The Top 15+ Nonprofit Websites
| Website | Cause | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Digiunity | Educational | #1 |
| Double Up Food Bucks | Community | #2 |
| Greenbelt, Essex County’s Land Trust | Conservation | #3 |
| Student Conservation Association | Conservation | #4 |
| Oxfam Canada | International | #5 |
| The End Fund | Medical | #6 |
| Butler County Family YMCA Association | Community | #7 |
| Memphis Zoo | Animals | #8 |
| Rhode Island School of Design | Universities | #9 |
| We Heart Trees | Environmental | #10 |
| The Malala Fund | International | #11 |
| To Write Love On Her Arms | Social | #12 |
| I Had Cancer | Healthcare & Medical | #13 |
| Abundant Living Faith Center | Religious & Faith-Based Organizations | #14 |
| Team Rubicon | Disaster Relief | #15 |
| Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation | Kids & Youth | #16 |
| Human Rights Watch | Politics & Advocacy | #17 |
| PeacePlayers International | Sports & Fitness | #18 |
- Nonprofit Websites: Our Top Picks
- 1. Digiunity
- 2. Double Up Food Bucks
- 3. Greenbelt, Essex County’s Land Trust
- 4. Student Conservation Association
- 5. Oxfam Canada
- 6. The End Fund
- 7. Butler County Family YMCA Association
- 8. Memphis Zoo
- 9. Rhode Island School of Design
- 10. We Heart Trees
Designing Your Nonprofit Website
Your nonprofit website is the hub of your mission online. It’s where you house your donation form, direct users to learn more about your cause, and promote your fundraising campaigns.
Because of that, you’ll want to spend time creating a site that encapsulates your cause and provides a positive user experience. That way, users will feel compelled to explore your site and learn more about your work.
We’ve provided plenty of exceptional examples of well-designed websites with the goal of inspiring you to perfect your design. As you explore these examples of top nonprofit websites, try to identify these common web design elements throughout:
- Visuals: Your nonprofit’s graphics are what make your website attractive. From decorative drawings to in-depth infographics, there are plenty of graphics you can use to communicate your work, emphasize important content, and keep users engaged in your site.
- Content: While your graphics might be visually appealing, what users really want is informative content. This is any information regarding your cause, including text, images, videos, and more. Include rich content that tells them exactly what they need.
- Navigation: You want users to quickly find the exact information that they’re searching for when they visit your site. You can use a navigation bar, site search, and well-placed calls to action to guide users to your most important pages.
- Calls-to-action: Each page on your site should have an explicit goal. For example, a campaign page might drive users to sign up for an event, or a blog post might encourage people to volunteer. Many organizations link their donation pages in their navigation bar as well. Think through each CTA’s placement and landing page carefully.
Take note of what you like and dislike about the designs, so you can communicate exactly what you want to your web designer. If you don’t have an in-house designer, consider hiring a third-party professional.
Especially when you rely on a professional that specializes in nonprofit organizations, you’ll wind up with a site that perfectly encapsulates your cause and drives users to get involved.
Note that many web designers can help you create your content and put it in a well-organized format. However, many don’t offer graphic design services. In this case, you might need to turn to a professional graphic designer like Kwala. Here’s an example of their expertise in action:
Pairing professional graphics, like the infographic their team designed above, with attractive web design will result in a polished, informative website for your cause.
Ready to relaunch your nonprofit website with stunning graphics?
Promoting Your Nonprofit Website
Once you’ve pulled design inspiration from the top nonprofit websites, you’ll need to promote your site to supporters to drive traffic to it. Any chance you get, you should include links to your site, encouraging users to visit it for the most recent updates on your cause.
You can fold several channels into your marketing strategy from direct mail solicitations to social media posts. Here are some quick recommendations that any nonprofit can try out:
- Link to your site on social media. Start by including your homepage or donation page URL in your nonprofit’s profile descriptions. Then, you can share blog posts and other web content with your followers. Posting clickable content about your cause will make supporters likely to share your posts with their followers, increasing traffic to your site even more.
