What a nonprofit website needs
People come to a nonprofit's website to find out what it does, to decide whether to trust it, and then to give, volunteer or turn up at an event. A good nonprofit website makes each of those steps easy: a clear mission, programs and impact described in plain words, a donate button that works, simple sign-up forms, and pages that everyone can use.
The facts here come from primary sources: Google for Nonprofits' Ad Grants website policy, the W3C's WCAG overview and forms tutorial, and the IRS pages on written acknowledgments and documents subject to public disclosure. The IRS points are U.S. rules; this guide is not tax or legal advice, so check the details with your accountant.
The short answer
A nonprofit website needs a mission statement visitors see without searching, a page for each program, an honest account of what the work achieves and how the money is used, a donate button that leads to a secure, working donation page, short forms for volunteers and events, and the accessibility basics. Those are also, almost point for point, the things Google checks before it gives a nonprofit free search ads.
Mission and programs
Google's Ad Grants website policy is a useful checklist even if you never apply. It says: "Your website must clearly state your nonprofit's mission and describe its activities or services." Its list of common pitfalls starts with a mission statement that is "vague, buried deep in the site, or missing entirely", and it suggests you "Feature your mission statement prominently, often on the homepage or a dedicated "About Us" page."
Below the mission, give each program its own page: who it serves, where, what happens, and how someone can take part or refer a person to it. The same policy warns against "thin content", sites built mostly from embedded video or links, and "Relying heavily on PDF documents instead of HTML web pages for core information." A program described only in a downloadable brochure is hard to read on a phone and hard for search engines to understand. Our website content checklist lists what to gather before a build, and website copywriting covers the writing.
Impact and transparency
Donors want to see what their money does. Show it with what you can stand behind: people served, meals delivered, trees planted, stories told with permission, and photos of real work. Our view: one number you can explain beats ten you cannot.
Transparency is also a written expectation. Google's policy asks nonprofits to "Include your physical address, nonprofit registration number (EIN, tax ID) and/or an annual report", and says "Financial information must be clearly presented." In the U.S., the IRS says an exempt organization "must make available for public inspection its exemption application" and "its annual return", such as Form 990. Our view: a short "Financials" or "Accountability" page with the EIN, the latest annual report and the recent Form 990s answers most of a careful donor's questions in one place.
The donate flow
Most nonprofits take donations through a payment processor or donation platform rather than building their own. Our view: link your Donate button to the processor's hosted, secure page, or embed its form, so card numbers never pass through your own website's forms. Our guide to accepting payments online compares the options.
Google's policy is plain about the button: "Donation links must work and go to a secure page dedicated to donations." It lists "broken donation buttons" among common navigation problems and asks you to "Ensure your donation process is clear, secure (HTTPS), and functional." One limit matters if you use a platform: the domain you submit to Google cannot "automatically redirect visitors to a different web address, a third-party platform (like a donation portal), or a social media page". The donation page can sit on a platform; your homepage cannot. Our guide to SSL certificates and HTTPS covers the secure-connection part.
After the gift comes the receipt. The IRS says the written acknowledgment needed to substantiate "a charitable contribution of $250 or more" must include the organization's name, the amount of a cash contribution, a description (but not the value) of a non-cash contribution, and a statement of whether any goods or services were given in return. Check that the automatic receipt your processor sends contains those items, and that it says what you mean.
Volunteer and event sign-up
Keep volunteer and event forms short: name, email, phone if you need it, the role or date, and anything you need to know for safety. Ask for more after the first contact. Say what happens next ("we will email you within a week") and send a confirmation.
The W3C's forms tutorial explains why labels matter: "People using screen readers can identify and understand form controls more easily because they are associated with labels, field sets, and other structural elements", and "People using speech input can use the labels via voice commands". Give every field a visible label, mark required fields in words as well as color, and make error messages say how to fix the problem. Our guides to website forms, form spam and website privacy basics go further. If people book time slots, see online booking.
Accessibility
Many of the people a nonprofit serves, and many of its supporters, use assistive technology. The W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the shared standard; the W3C says WCAG aims at "a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally", and that "The WCAG 2.2 has 13 guidelines." On nonprofit sites, watch for photos without alt text, videos without captions, low-contrast text over images, reports published only as scanned PDFs, and donate or sign-up forms that do not work with a keyboard.
Our guides to website accessibility basics, website accessibility laws and accessibility statements go further.
Search and Google Ad Grants
Search basics for a nonprofit are the same as for a small business: one clear topic per page, a title that says what the page is about, your name, address and phone number the same everywhere, and a site that loads fast on a phone. Google's policy asks for pages that "load quickly for users on various devices and connection speeds" and that "display and function correctly on smartphones and tablets". Write program pages for what people actually search ("free tax help in Oakland", "food pantry near me"), not for your internal program names. Our guide to small business SEO basics covers the rest, and website speed and hosting covers load times.
Eligible nonprofits can also apply for Google Ad Grants, which provides a monthly budget of free search ads, and the website policy quoted above is part of the review. Our guide to Google Ad Grants covers eligibility, applying and the account rules.
A short checklist (our view)
- The mission is on the homepage in one or two plain sentences.
- Each program has its own HTML page, not only a PDF.
- A financials page shows the EIN, the latest annual report and recent Form 990s.
- The Donate button works on every page and leads to a secure donation page; card data never touches your own forms.
- Donation receipts contain what the IRS asks for.
- Volunteer and event forms are short, labelled and confirm what happens next.
- The site is served over HTTPS, works on a phone and passes the accessibility basics above.
Churches, restaurants and law firms have matching guides in what a church website needs, what a restaurant website needs and what a law firm website needs. If you would rather have it built for you, our website development service builds custom WordPress and static websites made to load fast, rank well and be easy for your team to edit.
Frequently asked questions
What pages should a nonprofit website have?
At least a homepage with the mission, an About page, a page for each program, an impact or financials page, a Donate page, a Get Involved page for volunteers and events, and a Contact page with your address. Google's Ad Grants policy names the homepage, About Us, Mission, Programs/Services and Contact as key pages.
Should we build our own donation form?
Our view: usually not. Link to or embed a payment processor's secure donation page so card details never pass through your own forms. Google's Ad Grants policy says donation links must work and go to a secure page dedicated to donations.
Do we have to publish our Form 990 on the website?
The IRS says exempt organizations must make their exemption application and annual returns, such as Form 990, available for public inspection. Putting them on a financials page is a simple way to answer donors; ask your accountant how the rules apply to you.
What must a donation receipt say?
For a gift of $250 or more, the IRS says the written acknowledgment must include the organization's name, the cash amount or a description of non-cash property, and whether any goods or services were provided in return, with a good-faith estimate of their value if so.