Even with the technological advancements today, it is not easy to implement a new business idea. You likely have to go through different terms and elements of a non-profit website. Nonprofit companies must have the ability to convey their brand message appropriately and create a customer base for them to flourish. To conduct both of these functionalities, a nonprofit website is created.
When we talk about a nonprofit website, we don’t just talk about spreading news related to the organization. Apart from sharing information and updates, you can also use it to create a source of attraction and convince others to join in. It is also less expensive than if you take the sensible approach. If you haven’t used or built a website before, you don’t need to worry, as Strikingly is here to clear all your confusion and help you in website management. Read this guide we made specifically related to nonprofit websites.
What is a Nonprofit Website?
If you want to make websites for social causes and not for making huge profits, you must know how to create website for non-profit organizations. A non-profit website is defined as a website that is not created to make some kind of a profit. It is a website that convinces others to join in and contribute to a certain cause. For example, if you are convincing people to contribute financially to the lack of clean water in a certain village, you can create a nonprofit website for awareness.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website
It is all good to create an ideal nonprofit website, but it is equally difficult to maintain quality standards. If you cannot create a solid brand image for your website, no one will be bothered about your cause, and your credibility will be under a dark cloud. Good visuals on your website will engage your visitors to do something productive for your cause and involve themselves in certain missions. Therefore, you must provide your audience with adequate information on your nonprofit website.
Tips to Create a Nonprofit Website
1. Choose a Reliable Platform
When you decide to create a non-profit website, the biggest priority must be that the entrepreneur must rely on a quality website builder. If we were to recommend, Strikingly is a free website builder that seems to connect all the dots for an entrepreneur today. The reason why we recommend Strikingly is that it helps you in three broad website building categories:
- Creating a website from square one
- Completing registration on a website builder
- Make plans for a Content Management System (CMS)
Image taken from Strikingly
When you complete the registration on Strikingly, you will fall under our free plan. By coming under our free plan umbrella, you can create the most basic website for your social causes. If you look at many other website builders on the internet, most of them are expensive and tell you to provide a premium before starting the website building process. Strikingly provides you with an easy-to-use content management system that you can use to attract various audiences. By creating a strong customer base on your website, you can divide your objectives within every audience category.
2. Web Hosting Service
When you go through the tutorial on how to build a non-profit website, you shouldn’t be just prioritizing your website design. You should also talk about web hosting services. It is important to note that website design is completely different from website hosting as a web developer. Even though many website builders worldwide, such as Strikingly, are free to use, it is not a walk in the park for everyone to build a nonprofit website.
Image taken from Strikingly
Once you have done all the dirty work related to website development, you must require a web hosting plan. For those who don’t know, web hosting is the engine that drives your website to the target audience and makes it accessible for them. After all, if your website can’t be identified by the audience, there is no point in investing so much time in creating quality web visuals. If you are a beginner, you must consider Bluehost. When you register yourself on Bluehost, you will get a free domain name to select from.
3. Domain Name
In building a non-profit website, the biggest talking point is your domain name. The planning of your domain name is part of the registration process. However, strategies are also conducted to find the best possible domain for your website. If you already have an established brand name on social media, it is easy to decide. However, you mustn’t use a duplicate or an irrelevant domain name. For example, you can’t be talking about education and creating a website based on sewage systems.
Image taken from Strikingly
Strikingly provides you with a complete overview related to the website domain. We provide a website domain costing 24.95 USD. However, the cost of the website domain may change as per the domain name and the extension you select. The most common domain extension is .com. However, if you are creating a nonprofit website for a special cause or foundation work, it is better if you go for .org. Once you complete the domain registration, you can start adding all your relevant website content.
4. Choose a Theme
Once you are done with your domain name, you must create strong visuals for your website that highlights the purpose of your website. If you want to create a healthy customer base on your website, you must establish a quality non-profit website design. Your website design will define your theme and layout.
Image taken from Strikingly
If you have a quality website builder like Strikingly at your disposal, you don’t need to hire. We provide our users with a collection of mobile-friendly website templates, which they can customize as per their nonprofit website idea. You can create quality website designs without breaking a sweat. You don’t need any programming or IT degrees to be considered eligible for building website designs on Strikingly. All you need is a creative brain and let your skills do the talking.
5. Foundation Page
Once you are done with all the basic things of a website, it is time to focus on your business idea and include all the relevant content required by your customers. Some of the elements of a non-profit website that you shouldn’t miss out on include:
- A welcome page explaining your business (must contain a mission statement that clarifies any misunderstanding)
- Access to different contact methods (such as email and social media platforms)
- A section containing all the members of your group and their roles
- Blog section or News section
- Call to action (CTA) button, signup forms, donation buttons, etc.
6. Online Presence
It is all good building a non-profit website with so much published content. However, it is of no use when the target audience doesn’t recognize your hard work. Suppose Google or any other search engines aren’t able to locate your website. You have forgotten one important element in your website building plans i.e. Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Image taken from Google
If you want to ensure that your website is relevant on Google and customers keep returning to it, you must implement ideal and relevant SEO strategies. SEO strategies will not just increase your website traffic. It will also help you retain the current customers and maintain a healthy Google ranking. If your website appears high in the search engines, there are more chances that the customers in your immediate area will identify it.
Discount for Non-Profit Organizations
Strikingly is a massive advocate of nonprofit organizations. If you are willing to create a non-profit website, you must look at Strikingly's features. For a non-profit organization, Strikingly offers 25% of your first payment. Therefore, we recommend picking our yearly plan to make more savings. If you are interested in the discounts we offer for non-profit organizations on Strikingly, send us the following things as part of your email.
- Name of your organization/company
- Employee Identification Number (EIN) or any other thing that symbolizes your non-profit status
If you have any queries related to the discounts we offer on Strikingly, you can email us at support@strikingly.com.
Conclusion
Many web developers around the world create websites for revenue purposes. They feel that in today’s world of inflation across so many sectors, it is essential to have an external source of income that keeps their revenue afloat. Even though it is not a bad thing to do, very few entrepreneurs have the same mindset for those in need. Sometimes, it is not about thinking of yourself. It is about thinking of the unfortunate ones who cannot sustain a normal life. Therefore, the importance of nonprofit websites has become necessary these days.
Strikingly is the perfect platform for you to create the nonprofit website of your dreams. You can easily create a non-profit website design without writing a single line of code. If you are struggling with your website development, you shouldn’t hesitate to talk to our Happiness Officers. They are available to listen to all your frustrations in website development. So, create the best nonprofit website and become an influential figure for those in need.
