How to Build an NGO Website Quickly and Under Budget
Last Updated August 4th, 2023 · Web Development,WordPress
An NGO website, if done properly, can do a lot to boost your nonprofit organization. It can increase exposure, grow donations, and help generate a volunteer workforce. Unfortunately, many nonprofits are not run by technical people. It is not uncommon for the heads of an NGO to have questions about website basics. With that in mind, we’ve put together a brief overview of how we at Link Software help our NGO clients build websites with limited budgets and short development times.
Decide What Your NGO Website Needs
Of course, not every NGO is the same. The goals of one organization are never the same as another. With that in mind, the first step to developing an NGO website is to determine its main purpose. Are you trying to raise awareness about your cause or main issue? Would you prefer to boost your number of donors and their donation amounts? Or, possibly, are you more interested in bringing in more volunteers to help your organization?
Raise Awareness
At its core, a website is a vehicle for disturbing information. A well-designed and fully-functional NGO website is a great way to educate your community about what your organization does and needs. Websites that load quickly, work on multiple devices, and present their information clearly are always the best at educating their visitors.
Grow Donations
Generating revenue through a robust donor list is key to many nonprofit successes. A well-constructed website can make collecting donor information and donations themselves effortless. You can eliminate a lot of the pain and frustration over the donation process with a thoughtfully designed and featured website.
Increase Volunteers
Building a volunteer workforce is key to keeping your NGO up and running. Let people know what they will be volunteering for, how it will impact your community, and give them a clear and simple way to ask for more detail. When you put time into your website you will be able to gather volunteer contact information much easier.
Of course, there are other reasons to build a nonprofit website but we have found those three to be some of the most common. Fortunately, you can find plenty of tools and platforms online to help you achieve any three of those goals. Let’s take a quick look at one platform, in particular, that is ideal for an NGO website.
Choose a Website Platform
One of the big challenges nonprofits face when building their website is choosing a platform. There are so many options now that it can be overwhelming. There is a lot of pressure to choose the “right one” to build your site on. This is true because it can be difficult to switch from one provider to another if you decide a change is necessary. As of now, the three most popular choices for building a website are Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress.
WordPress Is Ideal for NGO Websites
Of those, we always recommend going with WordPress. There are plenty of reasons to choose WordPress and the first is cost. You can get started with WordPress for absolutely free. There’s no charge to use the software or to maintain it. You will need to provide your own web hosting, which is not necessary with the competition, but practically every web hosting provider on the planet offers one-click WordPress installation. You will be up and running in minutes.
WordPress offers an almost unlimited amount of themes for your site. You can launch an NGO website, without a designer, and have a good-looking web presence immediately. In addition to themes, there are plenty of high-quality plugins you can use to add features to your site. The number of WordPress plugins for nonprofits is growing each day. They can handle donations, email signups, membership pages, and much more.
Need Help With Your NGO Website?
At Link Software, we’ve helped many nonprofits over the years grow their online presence. We can assist you in building a website from scratch or updating your current one to meet your needs. Please contact us today with any questions you might have about how we can help your organization grow. Check out our WordPress for nonprofits maintenance service if you need assistance keeping your organization’s site updated and secure.