- Include your site’s URL in direct mail. Just because your website lives online doesn’t mean you’re limited to promoting it only in digital materials. When you create a flyer or send direct mail to supporters, include the link to your donation form or another specific page on your site.
- Use paid advertising. Traditionally, paid advertising can put a massive dent in your marketing budget. The Google Ad Grants program changes that! Through the program, eligible nonprofits receive up to $10,000 each month to spend promoting their websites on Google Ads. Pick valuable landing pages, do plenty of keyword research, and create persuasive ads that inspire users to visit your site. Better yet, we recommend turning to a Google Grants manager to handle the work for you.
There are countless ways to promote your nonprofit website! Get creative, and you’ll drive more traffic to your site in no time.
Do you want to promote your nonprofit website using Google Ads?
Top Nonprofit Websites
Digiunity
Digiunity acts as a bridge to close the American technological gap. Millions of people in the United States lack access to computers, which then limits their access to information and educational or financial opportunities. Since 1984, Digiunity has collected countless electronics through its partnership alliance made up of thousands of corporations, foundations, and nonprofits. Through Digiunity’s donation highway, over 300,000+ computers each year are re-furbished and re-homed to Americans in need. In 2020, Digiunity partnered with Fifty & Fifty, a creative agency for purpose-driven brands, to undergo a full rebrand and website overhaul. This team of storytellers works to create compelling digital experiences, maximize impact, and increase mindshare for social brands—all of which are evident in how they brought Digiunity’s site to life.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
The Digiunity site earned its top spot on our list not just for its smooth, streamlined design, but for what it represents. This decades-old organization is a long-standing changemaker for digital accessibility, yet up until 2020, its website was starting to fall behind in terms of functionality and aesthetics.
To effectively champion its digital mission, Digiunity would need a site with a bold and modern design. And after its re-launch spearheaded by Fifty & Fifty, Digiunity’s website has well and truly lived up to that standard.
One of the first things you’ll notice about this site is its well-organized content. Using tabs, buttons, and menus, the fantastic navigation system makes it so that any user can easily find what they’re looking for and take action.
Another standout feature is the use of still and animated photography to tell Digiunity’s story. Each page is brought to life with snapshots and moving images that give a face to the millions of people the program fights to help. From its smooth functionality to its gorgeous visual elements, Digiunity’s site is a powerful representation of its mission to break down barriers to technology.
Double Up Food Bucks
Double Up Food Bucks is a program of the Michigan-based nonprofit Fair Food Network. This organization allows eligible individuals to get double the fruits and veggies when they use their SNAP benefits (food stamps) at more than 250+ grocery stores across the state of Michigan. Through Double Up Food Bucks, thousands of families are able to obtain more fresh and healthy foods at an affordable price, and local farmers and economies benefit too. The Double Up Food Bucks website was created by Loop: Design for Social Good—which is a full-service creative agency serving organizations that are spearheading social change.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
The Double Up website makes our list due to its inclusive design and informative, easily accessible content. The homepage cycles through a number of short video clips depicting individuals and families who take part in the program, which helps frame it as a win-win solution for communities and busts the stigma of food assistance.
From there, the Double Up site offers an intuitive navigation style, encouraging users to learn more about their programming or get involved. And since their program is location-specific, they include a prominent “Find a Location” button on the homepage as well.
Other notable characteristics include the simplicity with which the user can switch to a Spanish version of the site, the comprehensive site search feature for users who are looking for something specific, and its seamless integration with the Salesforce platform which ensures scalability and a single point of data management.
Greenbelt, Essex County’s Land Trust
Greenbelt strives to help individuals, families, municipalities, and organizations meet their land conservation goals in the 34 cities and towns of Essex County, Massachusetts. Their work helps protect native plants, animals, and natural corridors, as well as ensure healthy food supply and maintain clean water. This organization encompasses a wide set of values, including the conservation of distinctive landscapes, integrity, local engagement, and a culture of optimism and creativity. Greenbelt’s website was designed using Morweb, a CMS platform built with nonprofits in mind.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
Greenbelt’s website is not only professionally presented and easy to navigate, but it also offers visitors everything they need to know about who the organization is, what it does, and how to get involved.
