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Non-profit website builders require a little more attention. Besides adding attractive pictures and building blogs, non-profit websites need other things.
For instance, you need a calendar, social media integration, online member registration, payments, news, directories, member’s only pages, etc.
That simply translates to a comprehensive website. So the best website builder for non-profit should let you create such a website with much ease.
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It’s true; you need a professional website. Therefore the builder you choose should convey professionalism without leaving a dent in your pocket.
In this write-up, we look at the best website builder and hosting for non-profits.
Take a look.
10 Functions Required For Non-Profit
All non-profits provide beneficial services to the community. Whether it is a union, charity, or trade association, they need to confer benefits to the community.
Sadly, some non-profits don’t last.
Reason?
Poor planning, leading to a lack of resources.
Understanding functions required for a non-profit is the first stage in proper planning and managing. These functions include:
Resource management
Resources are critical to running a non-profit. The people in charge (the board) approve the annual budget.
Budget approval is vital as it sets in motion personnel and all programs. A well-planned budget stipulates expenditure for each aspect. Therefore, it should easy for employees to follow the plan.
For proper management, clear, intelligible, accurate, and timely financial reports are necessary. Therefore, there is a need for auditing – annually. An independent certified public accounting firm should do the auditing and present the report to board members.
Ensure there are enough resources
Without resources, a non-profit won’t meet its purpose. Among the ways to get resources is fundraising.
So, each non-profit must open doors and influence potentially large donors to raise adequate resources. Besides, the board should monitor and guide fundraising initiatives.
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Determining and monitoring programs and services
All programs and services must be consistent with the mission and purpose of the non-profit. Remember, resources are always limited, but their demand unlimited. So it’s important to assess’ priorities and assigns resources accordingly.
That means balancing between quality, cost-effective programs and services, and the staff’s responsibility to initiate and conduct the programs.
Effective planning
Effective planning means owning the process. This way, you can implement all goals and objectives. But before adopting and implementing a plan, there should be enough consultation and revisions where necessary.
Planning is complex; therefore, it occurs at various stages depending on the size of a non-profit. It can be operated, short-term, annual, long term/strategic.
Enhancing public image
Each non-profit should have an ambition and an effective public relations program. Such programs ensure a healthy public image for your non-profit organization.
It is vital to outline achievements and contributions to the public clearly. Besides, when you explain how your non-profit allocates grants, gifts, and other resources, the public will have much confidence in what you do.
Having a spokesman is ideas; as such, a person communicates on behalf of the organization.
Performance assessment
Conducting a substantive review of the performance of the non-profit organization is crucial. This helps to check if the organization is meeting its goals and responsibilities.
The important thing to consider include membership composition, membership selection process, structure, and overall performance.
Building links
Developing a network helps in improving accountability and increasing awareness. Besides, it’s one way of generating more resources. Non-profit leaders can build networks using: personal, regional, industry, innovation, and enterprise resources.
Social media is the fastest way to build relatively large networks. Select social media channels that are relevant to your area of specialization.
Lead users
What clients do you need? Find them and explore their concerns deeply. That way, you gain a deeper understanding of the problem you need to solve.
Lead users have passion and persistence to work on a problem until they get a solution. Therefore, non-profits should find, invest, and protect lead users.
Determine the mission and purpose of the non-profit
This is simply making clear the reason for the existence of the non-profit organization. Typically, a mission statement shows what the non-profit is, what it represents, and what it does.
Typically, the mission statement works to guide organizational goals, planning, decision making, resource allocation, and volunteer services.
Reviewing the mission statement is vital. That should involve looking at adequacy, accuracy, and viability.
Choosing an executive director
An executive director is a crucial employee of a non-profit organization. Therefore, the person needs to be skilled, experienced, and able to focus on its mission and purpose.
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10 Unique Features of Non-Profit Website Builder
- Drag and drop widgets
A website builder with this feature is undoubtedly easy to build because you do not need coding knowledge. Therefore, you get your site up and running in no time. Besides, they offer a clean design.
- Professionally-designed website templates
It’s true; your non-profit website should look professional. A website builder that comes with professionally designed templates goes a long way in making your non-profit site look stunning.
- A simple content editor
A content editor is responsible for all aspects of your content – development, production, presentation, design, evaluation, and analysis.
A simple editor will let you create, edit, and design compelling content for your website easily.
