Nonprofit website builder: how to choose the right one in 2026

What a nonprofit website has to do

A nonprofit website has to say what you do in one sentence, show the work, and make it easy to give, volunteer or get help.

Most of that happens on a phone. In M+R Benchmarks 2026, a third-party study of 180 nonprofits (medians), mobile made up 52% of nonprofit website visits, 1.6% of all visitors donated, and 37% of a year’s online revenue arrived in December.

Good nonprofit website design covers these basics:

• A Donate button on every page, leading to a secure donation page that works on a phone.
• A monthly giving option on the form. In the same M+R study, monthly gifts were 27% of online revenue.
• Help for the people you serve: what you offer, where, when and who qualifies, in the languages your community speaks.
• Proof: impact numbers you can back up, your annual report and your Form 990.
• Your address and EIN (Employer Identification Number, your federal tax ID).
• Accessible design: readable contrast, alt text on photos, and forms someone can finish with a keyboard. See our web accessibility entry.

Which nonprofit website builder should you use?

The quick verdict: pick by situation, not by brand. Based on published prices and features, here is who each route fits.

• No budget, all volunteers: a low-cost site plus a free donation tool such as Zeffy, or Givebutter Free with tips on. You pay no platform or card fees; donors are asked for an optional tip.
• You want the easiest editing: Wix or Squarespace. Wix has a confirmed nonprofit discount through TechSoup. We could not confirm one for Squarespace.
• You want to own everything and publish a lot: self-hosted WordPress with a donation plugin or an embedded form.
• You run a membership group with dues and events: WildApricot, which puts a website builder in every plan.
• You want the site and donor database from one vendor: Neon Websites with Neon CRM, or a nonprofit-only system such as Morweb next to a separate CRM.

1. A general website builder

Wix Donations, Wix’s own donation app, charges no Wix setup or usage fees; you pay only your payment provider’s processing fees. The site must be on a plan that takes payments, and Core, at $29 a month billed yearly, is the first.

Charities that are TechSoup members can get 70% off a 2-year Wix Premium plan for one site, plus a 1-year free domain voucher. It isn’t for sites already on Premium, and the plan renews at the standard 2-year rate unless you cancel (Wix help center).

Squarespace Basic is $19 a month billed yearly ($25 billed monthly). We couldn’t confirm a nonprofit discount or the rules for its donation tools from Squarespace’s own pages, so we assume full price and an embedded form from a tool such as Zeffy.

The trade-off is leaving: Wix scores 3/10 on our exit score and Squarespace 5/10. Our free website builders page shows what $0 plans can and can’t do.

2. Self-hosted WordPress with a donation plugin

WordPress is free software you run on hosting you choose. Bluehost Starter, for example, is $3.99 a month on a 36-month term, then $9.99 a month. The GiveWP plugin is free on WordPress.org and takes Stripe, PayPal and Venmo, though its page says additional Stripe fees “may apply for free users” without saying how much. Paid add-ons are now sold by Liquid Web in a $350 bundle for one site; the page doesn’t say whether that is billed yearly or once. Donorbox also offers a WordPress plugin.

Donor records sit in your own database, and WordPress scores 10/10 for leaving. We build on WordPress every week, so weigh our bias; the downside is upkeep. See our WordPress review.

3. A nonprofit platform with a website builder

• WildApricot: membership software with a website builder in every plan. For 100 contacts it’s $66 a month billed monthly or $59.40 a month prepaid for a year ($712.80); bigger tiers are quote only. It charges no per-transaction fee of its own.
• Neon Websites: drag-and-drop nonprofit templates with hosting, SSL and backups. It’s $89 a month on its own or $69 with another Neon One product. Neon can build it for you: $750 for 6 pages on a template, or $1,250 for 6 pages with a custom design.
• Morweb: a website system built only for nonprofits. Starter starts at $149 a month and Grow at $199; higher tiers are quote only, and the setup fee isn’t published. You register your own domain, and there’s no email hosting.

4. Donation tools and donor CRMs for any site

These plug into the site you have.

• Zeffy: one free plan. Zeffy covers card fees and earns from optional donor tips.
• Givebutter: the Free plan with tips on charges 0% platform fee and 0% card processing. With tips off, it’s 3% plus card fees of 2.9% + 30 cents. Plus starts at $29 a month.
• Donorbox: Standard is $0 a month with a 2.95% platform fee; Pro is $150 a month at 1.75%; Premium is quote only. Stripe card processing at US nonprofit rates is 2.2% + 30 cents.
• Bloomerang: a donor CRM (customer relationship management, meaning your donor database) from $125 a month billed annually. Its pricing page lists no website product.

The options side by side

The exit score, out of 10, measures how much of your site comes with you if you switch; see our exit scores tool. The monthly price is only part of the bill, so our nonprofit website cost guide adds the domain, email and donation fees over three years.

Free nonprofit website tools: what “free” really costs

Several tools cost the nonprofit nothing, but someone still pays.

