Nonprofit Website Features: A Page-by-Page Checklist
The nonprofit website features every site needs: join and donate paths, events, trust pages, accessibility basics and example patterns, page by page.
It's 9:40 on a Tuesday night. Someone has just seen your post about the spring food drive and taps through on their phone. They want to give $50, or maybe join as a volunteer. If they can't find a Donate or Get Involved button within a few seconds, or the form won't fit their screen, they close the tab and the moment is gone.
The nonprofit website features that matter most are the ones that let each visitor do one thing quickly: join, give, register, volunteer or find information. Every site needs a clear mission statement on the homepage, two persistent action buttons, a mobile-friendly layout, an events calendar, an email sign-up, trust pages such as leadership and financials, and accessibility built in from the start.
This guide gives you a page-by-page checklist, accessibility basics with current US guidance, the join and donate paths that work, and example patterns from effective association and nonprofit sites. If you're starting from scratch and need a members-only area, read our guide on how to build a membership website alongside this one.
The Five Visitors Your Website Serves
Before you list features, list visitors. Most nonprofit and association sites serve five groups, and each arrives with a different question.
| Visitor | What they want to know | Page that serves them | Primary action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prospective member | What do I get and what does it cost? | Membership page | Join |
| Donor | Is this organization trustworthy, and what will my gift do? | Donate page, impact stories, financials | Give |
| Current member | Where do I renew, register or find resources? | Members area, events | Sign in, renew, register |
| Volunteer | What can I do, when and where? | Volunteer page | Sign up |
| Partner, funder or reporter | Who leads it, what's the track record, who do I call? | About, leadership, annual report, contact | Contact |
Your homepage can't serve all five equally. Pick the two most important actions for your organization and make them visible on every page. For a charity, that's usually Donate and Volunteer. For an association, it's Join and Member Sign-In. For a club, it's often the event schedule and Join.
Must-Have Features
These features belong on almost every nonprofit, association or club website, regardless of size or budget.
| Feature | Why it matters | Minimum version | Better version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Persistent action buttons | Visitors decide fast | Join or Donate button in the header | Contrasting color, visible on every page and on mobile |
| Mobile-friendly layout | Many visitors arrive from social media on phones | Pages readable without zooming | Forms tested on small screens, large tap targets |
| Clear navigation | People skim menus | Five to seven top-level items | Plain labels like "Membership," not "Engage" |
| Events calendar | Events drive joining and giving | List of upcoming events with dates and location | Online registration and payment from the event page |
| Email sign-up | Most visitors aren't ready to act today | Sign-up form in the footer | Short form with a clear promise of what they'll receive |
| Search | Resource-heavy sites become mazes | Site search box | Search that covers documents and events |
| Trust pages | Donors and members check before acting | Leadership list and contact details | Annual report, financials, Form 990 link, impact data |
| Privacy policy | Forms collect personal information | Plain-language policy linked in the footer | Explains each form's data use and how to opt out |
| Accessibility statement | Shows commitment and offers a contact | Short statement with an email address | Lists known issues and the standard you test against |
| Analytics | You can't improve what you don't measure | Page views and top pages | Conversion tracking for join, donate and register |
Two features are often oversold. Pop-ups that appear before a visitor has read anything tend to annoy more than they convert, and a homepage slider with five rotating messages usually means nobody reads any of them. One strong message beats five weak ones.
Page-by-Page Checklist
Use this as an audit. Open each page on your phone and check the items one by one.
Homepage
- One sentence that says who you serve and what you do, in plain words.
- Primary action button above the fold, with a secondary action next to it.
- One proof point: a number, a short story or a photo of real people.
- Upcoming events or the next key date.
- Footer with address, phone, email, social links, privacy policy and accessibility statement.
About and leadership
- Mission in a sentence or two; our guide to writing an association mission statement helps if yours runs long.
- Short history and the community you serve.
- Board and staff list with roles. Photos help, but get consent.
- Legal name and, for tax-exempt organizations, a link to financials.
Membership page
- Levels with prices in dollars, billing period and what's included.
- A comparison table if you have more than two levels.
- Who qualifies, how long approval takes, and when membership starts.
- Answers to the top five questions prospects ask.
- One "Join" button per level, leading straight to the application.
Donate page
- A short reason to give now and what a gift accomplishes.
- Suggested amounts and an option for monthly giving.
- A form with as few fields as possible.
- Your legal name and tax-exempt status as it applies.
Our guide to building a donation page covers suggested amounts, form fields and campaign landing pages in detail.