- Easy upload of images and resources
Images are a huge part of your non-profit sites as they communicate what you do. You may have high-quality images, but if you can’t upload them, then it’s pointless. High-resolution photos and crisp graphics are the best way to draw clients.
The best website builder for non-profit should let you easily upload pictures and other resources.
- Password-protected pages for members only.
You definitely have the members’ only page. Such pages should have password protection to keep away unauthorized people. It is necessary to protect confidential information as well as the integrity of the system.
- Ease of adding a logo and branding
A great logo increases recognition of your site, and it helps to increase your brand. Having a standardized header is the best way to incorporate a logo.
Look for a web builder that allows you to upload your non-profit logo and branding easily.
- Donation pages and buttons
If you run a non-profit, you need donations. Therefore, create a clear donate button and embed it on every page of your website. Use colors that contrast to make the donate button to stand out from the rest of your page.
- New member registration with online payments
Allowing new members to register. The best web builder should allow you to choose the membership model. Creating membership allows you to grow, engage, and retain members easily as they save time and administrative tasks.
Besides, it should accept online payments.
- Event calendars with easy online event registration and payments
Events are common in a non-profit. Your web builder of choice should let you schedule an event calendar as well as allow online payment.
Actually, the right web builder lets events automatically be listed on your calendar.
- Mobile responsiveness
Nowadays, people are using smartphones to access the internet; therefore, your website should cater to a mobile audience. Web builders like Wix and Weebly are mobile responsive. The right web builders can automatically translate a website to a mobile device.
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Comparison Table the Best Web Builders For Non-Profit
| Web builder | Wix | Squarespace | WordPress | Weebly |
| Free plan | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Premium plan | 7 paid plans starting at $ | 4 plans starting at $12 | 4 plans starting at $4 per month | 4 plants starting at $5.0/month |
| 4.50/month | per month | |||
| Popularity | Powers 110 million sites | Powers 2 million sites | Powers 455 million sites (35% of all websites) | Powers over 50 million websites |
| Ease of use | 4.3 | 3.9 | 3 | 3.5 |
| Value for money | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.1 | |
| Feature range | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.2 |
| Customer satisfaction | 4.3 | 4 | 3.8 | 4.1 |
| Customer support | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4.6 |
| Overall rating | 4.5 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 4.1 |
Best Website Builder and Hosting For Non-Profits
Wix – Free Website Builder
Wix is the best way to get your website live with minimal effort. Yet, it offers the best creative latitude. The interface is not only intuitive but also powerful and slick.
The feature range in Wix is just impressive, scoring a 4.6. It comes with standout features like
- Storage (online) for your ‘s assets
- Refreshing video backgrounds
- Mobile apps
- Title animations
- An option of a free account
- Third-party site widgets
- Strong blogging as well as commerce features
Above all, each button opens up to tailored tips about each, which makes Wix a breeze to use. Clearly, the company strives to improve functionality, improve features, and performance.
With Wix, you can build a complete site in less than an hour. It comes with two editors – Wix ADI or Wix Editor.
Wix editor is really easy to use as it uses drag and drop functionality. That means you can simply reposition your website’s aspects by clicking, holding them moving to where you want.
By contrast, Wix ADI creates a website based on the answers you give to particular questions. Though you can make changes, this method doesn’t give you control. For ease of use, it scores 4.3.
Wix gives you the freedom to edit your site as you wish, and it easy to move different aspects. However, there are lots of templates that can make Wix sorts of overwhelming. Users rate satisfaction at 4.3.
Wix has seven paid plans, which are put into two categories – website and business & eCommerce. All the plans have a two-week money-back guarantee. There is also a free plan, which actually makes Wix number 1 best free website builder.
Wix gives value for your money – users rate it at 4.5
Wix for non-profits templates
Wix isn’t short of non-profit templates. With this site builder, you are at a convenient place to design a standout website.
Look, running a non-profit requires passion, hard work, and energy. A professional website is one way to show your passion to the world.
Wix offers you lots of non-profit templates that let you focus on content while tailoring every element as per your needs. That way, you get satisfactory website design, easy navigation, and a wonderful overall structure.
Examples of Wix for non-profits templates include:
- Environmental NGO: a large animated text at the center alongside an atmospheric video background, visitors will quickly understand your mission. Besides, it has a prominent call to action button.
