Sitebuilder, this website builder is for those looking to get a simple website up as fast as possible. What sets Site123 apart is how easy the process is, and how little experience you need. Every traditional website builder we’ve reviewed so far requires you to know some HTML here and there, whereas Site123 allows for more drag-and-drop features without any coding.

Features

• Member-only site
• WordPress integration
• Online store
• Online event registration
• Automated email reminders
• Recurring online payments & donations

Builder Type

• Drag and drop
• No HTML abilities

Pros

• Very simple
• Screening questions give you sample templates
• Great for absolute beginners

 

Cons

• Limited customization options
• Less features included

Pricing

Total Cost: $76.97/month

• Base pricing $28.80/month (domain, online store, discounts, email contacts)
• Automatic invoices (Ecwid) $29.17/month
• Event management (Zapla) $19/month

 

7. Sitebuilder

For those seeking simplicity and low costs, Sitebuilder is a great alternative to mainstream website builders. The platform is very simple and user-friendly, while their pricing plans won’t burn a hole in your pocket. What they lack in capabilities is certainly justified at their price range, while still giving users an intuitive and simple website building experience.

Features

• Professional email/newsletter templates
• Online store
• Online payments & donations
• Recurring donations

Builder Type

• Drag and drop
• HTML custom coding options

Pros

• Very affordable
• Great variety of base website features

Cons

• No free trial
• Very limited functionality for organizations
• No WordPress integration

Pricing

Total Cost: $18.45/month + $16 one time fee (have your own domain? forget the fee)

• Base pricing $18.45/month + $16 at signup (for domain)

 

8. Squarespace

As the only close competitor to Wix in regards to web design, Squarespace certainly stands out. Their templates are not only visually appealing, but functional and easy to navigate.

Features

• Cheap hosting
• Online store
• WordPress integration
• Email marketing
• Automatic invoices (for extra $$$)
• Recurring donations

Builder Type

• Drag and drop
• HTML coding

Pros

• Highly advanced editing capabilities without HTML
• Many editing features
• Beautiful template designs

Cons

• Lack of features not related to design
• Help page isn’t very useful

Pricing

Total Cost: $86/month

• Base pricing $46/month (mobile site, store, subscriptions, accounts)
• Automatic invoicing & financial reporting (Xero) $40/month

 

9. Weebly

Competing for the code-free space, Weebly is an incredibly easy to use website builder which, unlike other site builders, doesn’t take days to learn. Just like other drag-and-drop website builders, Weebly allows users to create professional-looking sites in a matter of minutes.

Features

• Email marketing
• Event & member management (for extra $$$)
• Recurring donations
• WordPress integration
• Designer-created email/newsletter templates
• Online event registration

Builder Type

• Drag and drop
• HTML coding customization

Pros

• New features every year
• Actively seek customer input
• Page layouts recently improved for more interactive sites

Cons

• Lacking features compared to other builders
• Hard to reach customer support
• No advanced editing options

Pricing

Total Cost: $81.97/month

• Base pricing $23/month
• Event management (ThunderTix) $39/month
• Membership management (PaidMembers) $19.97/month

 

10. Wix

You’ve heard of this one—Wix is one of the most popular website builders ever created. As an industry titan, you should expect Wix to pretty much do anything and everything. However, is that the case?

Features

Here are some of Wix’s best features for nonprofits:

• WordPress integration
• Designer-created email/newsletter templates
• Online store
• Online event registration
• Automatic invoices (for extra $$$)
• Member-only areas (for extra $$$)

Builder Type

• Drag and drop
• HTML coding customization

Pros

• Intuitive, user-friendly interface
• Great for beginners and HTML experts alike
• Extra features in the Wix App Market
• Thousands of free images

 

Cons

• Lacks functionality for many membership organizations
• Plug-ins to fill gaps get expensive

Pricing

Total Cost: $153/month

• Base business pricing $20/month (online payments, event registration, and store)
• Email marketing plugin (Ascend by Wix) $49/month (they offer a free trial)
• Membership management plugin (Vcita) $59/month +$15/staff after 2 members
• Automatic invoicing plugin (FreshBooks) $25/month

 

11. Wordpress.com

WordPress has come a long way from its humble blog roots. In fact, WordPress now has one of the richest, most popular widget and plug-in marketplaces around. Combined with a powerful, intuitive website builder, it’s no wonder that WordPress hosts over 27% of the internet!

