Your first charity website

This guide is for small charities that need a website for the first time, or have an old one nobody dares to touch. You don't need to code or hire an agency. After reading, you will know which pages matter, how domains work, what "accessible" means in plain words, and how to keep your site from going stale.

What your website is for

Your website is your front door when nobody is in the office. People visit to answer a few simple questions:

• Is this charity real, and what does it do?
• Can it help me, or can I help it?
• How do I give, volunteer or get in touch?

A small, clear, up-to-date site does this better than a big one full of old news.

The pages you need

Start with five pages. You can add more later.

1. Home: your one-sentence mission at the top, a photo (with consent), and clear buttons for the main actions: get help, volunteer, donate.
2. About: what you do, who you serve, where, and who runs the charity (board and key people). Include your legal name and say that you are a registered 501(c)(3) charity if you are. This builds trust.
3. Get help or Our programs: what you offer, who it's for, and how to access it. Write this for the people you serve, in the simplest words on the site.
4. Donate: one clear way to give online, plus how to give by check. Tell donors what to expect: a thank-you and a receipt. The IRS says donors need a written acknowledgment from you to claim a deduction for any single gift of $250 or more, so plan how you will send those.
5. Contact: an email address or form, a phone number if you can staff it, your mailing address, and when people can expect a reply.

You also need:

• A privacy policy: a plain-language page saying what personal information you collect (for example on forms or donations), why, who you share it with, and how people can ask you to change or delete it. Only promise what you actually do.
• An accessibility statement: a short note saying you aim to make the site usable for everyone and how to tell you about a problem.

Domains in plain words

A domain is your website's address, like yourcharity.org. You rent it yearly from a company called a registrar. A few tips:

• Choose something short and easy to say out loud. Avoid hyphens and odd spellings.
• Register it in the charity's name, using a shared role email (like admin@yourcharity.org), not a volunteer's personal account. Many small charities have lost their domain when the one person who controlled it moved on.
• Turn on auto-renew and keep the payment card up to date. If a domain expires, someone else can buy it.
• Write down which registrar holds it and who has the login. Store the login in a password manager.

Choosing how to build it

Most small charities use a website builder: an online service where you choose a template and edit pages in your browser, with no code. When choosing, check:

• Can a non-technical volunteer update it easily?
• Does it look good on phones?
• Can you connect your own domain?
• Does it support basic accessibility features, like adding alt text to images?
• Can you export your content if you leave?
• What is the real yearly cost after any discount?

Check whether the builder or your hosting company has a nonprofit discount (see our free and discounted tech guide).

Accessibility basics

An accessible website is one that people with disabilities can use. That includes people who are blind and use screen readers (software that reads the page aloud), people who can't use a mouse, people with low vision or color blindness, and people with learning disabilities.

The international standard is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the W3C, the group that sets web standards. The latest version is WCAG 2.2. Its guidelines sit under four plain ideas: people must be able to perceive the content, operate the site, understand it, and use it with a range of tools.

The U.S. Department of Justice says the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to businesses open to the public, and its web guidance explains that their websites should be accessible. Many charities serve the public, so treat accessibility as a requirement, not an extra.

What this means in practice:

• Alt text on images. Add a short description to every meaningful image. Purely decorative images can be marked as decorative.
• Enough color contrast. WCAG asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1 between normal text and its background, and 3 to 1 for large text. Free online contrast checkers will tell you if your colors pass. Dark text on a white background is always safe.
• Real headings. Use your builder's heading styles, not just big bold text, so screen readers can jump between sections.
• Clear link text. "Read our volunteer guide" is better than "click here."
• Captions on videos.
• Forms with labels that stay visible, and error messages that say what to fix.
• Works with a keyboard. Try moving through your site with only the Tab key.
• Readable text. Plain words, short sentences, and a decent font size.

Privacy and security

• Collect only the information you need on forms. The FTC's guide for businesses says to keep only what you need.
• Use a trusted payment provider for donations. Never collect card numbers through a plain email form.
• Turn on two-step login for your website builder and domain registrar.
• Give editing access only to people who need it, and remove it when they leave.

Keeping it updated

An out-of-date website quietly says "we may have closed." Build a simple routine:

• Monthly: check events, opening hours and contact details. Remove anything past its date.
• Quarterly: test every form and the donate button. Click through the main pages on a phone.
• Yearly: review the About page, board list, privacy policy and photos. Check the domain renewal date.

Name one person responsible for each task, and a backup.

Your website checklist

• Register your domain in the charity's name with auto-renew on
• Store domain and website logins in a password manager
• Build the five core pages: Home, About, Programs, Donate, Contact
• Add a plain-language privacy policy and accessibility statement
• Add alt text to images and captions to videos
• Check your colors with a contrast checker
• Test the site on a phone and with only a keyboard
• Set monthly, quarterly and yearly update reminders

A simple, honest website that works on a phone is better than a beautiful one that nobody can update. Start small and keep it current.

If you want someone to test your site or help with accessibility, ask a member charity for help through the Exchange.

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules change and every situation is different, so check the official sources and talk to a qualified professional before you act.