- Charity Scavenger Hunt: it incorporates a pastel color palette with digital illustration making ideal for non-profit. Besides, its subtle animation makes it eye-catching. However, it good for non-profits that need minimal content.
- Food Charity: it packs lots of media features ideal for giving your site a professional edge. Additionally, it comes with a background video that has low opacity, making text stand out.
- Community Talks Series: this Wix template works for both online and offline communities. It conveys a healthy sense of space between elements, which give it an open profile.
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Is Wix really free?
Wix has a free plant beside the premium plans. Under this plan, you can create a free Wix website with Wix ads. But of course, this plan comes with lots of limitations.
You won’t be able to enjoy lots of features as those under the premium plan. Keep in mind; premium features come with professional features, including your domain name or eCommerce.
Premium plans include:
- Connect Domain: Most Basic, costing $4.50/mo.
- Combo: ideal for Personal Use, and it cost $ 8.50/month
- Unlimited: ideal for Entrepreneurs & Freelancers. It costs $12.50/mo.
- Business Basic: Accept Online Payments and costs $17/mo.
- VIP: $ 24.50/mon.
- Business Unlimited: ideal for growing your business – it costs $25 a month
- Business VIP: this is a full suite package, and it costs $35/mo.
Wix pros
- Pretty intuitive site-building interface
- Tons of site gadgets
- Free site option
- Multiple templates for specific non-profits
- Good mobile-site-building tools
- Feature-rich
- Excellent uptime and customer service support
Wix cons
- No built-in statistics feature
- Doesn’t allow switching templates
Squarespace
Squarespace is another drag and drop website builder. The developers put much thought into the design; thus, create a duly curated and intuitive web builder. It stands out for its tons of template, best podcasting, and blogging and photo galleries.
Though a drag and drop website builder, Squarespace doesn’t allow you to drag and drop stuff anywhere, like in Wix. This web builder is more of a section based web builder, which means it is a little bit tricky for beginners.
Otherwise, it offers a modern and clean interface, which is easy to navigate. So editing becomes easy once you know your way around. Keep in mind, Squarespace is a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor.
Adding texts and images is quite straightforward too. Besides, you don’t need coding while using this web builder.
Since Squarespace isn’t absolutely beginner-friendly, it takes you sometimes to get used. Here it gets 3.9/5.
Feature-wise, Squarespace packs some best in class features, which confers consistency. Version 7.1 comes with a new design panel, making it simpler to make changes on your site – colors, fonts, and spacing. Besides, it is possible to add pre-built sections to any page and create custom layouts out of the text, images, and media.
Other notable features include:
- SEO and Marketing
- Measuring Site Traffic
- Social Media Integration
- Markdown
- RSS, categories, and tag
- Customizable URLs
- Free SSL certificates plus built-in security to fight off malware/unwanted bugs, and DDoS
- Allows restoring post and pages up to 30 days since the day of deleting
- Scheduling feature for event planning
- Three mobile apps plus generates a mobile site from your sites
These are just some of the features. Here, Squarespace rivals big site builders like WordPress. So it gets 4.5/5.
Though it has a short range of support options, the team does a great job responding to issues. Thus a 4.0/5.
Squarespace pricing is a bit higher than other similar sites, but the services are of high quality. Therefore, it offers value for money. The plant range between $12 and $40 per month but billed yearly. All of them come with a free custom domain, unlimited storage and bandwidth, and SSL Security.
Above all, you get a 14-day free trial.
Squarespace pros
- Beautiful, responsive designs accommodating mobile devices
- Stunning templates
- Deep selling capabilities like digital downloads
- Functional analytic tools
- Free SSL certificate
- A mobile app allows page editing
Squarespace cons
- Must rebuild your site when upgrading to Squarespace version 7.1
- No app store –rely on built-in features
- Can’t switch templates in a new version
- Not beginner-friendly
- No free level
WordPress
WordPress powers about 35% of all sites, which makes it the most popular site. With this site builder, you can create any kind of site; however, complicated it is – membership, business websites, forum, eCommerce, and so on.
WordPress is highly flexible, letting turn your content into a functional website. That makes it a highly versatile and powerful option.
Its flexibility stems from being:
- Open code access – you access all the codes powering WordPress, making it possible to customize or build new features. Thus, a great option for complex websites.