Events
- Date, time with time zone, location or link, price and who it's for.
- Registration button on each event, not just on a separate page.
- Accessibility and accommodation contact for in-person events.
News or blog
- Dated posts so visitors can tell whether the site is alive.
- Stories about members, volunteers and outcomes, not just announcements.
Volunteer page
- Specific roles with time commitment, for example "Saturday food sort, 9 AM to noon, monthly."
- A short sign-up form and a named contact.
- Any screening requirements stated upfront.
Members area or resources
- Clear sign-in link in the header.
- A "Start here" page for new members.
- For self-service features such as profile updates and receipts, see the membership portal guide.
Contact
- Email, phone, mailing address and office hours.
- A contact form that says who reads it and when they reply.
Join and Donate Paths That Convert
Your two primary paths deserve more testing than any other part of the site. A path is the full journey from the homepage to the confirmation email.
Count the steps
Click through from the homepage to a completed payment and count every page and every field. A good target is three pages or fewer: homepage, form, confirmation. If you find yourself on a fifth page, look for a step to remove.
Keep forms short
Ask only for what you need to process the payment, send a receipt and stay in touch. Everything else can wait for the welcome email or a later survey. For membership, our membership application form template shows which fields are essential and which are optional.
Keep joining and giving separate
Dues and donations are different transactions with different tax treatment and different receipts. Put them on separate forms, or at least clearly separate the two amounts. If you accept gifts, your acknowledgment wording matters; our guide to donation receipts explains the IRS rules.
Confirm and follow up
The confirmation page should thank the person, say exactly what happens next and offer one next step, such as following you on social media or registering for an upcoming event. The confirmation email should repeat the amount, date and membership dates or gift details.
Check your state's solicitation rules
Many states require charities to register before asking residents for donations, and online fundraising can raise questions about which states apply. Check with your state's attorney general or charity regulator before launching a donation campaign that reaches beyond your home state.
Link every event to its registration
If events sit on your website but registration happens elsewhere, link each event directly to its registration form. With campai, you can embed booking pages for events and classes on your website or share a direct booking link when your site's editor doesn't allow embed code.
Accessibility: What US Guidance Expects
Accessibility means people with disabilities can use your site, including people who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, captions or magnification. It's also good design for everyone else.
What the Justice Department says
The Department of Justice's guidance on web accessibility and the ADA, published March 18, 2022, says the ADA's requirements apply to goods and services that businesses open to the public offer online. It points to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as existing technical guidance but notes that the Department has no regulation setting detailed web standards for those businesses.
State and local governments have a specific rule. The Title II web accessibility rule requires their websites and apps to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. After an interim final rule published April 20, 2026, compliance dates are April 26, 2027 for entities serving 50,000 or more people and April 26, 2028 for smaller ones. If your organization provides public services on behalf of a government, for example under a city contract, ask whether that rule reaches your work.
Whether and how the ADA applies to your particular organization is a legal question; ask a qualified attorney. As a practical benchmark, many nonprofits test against WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The newest version, WCAG 2.2, was published as a W3C Recommendation in October 2023 and adds criteria such as minimum target sizes for buttons and links.
Quick accessibility checks anyone can do
| Check | How to test | Common fix |
|---|---|---|
| Image descriptions | Look at each informative image's alt text in your editor | Describe what the image shows and why it's there; leave decorative images empty |
| Color contrast | Use a free contrast checker on text and buttons | WCAG AA asks for at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text |
| Keyboard navigation | Put the mouse away and press Tab through the page | Make every link and button reachable, with a visible focus outline |
| Form labels | Click each field's label; the cursor should land in the field | Use real labels, not placeholder text that disappears |
| Headings | Check that pages use one main heading and logical subheadings | Don't pick headings for their size alone |
| Link text | Read links out of context | Replace "click here" with "register for the May 12 workshop" |
| Video | Watch with sound off | Add accurate captions; review automatic captions before publishing |
| Browser zoom | Set the browser to 200% | Text should reflow without cutting off content |
| PDFs | Try selecting text and tabbing through | Publish key information as web pages, or create tagged PDFs |
Add an accessibility statement with a contact address, and respond to requests quickly. Someone who can't complete your form should get a phone call, not a delay.
Trust Pages Donors and Members Look For
People check before they give or join. Make it easy.
Financials. Tax-exempt organizations must make their annual returns available for public inspection. The IRS explains that an organization can satisfy individual requests for copies by posting its returns on a website in a format that reproduces the original filing, as long as it tells requesters where to find them. Posting your recent Form 990s is simple and signals openness.
