State the mission in plain words
Open with one or two sentences saying who you help, how and where. Avoid insider language and abbreviations. A visitor should understand the cause in ten seconds. Follow with a short description of your programs and the people they serve.
Use real photos, with consent, of events and volunteers. Take extra care with images of children or people in crisis, and follow your organization's policy.
Test the wording on someone outside the organization. If they cannot explain your cause back to you, simplify it.
Make giving easy
Place a clear Donate button in the header and on key pages. Keep the donation form short, support one-time and recurring gifts, and show reassurance about security. Offer several amounts and a custom field, and explain what typical gifts accomplish only if the statements are accurate.
Send an immediate receipt with the details donors need for their records. Ask your accountant about what the receipt must say for tax purposes.
Show impact honestly
Report what you did: meals served, students tutored, trees planted. Use numbers you can document and describe how they were counted. Pair them with a short story, told with permission. Avoid inflating results or implying that a single gift produces a precise outcome unless it is true.
Add an annual report or a short summary of finances and activities. Donors increasingly look for it.
Say how donations are used in general terms and update the description each year so it reflects what actually happened.
Transparency and legal basics
State your legal name, tax status and, if you are a registered charity, the information donors expect to see. Many states regulate charitable solicitation, and some require registration or disclosures. Check your state's requirements and consult a professional if unsure.
List board members and leadership, and publish a privacy policy that explains how donor information is used. Never sell or share donor lists without clear consent.
Place a short summary of how the organization is governed near the footer, with a link to the full information.
Serve volunteers and people who need help
Give volunteers a clear path: roles, time commitments, an application form and a contact person. Provide people seeking services with plain instructions, eligibility, hours, location and a phone number, placed where they will see it quickly. Make the site work on a basic phone and in simple language, and consider translations for the community you serve.
Check accessibility, since your audience may include people with disabilities.
Keep communication going
Offer an email signup, share updates after events, thank donors promptly and keep the events page current. A calendar with dates that ended months ago signals that the group is inactive. Assign someone to update the site monthly, and keep logins in the organization's name, not a volunteer's personal account.
Plan for peak giving periods and events by checking that your donation form works well under load and on a phone before the campaign starts.
Common questions
Which payment tool should a nonprofit use?
Compare fees, recurring gift features, receipts and data export. Some providers offer nonprofit pricing.
Do we need a separate donate page?
Yes, linked from the header, so supporters can find it from any page.
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