- Large professional community – which offers plenty of accomplished developers. Besides, you get lots of tutorials and classes.
- Near-infinite number of plugins – being an open-source makes it possible for developers to create themes, tools, plugins, and features. That means you have no limitation while creating websites.
Undoubtedly, WordPress is powerful, flexible, and versatile. But, that is the cause of headaches if you aren’t tech-savvy. Typically, WordPress has a much higher learning curve than other sites.
WordPress needs coding skills. Therefore, it is not easy to customize the design. Unlike Wix, Squarespace, or Weebly, it is not a drag and drop site. So it is isn’t easy to use.
WordPress pricing isn’t straightforward. You have to be careful while choosing plans because your cost may rack up easily.
However, there is a free plan and four premium plans. You may incur charges related to plugins, email, membership gateway software, themes, and developer cost in addition to the cost of plans. Roughly, you might spend between $500 and $1,000 for a fully functional WordPress website.
WordPress Pros
- Strong content management system
- A massive array of both free and premium plugins
- Multiple SEO plugins for content optimization keyword focus, and so on.
- Reliable and responsive themes
- Open-source software; so anyone can use
WordPress cons
- Updates normally come with issues
- Vulnerable hackers since it is an open-source
- Some themes have generic codes that interfere with the speed
- You must be tech-savvy to customize WordPress
Weebly for non-profits
Weebly is one of the most exciting sites around. Beyond being easy to use, this website builder undergoes continuous improvement to make it better.
The site has an overall score of 4.1/5.0, which puts third on our list. The strongest point of Weebly is its features. Typically, it has a full range of built-in tools and an extensive App Store.
What you see is what you get – this is what defines Weebly website builder. That means you build your page precisely as you’d want it to appear online.
Using your mouse, you can move elements like text boxes from one point to another – a feature that makes website building super-easy. Though it is a drag and drop version, Weebly doesn’t have an intuitive interface like Wix.
Though you can customize the Weebly website builder, getting what you need is a little tricky, hence a 3.5 score on ease of use.
Weebly features are super scalable. You can use these features to design as well as expand your site when the need arises. According to users, it scores an impressive 4.2/5.0.
Here are some of the features:
- App Centre – houses free and paid plans, which you can install with just a click. They include E-commerce, Communication, Social, Marketing, and Site tools and features.
- SEO – packs a strong set of SEO tools including SEO-friendly HTML formatting, Responsive design, a site map, and Meta descriptions
- Ecommerce – you can sell on both free and premium plans as it packs modest eCommerce tools like items, shopping carts, and inventory management.
- Help and Support – it comes with an active community and email support 24/7
There is a free plan, plus four paid plans beginning from $6 a month, making it one of the most affordable web builders.
Now, the impressive thing is that it is absolutely free to build, publish, and sell on your Weebly site. That is why it scores an impressive 4.1/5 stars.
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Best Free Website For Non-Profit important Tips
If you want the best free websites for non-profit, you must consider features that make it handle a non-profit properly. For instance, consider:
- Streamlined Donation Page
- Social Media Links
- Individual Staff Pages
- Responsive Design
- Financial Transparency
You need to convince donors so visitors should navigate the site easily. Besides, it should be comprehensive and aesthetically appealing.
Conclusions
A non-profit can be easy to run if you have a standout website. Such a website will showcase your mission through words and images. As such, potential donors can quickly understand what you are doing.
Now using the best website builder for a non-profit is the only way to create a standout site. Such a web builder allows all important features specific to a non-profit. We have the best website builder here – you can choose WordPress, Weebly, Wix, or Squarespace.
If you are not tech-savvy, don’t go for a demanding webs builder like WordPress. Otherwise, the rest is easy to use.
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Luis Gillman
Hi, I Am Luis Gillman CA (SA), ACMA
I am a Chartered Accountant (SA) and CIMA (SA) and author of Due Diligence: A strategic and Financial Approach.
The book was published by Lexis Nexis on 2001. In 2010, I wrote the second edition. Much of this website is derived from these two books.
In addition I have published an article entitled the Link Between Due Diligence and Valautions.
Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the information published on this website is accurate, the author and owners of this website take no responsibility for any loss or damage suffered as a result of relience upon the information contained therein. Furthermore the bulk of the information is derived from information in 2018 and use therefore is at your on risk. In addition you should consult professional advice if required.