Annual report. A short annual report with outcomes, finances and thanks is often the most persuasive page on a nonprofit site. Our nonprofit annual report guide shows how to structure one.
Leadership and governance. Board list, staff list, bylaws if members ask for them, and a way to reach leadership.
Contact details. A real mailing address and phone number build more trust than a contact form alone.
Example Patterns From Effective Sites
Rather than copy a specific organization's site, borrow the pattern that matches your model. These patterns show up again and again on strong association, club and nonprofit websites.
| Pattern | Best for | Signature feature | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-door homepage | Professional associations | Homepage splits into "For members" and "Join us" | Don't let the member door hide public value |
| Calendar-first | Sports clubs, hobby clubs, arts groups | Upcoming games, classes or shows lead the homepage | Past events left up make the site look abandoned |
| Directory front door | Chambers of commerce, trade associations | Public business directory with search by category | Members' listings go stale without yearly updates |
| Impact-led | Charities, community nonprofits | One headline outcome, one story, one Donate button | Statistics without sources weaken trust |
| Library-led | Associations with standards, research or training | Public summaries with members-only full resources | Gated content nobody updates |
| Notice board | HOAs, PTAs, booster clubs | Dates, documents, dues and one contact | Too many PDFs, not enough plain text |
| Gathering-led | Faith communities, alumni groups | Service or event times, livestream, small groups, giving | Burying "plan your visit" information |
A few notes on putting the patterns into practice:
- Chambers usually earn the most from a strong public directory. Our guide to building an online member directory covers fields, search and consent.
- Clubs and sports organizations benefit from making the schedule the homepage, with registration one tap away.
- Professional associations should show the value of membership publicly: sample resources, upcoming education, and who their members are.
- Charities do best when the homepage tells one clear story of impact and the Donate button never moves.
Keep It Current
A website goes stale faster than anyone expects. Give every page an owner and every owner a review date.
| Frequency | Task | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Update events and news; remove past events from the homepage | Communications volunteer or staff |
| Monthly | Test the join, donate and event registration paths on a phone | Membership chair or treasurer |
| Quarterly | Review analytics: top pages, exits on forms, conversion on key paths | Executive director or board lead |
| Quarterly | Spot-check accessibility on new pages and documents | Web volunteer |
| Yearly | Refresh leadership list, annual report, financials and privacy policy | Executive director with board secretary |
Track a handful of numbers, not dozens: completed joins, completed donations, event registrations, email sign-ups and where people drop out of forms. If 200 people reach your Join page in a month and 6 complete the application, that 3% is your baseline; change one thing, then compare.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a nonprofit website include?
At minimum: a homepage with a clear mission and action button, About and leadership pages, a membership or donate page, events, a volunteer page if you use volunteers, contact details, a privacy policy and an accessibility statement. Add an annual report and financials to build donor trust.
Do nonprofit websites have to be ADA compliant?
The Justice Department says the ADA applies to goods and services that businesses open to the public offer online, and it has a specific WCAG 2.1 AA rule for state and local governments. How the ADA applies to a particular nonprofit depends on its activities, so ask an attorney. Testing against WCAG 2.1 AA is a sound practical benchmark either way.
How many clicks should it take to donate?
As few as possible. Aim for three pages or fewer from your homepage to a completed gift: homepage, donation form and confirmation. Test it on a phone.
Should we post our Form 990 on our website?
Many tax-exempt organizations do. The IRS lets an organization meet individual requests for copies by making its returns widely available online, for example on its own website, provided it follows the posting conditions and tells requesters where to find them. You still have to allow public inspection.
How often should we update our nonprofit website?
Update events and news weekly or whenever something changes, test your key forms monthly, review analytics quarterly and refresh leadership, financials and policies at least once a year.
What makes a good association website?
A good association website shows prospective members exactly what they get and what it costs, gives current members a quick way to sign in, renew and register, and keeps its events and resources current. The best ones pick one design pattern and stick to it.
Next Steps
- Today: open your website on your phone and try to join or donate. Count the pages and note anything that slowed you down.
- This week: run the page-by-page checklist above and list the five most important fixes.
- This month: do the keyboard and contrast checks, add an accessibility statement and post your latest Form 990 or annual report.
- This quarter: pick the example pattern that fits your organization and restructure your homepage around it.
If your events and registrations live in spreadsheets today, campai's tools for nonprofits let you manage members, events and donations in one place and connect bookings to the website you already have.