What should a nonprofit website include?

A one-line mission, your programs and who they serve, proof of your work from your own records, a working Donate button, a volunteer form, and who runs it, with your board, staff, EIN and filings. Good nonprofit website design puts the mission and the way to help in the first screen.

Can a nonprofit take donations through Shingle?

Not on the site itself. Shingle has no payments, so your Donate button opens a page on the giving service you use, and that service takes the gift and sends the receipt. On your own domain, custom code can add a service's script, but Shingle doesn't check that code. The integrations page lists what can go on a page.

Is there a nonprofit discount?

Not today. Nonprofits pay the same price as everyone else: a 7-day trial for $1 with 100 credits, a live site and your own domain, then the plan at $49 a month or $39 paid yearly, with 200 credits a month.

Can we email donors and volunteers?

Yes. People sign up on your site, confirm by email and get what you send, with your postal address and an unsubscribe link on each email. A site can send 5,000 emails a month. It's a news list, though. It doesn't record gifts or send tax receipts.

Is Shingle a good nonprofit website builder?

It suits a small organization that wants a clear public site, with programs, a volunteer form and a news list, kept current without a developer. It doesn't suit one that wants donations, donor records or event tickets in one system. Those stay with other services, and your buttons can link to them.

Will Shingle make up results or stories?

It's built not to invent. Figures and stories come only from what you give it, and a separate review removes lines your facts don't support. Check every number before you publish all the same, because a funder may compare it with your filings, and what your site says is on you.

Nonprofit websites donors can check

People give when they can see what you do, who runs it and where the money goes.

What the home page says

Section by section, in the order a visitor reads it.

Mission in one sentence
A visitor should know what you do, for whom and where within seconds. Save the founding story for later, and use words your neighbors would use.
Programs
Give each program its name, who it's for, its hours and how to get help. The family who needs it and the funder checking on you both read this part.
Proof of the work
Your own numbers from your own records, like families served last year, and stories told with the person's consent. Shingle is built not to invent these, so leave the section out until you have them.
Donate
Say what a gift does, then send people to give. Shingle takes no payments, so this button opens a donation page on a giving service, and you'll need one set up first. Test it, because a broken link costs you the gift.
Volunteer
A short form asking for a name, contact details, when they're free and what they'd like to do. Sign-ups land in one inbox, so they don't get lost in someone's personal email.
Who runs it
Board and staff names, your EIN, your 501(c)(3) status, and links to your annual report and latest Form 990. Grant makers and careful donors look for exactly this.

How they search

food bank near me
volunteer opportunities near me
where to donate clothes near me
charities near me
nonprofits near me
local charities to donate to
help with groceries near me
animal rescue volunteer near me

What earns their trust

Your EIN and 501(c)(3) status, stated plainly
Your latest Form 990, or a link to it
Board members and staff, by name
An annual report showing where the money went
A Candid profile, if you keep one
Results from your own records, with the year they cover
Stories and photos shared with consent
A donation page that's secure and works

How it gets found

What moves a nonprofit up in a town's results.

Claim your Google listing
Non-profit organization and Charity are both categories, and narrower ones like Food bank exist. Choose the narrowest that's true, and add hours if people come to you for help.
A page for each program
Someone searching for senior meal delivery needs that page, and your mission statement won't help them. Say who qualifies, when it runs and how to get in touch.
Check Google's Ad Grants rules
Ad Grants offers eligible nonprofits search ads at no cost. Its website policy asks for a secure site on a domain you control, with real content about your mission, so read it before you apply.
Mark up what's true
NGO is the schema.org type made for you. Sites on Shingle write your name, address and phone in that form under that type, and your Google listing's category says what kind of group you are.

How to sell one

Nonprofits buy because people check them before giving, volunteering or funding, and a dated site makes good work look shaky. Many run on a small staff or volunteers who can't wait on a developer each time a program's hours change.

Show the director their programs on a phone, with a Donate button that opens the giving page they already have and a volunteer form that lands in one inbox. Say up front that the site doesn't take money itself, since it's the first thing they'll ask.

“We have no budget for this.”: Keep it small, and give one monthly number that says what it covers. Show a program page they could send to their next funder. If there's really nothing to spend, leave it there and don't push.
“We need to take donations on the site.”: Shingle doesn't take payments. Their Donate button opens a page on a giving service, which handles the gift and the receipt. If they need donor records and giving built into one system, this isn't that tool.
“The board has to decide.”: Send a review link. Board members can open it with no account and click any part of the page to comment, so you aren't collecting opinions across a dozen emails.
“A volunteer handles our website.”: Keep them involved. Show them a change made by asking in plain words, so the next update doesn't wait on one person's free evening.