Your website and email address is an important part of your branding. For example, your address should be yourname@agency.org, rather than agency@yahoo.com or agencyname@hotmail.com. Purchase your own domain, add email boxes, then build a website. Many options for web hosting and discounts are available to nonprofits (some of which require N-TEN membership) are listed at www.nten.org/discounts.
Domain Registration
The first step in getting your own website is to purchase the domain name (i.e. www.agencyname.org). There are many places to register your domain and many of these registrars can also provide email accounts and host your site.
Web Hosting
You will need to find and pay a host to keep your website information on their servers. Depending on your needs, it is possible to register your domain, get email accounts, and host your site with the same company. Certainly you are not limited to this, however.
Web Design
In general, there are two options for creating a website: template-based design and custom design. Template-based designed websites are simple, “online-brochure” type sites. They are also very cheap to create and maintain. Often you can create these types of sites yourself with the provided site building tools. You start with a basic “look and feel” template and add your content. You are able to provide basic information about your organization and programs, how to contact you, provide opportunities to volunteer/give, and increasingly, allow you to blog and post an organizational calendar of events.
Custom designed websites are often more expensive since you are working directly with a consultant/web designer. These types of sites can seamlessly integrate your logo and can better express your organization’s brand. Rather than choosing from a defined template, a custom website allows you to choose your own look and feel as well as color scheme. These sites can also be more interactive by allowing your site visitors to do something like subscribe to your newsletter, register for an event, make a donation, or volunteer. Cost will depend on how complex you want your site to be - expect to spend a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Regardless of which designer you decide to go with, always ask to see samples of live sites they have designed and BE SURE that you will be able to easily make updates to the site.
Sample Domain Registration - Hosting - Email - Template-based site building Vendors:
Sample Nonprofit-Friendly Domain Registration - Hosting - Template-based and Custom site Vendors:
- www.dreamhost.com – free webhosting and email for nonprofit organizations.
- www.grandnet.org – This Grand Rapids-based nonprofit offers hosting and website design for nonprofits.
- www.charityadvantage.com – domain registration, hosting, email, site builder tool, support, and online donations integrated. This is a good option for small nonprofits that need a simple website. For $33 per month, they will host and design a 10-page website for you (based on an existing template). They also provide domain email and have a donor management database that tracks online donors. Nonprofit staff can update their site with an easy to use content management system.
- www.eNonprofits.org – domain registration, hosting, email, templates, and custom web design
- www.grassroots.org – hosting, site builder tool, and web design free to qualified nonprofits.
- www.thinkhost.com – “socially responsible and earth friendly” domain registration, hosting, site builder tool, and templates. Information about free nonprofit hosting is here: www.thinkhost.com/socialchange/free-hosting.shtml
- www.innercirclemedia.com Ann Arbor-based company has designed websites for some local nonprofits.
- www.techbridge.org – NPower Michigan’s sister affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia offers a program called Web-In-A-Box. TechBridge will work with a nonprofit over a three year period to register their domain, host the website, design the site, and manage the CMS system (Content Mangement System, or site editing tool). TechBridge will train nonprofit staff in the ongoing updating and maintenance of the website. Visit www.techbridge.org/services_Websol_WIB.asp for more information about Web-In-A-Box.
Online Giving
To enable online giving on your website quickly, one option is to use Network for Good. Network for Good is a nonprofit that enables other nonprofits to accept donations online. They will process the credit cards and deposit the money directly into your account. There is a small processing cost per donation to cover administrative costs.Visit http://www.networkforgood.org//npo/fundraising/donations/ and click on “Basic Donate Now” for information and to get started.
Network for Good’s Custom Donate Now service allows for the donation site to be customized to look like your own site. If you have a custom designed website, this may be a better option.
Integrated Hosting Service
Another option for websites is to use an integrated hosting service. The intended result of these fully integrated “ephilanthrophy” sites is an interactive design that not only provides information about your organization, but also allows visitors to do something like register for an event or renew their membership. You then can track these interactions with an back-end, integrated database. There are several nonprofit-centric service providers that provide some or all of the following solutions:
- custom site building
- online fundraising and in-kind donations
- event registration
- volunteer recruitment (for specific opportunities)
- membership registration & renewal
- E-commerce
- community building
- E-advocacy
- email marketing
- organization referrals
- job postings
- constituent (donor/member/volunteer/etc.) management
Often these services require upfront development costs as well as monthly or annual hosting fees. The benefits of these services include an easy to maintain site (staff can update), one solution for many needs, increased ability to fundraise, and decreased management costs.
Examples of these services include:
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