(Note that WordPress.com is a website builder, WordPress.org is a full-blown CMS.)

Features

• Email marketing
• Online payments & donations
• Mobile event check-in & payments
• Membership management (for extra $$$)
• Online store (for extra $$$)
• Event management (for extra $$$)

Builder Type

• Drag and drop
• HTML coding customization

Pros

• Largest widget and plug-in marketplace
• Very all-in-one
• No coding required for in-depth editing

Cons

• Most features are blog-geared
• Marketplace is fueled by third parties, which means high usage fees and low support

Pricing

Total Cost: $62.75/month + $75 one time fee

• Base pricing $33/month
• Membership plugin (MemberPress) $20.75/month
• Event management (EventsManager) $75 one time fee
• Online store (Shopify) $9/month

 

12. Jimdo

Jimdo is a quick-and-easy website builder that’s ideal for small organizations. If you’re just getting started and want a website that covers the basics, Jimdo is highly-affordable and mobile friendly.

Features

• Tailored colors to your logo
• Custom domain
• Huge database of free photos
• Social media integration
• Contact forms

Builder Type

• Drag and drop
• HTML coding customization

Pros

• Very affordable
• Mobile-optimized
• Free option
• Great email-marketing options

Cons

• No blogging capabilities
• SEO isn’t as strong as it could be
• Not as many features to support membership

Pricing

Total cost:

• Play: Free, comes with ads and .jimdo subdomain
• Start: $9/month, domain included and ad-free
• Grow: $14/month, SEO, visitor statistic, support within 4 hours

 

13. Wired Impact

Wired Impact is a website builder designed specifically to support nonprofit organizations. Originally run by a team of designers who built custom sites for nonprofits, Wired Impact took everything they knew to build software that lets nonprofits do the work themselves.

Features

• Online donation system
• Volunteer system
• Event system
• Flexible form builder
• Library system of resources for visitors
• Google Analytics

Builder Type

• Drag and drop

Pros

• Designed for nonprofits
• Extensive support at all levels
• Unlimited pages

Cons

• Costly
• SEO is an additional cost

Pricing

Total Cost:

• Core: $69/month, for newer nonprofits
• Grow: $179/month, for established nonprofits
• Amplify: $329/month, for advanced nonprofits

 

14. IM Creator

IM Creator is one of the few website builders that is absolutely free for nonprofits. Send in the paperwork to prove you’re a registered nonprofit organization, and you can get started for free. Just note that this builder has a learning curve—best use it if you’ve got a tech-savvy team member!

Features

• Free e-commerce
• Blogging & SEO
• Responsive support team

Builder Type

• Drag and drop

Pros

• Free for nonprofits
• Can make mobile changes on desktop
• Attractive templates

Cons

• Difficult to use and understand
• No widget dashboard
• No app store

Pricing

FREE for nonprofits!

 

15. PageCloud

PageCloud is a website builder with some of the most beautiful and customizable templates on the market. Some templates are specifically made for nonprofits, which can give you an edge if you’re not as confident with your design skills.

Features

• Customizable forms
• SEO tools
• Auto and manual layouts
• E-commerce
• Mobile customization

Builder Type

• Drag and drop
• HTML, CSS, and JavaScript access

Pros

• 100+ app integrations
• Collaborative tools built for teams

Cons

• No included stats and analytics
• Most apps are hosted by third-parties

Pricing

Total Cost:

• Free single page website
• Small Business: $19/month
• Business: $29/month
• Pro: $58/month

 

16. Boxmode

Boxmode is a website builder that gives you the analytics information you need! While it is not specifically designed for nonprofits, it offers features such as donation buttons that can support your nonprofit website. Best of all, it’s highly affordable!

Features

• Industry-specific templates
• SEO and analytics
• e-Commerce
• Widgets at zero cost
• Donation buttons

Builder Type

• Drag and drop
• HTML iFrame

Pros

• Strong SEO tools
• Wide array of templates
• Many images to pull from

Cons

• No blogs
• No live chat or phone support

Pricing

Total Cost:

• Free plan: includes ads and Boxmode domain
• Lite: $4.5/month, remove ads and get custom domain
• Growth: $7.5/month, additional analytics and tools

 

17. Zyro

Zyro is an affordable website builder with a really neat feature—an AI-powered copy generator! While you might prefer to be in control of your copy, it’s a great tool in a pinch. Though Zyro is not made specifically for nonprofits, it is a low-cost option with strong marketing integrations.

