What a nonprofit actually needs online.

When an organisation that serves others finally gets around to "doing something about the website", the conversation usually starts in the wrong place. Someone has seen a large charity's site and wants that: a video header, a donation platform, a blog, a newsletter, social feeds. The budget does not exist, the volunteer who was going to build it moves away, and two years later there is still nothing, or a half-finished template with a broken contact form.

Here is a different way to think about it. A nonprofit does not need a big website. It needs a small number of things done properly, in an order where each one makes the next one useful. Most of them are not the website at all.

The goal is not to look impressive. It is to be found, understood and trusted by the three groups who matter: the people you serve, the people who help you, and the people who fund you.

First: the facts, and one place they are true

Before any design work, write down the facts about your organisation in one document. Legal name, the name people actually use, what you do in one sentence, whom you serve, where you operate, your address, phone number, hours, email, registration numbers, and the names of the people responsible. Agree on this internally. It is astonishing how many organisations have three versions of their own name in use.

This document is the source of truth for everything that follows. Every profile, every listing, every page will copy from it. When something changes, it changes here first.

Second: a domain and email in your own name

Register a domain that matches your name, in the organisation's name, with a renewal reminder that goes to more than one person. Set up email on that domain. An address like contact@yourtrust.org is a trust signal. A personal Gmail address on a poster is the opposite.

This step is cheap and permanent, and it must come before the website because the website will live on it. If a well-meaning volunteer already registered a domain in their own name, move it now, while everyone is still friends.

Third: the profiles people actually see first

For most local organisations, the first thing a person sees is not the website. It is a Google Maps result, a directory listing, or an AI assistant's summary. Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. Fill in every field from your facts document. Add real photos. Set the hours correctly and keep them correct, including holidays.

Then check the directories relevant to your type of organisation: nonprofit registries, health service directories, school directories, community listings. Where you are already listed, correct the details. Where you are not, add yourself. Consistency is the point. If the map says one phone number and the directory says another, people hesitate, and search systems trust you less.

Fourth: a small website that answers six questions

Now the website. Not a big one. It should answer, clearly and quickly, on a phone:

1. What do you do? One sentence, then a short paragraph. No mission-statement language.
2. Whom do you do it for? Named plainly, including any eligibility.
3. Where and when? Locations, hours, and how to get there.
4. How does someone get help? The steps, what to bring, whom to contact.
5. How does someone help you? Volunteer, donate, partner, spread the word, each with a concrete next step.
6. Who are you? The people, the registration, the governance, and how money is used.

That is often five or six pages. It can be built well in a matter of days by someone competent, and it will serve you for years with small updates. Everything else, the blog, the gallery, the newsletter, the events calendar, can come later if it earns its place. Most never do.

Fifth: make it readable by machines

Search engines and AI assistants increasingly answer questions directly: "free eye camp near me this weekend", "school for hearing-impaired children in this district". To be included in those answers, your website needs structured information: machine-readable facts about your organisation, your locations, your services and your events, embedded in the pages. This is invisible to visitors and decisive for discovery. It is routine work for a competent developer and should be part of the build, not an afterthought.

Sixth: proof

Anyone can write "we have helped thousands". Show it instead. Photos of the actual work with the actual people, with their consent. Numbers with dates. A short annual summary of what was done and what it cost. Names of the people responsible. Registration documents where appropriate. If you receive reviews or testimonials anywhere, link to them or quote them with attribution.

This is the part most organisations skip because it feels immodest. It is not. It is how a donor decides you are real and how a family decides you are safe. Read more in why digital trust matters more for organisations that serve.

Seventh: a way to know what changed

Set up simple, privacy-respecting analytics and Google Search Console. You are not looking for dashboards. You are looking for three answers each month: are more people finding us, what are they looking for, and which page did they leave from. That is enough to decide what to fix next.

What you can skip, for now

• A mobile app. Almost never the first thing. See before you build an app for your cause.
• A blog. Unless someone will genuinely write every month, an abandoned blog dated two years ago hurts more than no blog.
• Every social platform. Be complete and consistent on the one or two your community actually uses. Ignore the rest, or park a profile that points to your website.
• A donation platform. A clear bank transfer or UPI detail, or the simplest reputable payment link, is enough to start. Add more when donations justify the fees.
• Redesigns. If the six questions are answered and the facts are right, the design is good enough. Spend the time on content and consistency instead.

A checklist you can run this week

• Write the facts document and get it agreed.
• Check who owns your domain. Move it to the organisation if needed. Set two renewal reminders.
• Search your organisation's name. Note every place you appear. Correct every wrong detail.
• Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. Add photos. Fix the hours.
• Open your website on a phone. Can a stranger answer the six questions in one minute? Note what is missing.
• Find one piece of proof you could publish this month.