• Zeffy and Givebutter Free with tips on: $0 to you. Donors see an optional tip at checkout, and Givebutter says its fees are “covered by 92% of donors.” Turn Givebutter’s tips off and you pay 3% plus card fees.
• Donorbox Standard: $0 a month, but on a $100 gift you pay $2.95 in platform fee plus $2.50 in Stripe processing ($2.20 + $0.30), or $5.45 in all.
• Wix’s free plan: shows Wix ads, has no custom domain, and can’t take online payments.
• Staff tools: Google Workspace for Nonprofits has a $0 edition with email on your domain, and Canva for Nonprofits is free for one team of up to 50 at eligible nonprofits.

Churches face the same choices; see our church website guide.

How to build a nonprofit website, step by step

1. Pick your donation tool first. Compare fees on the giving you expect, and check donor data export.
2. Register your domain name in the organization’s name, not a volunteer’s personal account. Google Ad Grants requires the nonprofit to own the domain with full admin control.
3. Write your mission, programs and impact as real text on pages, not only in PDFs.
4. Build the donation page and receipt with the IRS lines described below, and offer monthly giving.
5. Add volunteer and email sign-ups and post your Form 990.
6. Make a real test gift on your phone and check the receipt.

Nonprofit website design that turns visitors into donors

Make every ask easy to find

Put your asks where a phone visitor sees them first. Food Bank of Western Massachusetts puts Get Help, Get Involved and Donate in its header, and Arlington Food Assistance Center leads with three asks: donate funds, donate food, volunteer.

Show impact in numbers you can stand behind

Manna Food Center’s homepage has a 2025 impact block: 56,189 people, 3.14 million pounds of food, 76 schools.

Offer more than one way to give

Save The Bay’s “Ways To Give” page covers monthly giving, legacy gifts, stock, donor-advised funds, IRAs and vehicles. A small group can start with a monthly option. See 14 real sites in our best nonprofit websites roundup.

The rules your nonprofit site has to follow

These are the main US rules for nonprofit sites as of October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice; ask a lawyer or accountant about your own situation.

Donation receipts

A donor needs a written acknowledgment for any single gift of $250 or more. Email is fine. It must state your organization’s name, the cash amount (or a description, not a value, of a non-cash gift), and whether you gave anything in return, with a good-faith estimate of its value (IRS Publication 1771). Set up your online receipts to include these lines.

Gala tickets and other gifts over $75

When someone pays more than $75 partly as a gift and partly for something in return, such as a gala ticket sold online, you must tell them in writing that only the amount above the value they received is deductible, with a good-faith estimate of that value. The penalty is $10 per contribution, up to $5,000 per event or mailing, unless there’s reasonable cause (IRS). Selling tickets? Our event website guide covers ticketing.

Your Form 990 on the website

You must make your exemption application and last three annual returns public. Posting an exact PDF copy that anyone can view, download and print for free excuses you from providing copies on request, though in-person inspection still applies (IRS).

No political campaign content

501(c)(3) organizations are “absolutely prohibited” from intervening in political campaigns, and the IRS treats website content for or against a candidate like printed material (IRS Publication 1828).

State fundraising rules

Many states require charities to register before asking residents for money; for online asks, the Charleston Principles are advisory guidelines, not law. Connecticut says a charity based there that solicits only through a website donate button must register, while an out-of-state charity with only a passive donate button does not (Connecticut DCP). Florida requires a set disclosure statement on any page that takes online gifts (Fla. Stat. 496.411), and Washington has its own wording rules.

Accessibility

The Justice Department’s 2022 guidance says businesses open to the public must make their online services accessible, and it lists barriers such as poor contrast, images without alt text and unlabeled forms (ADA.gov). Whether that covers your nonprofit depends on your facts.

Pre-launch checklist

1. The domain is registered to the organization, and at least two people can log in.
2. The vendor’s terms say who owns the site and your donor data, and how you export it.
3. A test gift goes through on a phone, and someone can finish the form using only a keyboard.
4. Receipts include your name, the amount and the goods-or-services statement, and tickets over $75 show the deductible amount.
5. Any state disclosure wording you need is on the donation page.
6. Every page loads over HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate, and no page still holds placeholder text.

Getting found after launch

Google Ad Grants gives qualifying nonprofits up to $10,000 a month in free search ads on Google.com (Google). Governmental entities, hospitals and healthcare organizations, and schools and universities are not eligible (eligibility rules).

Your site must pass Google’s Ad Grants website policy: a domain you own, HTTPS on every page, “a significant amount of original content,” working links to a secure donation page, and a clear mission with your address, EIN or annual report (policy). In M+R’s study, organic search drove 39% of nonprofit website visits. Our SEO entry covers the basics. Our sister site, SEO PPC Management, covers Google Ads (including Google Ad Grants).

Where to go next

• How much a nonprofit website costs: true 3-year totals, with donation fees on $20,000 a year in gifts.
• Best nonprofit websites: 14 real sites and one idea to copy from each.
• Free website builders: what you really get for $0.
• Glossary: domain name, plugin and web accessibility.

Website guides for other industries: Real estate, Law firms, Dental, Medical, Therapists, Contractors, Electricians, Restaurants, Schools, Salons, Churches, Artists, Events, Vacation rentals, Creators and courses. All industries.