Features

• Logo maker
• Unlimited storage and bandwidth
• AI-powered copy generator
• Live chat
• Marketing integrations

Builder Type

• Drag and drop

Pros

• Affordable
• Responsive mobile sites
• Many payment options for e-commerce

Cons

• A little clunky to use
• No switching templates

Pricing

Total Cost:

• Website: $3.90/month
• Business: $5.90/month, adds e-commerce options

 

18. Drupal

Drupal is the developer-focused choice for anyone who gets excited by the concept of coding! If you’ve got a coding expert on your team, this open source CMS gives you countless options for meeting your needs as you build your website.

Features

• 400k modules for your needs
• Many themes
• Donation Options
• Membership management

Builder Type

• Open source CMS

Pros

• Completely free
• Highly flexible

 

Cons

• Not beginner-friendly

Pricing

Free!

 

19. Weld

Weld is a cloud-based website creation and content management solution. It’s made to help marketers create, publish, analyze and manage content or landing pages for websites or eCommerce platforms. An A+ solution if you want snappy visuals!

Features

• Eye-catching animations
• Quick publishing
• Editorial calendar
• Analytics and reporting features

Builder Type

• Drag and drop

Pros

• Many integrations
• Not locked into templates
• Highly interactive

Cons

• No custom coding options
• On the pricier side

Pricing

Total Cost:

• Personal: $100/month
• Business: $350/month, offers multiple users

Now that you’re explored your options, it’s time to choose your nonprofit website builder. As you work to make your final decision, consider your nonprofit’s unique needs, level of technical experience and budget!

Best Website Builders for Nonprofits—FAQ

How much does a nonprofit website cost?

Making a nonprofit website with the help of a website builder has a wide range of prices depending on what’s being offered! Based on the websites we analyzed:

• The cheapest website builders will cost $5-$10 dollars a month, but with limited capabilities.
• Website builders with the most necessary basic functions will cost $60-$90 a month. (WildApricot does all this at $48/month!)
• Higher-end website builders will be in the $100-$150 a month range.
• Advanced business accounts land around $350 a month.

There are also free options, but they tend to come with some specific limitations.

Choose the option that best suits your needs, budget and size as a nonprofit! After all, you want a website that does exactly what you need for the least amount of money and trouble.

How do I create a nonprofit website for free?

If you want to create a non-profit website for free, some of your best options would be:

• Jimdo: The free version comes with ads and a .jimdo domain.
• Boxmode: The free version comes with a .boxmode domain.
• IM Creator: It has a bit of a learning curve, but has beautiful designs.
• Drupal: Designed for developers, this is for the tech-savvy team member.

Is Wix free for nonprofits?

Wix is not free for nonprofits, but it is a highly regarded website builder, for sure! A starting price of $20/month will cover online payments, event registrations and an online store.

Features like automatic invoices, member-only areas and email marketing will cost you more money per month. Consider your needs and budget as you determine if Wix is the best nonprofit website builder for you.

Is Squarespace good for nonprofits?

Squarespace is good for nonprofits who want to prioritize a beautiful, professional-looking website. This website builder has a seemingly endless number of templates and integrates smoothly with WordPress. It also supports email marketing and recurring donations!

The only major issues with Squarespace are that it lacks some more advanced nonprofit features you might find useful. Plus, the Help page isn’t super useful.

If all of your needs are met by Squarespace, you can absolutely set up a wonderful website with them. But if not, it might not be worth the $86/month.

Can you accept donations on Wix?

Yes, you can accept donations on Wix. Their website builder offers drag-and-drop donation forms that you can either pull from a template or customize.

(Psst—customizing your form is a great branding opportunity!)

Can you use Shopify for donations?

Yes, you can use Shopify for donations. Shopify offers an Easy Donation app at the Shopify App Store. It comes with a 7-day free trial, and then costs between $6.99 and $9.99 per month depending on your plan.

The overall rating for this app is 4.8/5 stars—not too shabby!

Building Your Perfect Nonprofit Website

Nonprofit website design may appear to be an intimidating task at first, but in reality, with the right non profit website builder, you can create the website of your dreams. There is no one best nonprofit website builder out there—it’s all about what works for you!

Use this guide to select your website builder and create a design that makes your cause shine!