Immediately after landing on their homepage, a live slideshow cycles through images of protected land with call-to-action buttons that link out to other important pages on their website. As you scroll down, you can read more about the basics of what the organization does and how you can give your support.
Greenbelt’s website is intuitive to navigate, offering a clean navigation menu with drop-down options so you can find exactly the information you’re looking for. Their beautiful nonprofit website design makes an excellent impression on all visitors.
Student Conservation Association
The Student Conservation Association is dedicated to the restoration of national parks, marine sanctuaries, and community green spaces across the United States. Their mission is to develop young people into leaders in conservation and sustainability. With an aspirational mission and an expansive network of partners and volunteers, their website needed to offer a high-level understanding of their mission while providing opportunities to dive deeper into research. They accomplished this by working with Cornershop Creative. The Student Conservation Association worked with the designers at Cornershop Creative to establish a website with top-notch user experience. The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
Because the Student Conservation Association is a wide-spread organization that focuses on many different aspects of wildlife protection, it was imperative that they create a site with an intuitive navigation system.
If you come to the website looking for more information, it’s easy to find the organization’s mission and blog. Then, carefully placed calls-to-action make it easy to get involved with this mission yourself. If you’re a partner or a member, it’s easy to find the partnership and membership logins in the upper right-hand corner of the page as a part of the main navigation bar.
The Student Conservation Association’s website provides the tools necessary to guide site visitors through the engagement funnel on the website and lead them to convert into supporters.
Oxfam Canada
Oxfam Canada is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending global poverty by advancing women’s rights around the world. This Ontario-based organization is a member of the International Oxfam Confederation, which continues to fight for long-lasting solutions to poverty and injustice on a global scale. With a focus on empowerment, accountability, and inclusiveness, this team works to build a more equal world by providing life-saving assistance to more than 8.6 million people in 2017 alone. The Oxfam Canada website was created by Loop: Design for Social Good, who published a case study about their work with this organization here.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
The Oxfam Canada website made our list because it provides a seamless user experience while telling a powerful story and offering compelling calls to action. The visual design utilizes bright colors, captivating imagery, and immersive digital media experiences to engage with the user and draw them deeper into the funnel.
This site also integrates with innovative online giving tools as well as donor and campaign management software. With simple and prominent virtual fundraising resources incorporated directly into the site, it makes it quick and easy for supporters to get involved.
Additionally, the website revamp by Loop resulted in a simplified sitemap with content consolidated into 50% fewer pages, new types of dynamic content to better showcase and organize information, and more than twenty additional, influential video stories.
The End Fund
The End Fund is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to deliver treatments for neglected tropical diseases (NTD) to remote communities in need. The End Fund’s team focuses on developing a community of activists and philanthropists to raise awareness and fight NTDs. This organization brings people from across the world together to fight the same cause. They engage supporters with a variety of activities that not only raise funds, but also awareness for the mission they fight for. The End Fund’s website was expertly designed by the skilled team at Cornershop Creative. The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
The End Fund works with individuals everywhere. They make it easy and engaging to get involved in activities and events from home or attend adventures with their group (like hiking Kilimanjaro) to raise awareness and funds. To ensure people of any and all walks of life can get involved, their website provides clear explanations of each engagement opportunity.
No matter how people want to get involved, they have the ability to do so and can read about the opportunities available on the website.
For example, the donation form is easily accessible through the main navigation of the site. Plus, their engage tab shows all of the events and activities available for participants. Not only that, but each engagement opportunity also explains how that activity impacts the mission at hand, providing purpose and incentive for involvement.
Butler County Family YMCA Association
The Butler County Family YMCA Association believes in strengthening their community by offering an opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive. The YMCA believes that lasting personal and social change only occurs when everyone works together and invests in their kids, health, and community. With a focus on youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility, the YMCA nurtures and grows the potential of every youth and teen, strives to improve the nation’s health and well-being, and offers opportunities to give back and support neighbors. The Butler County Family YMCA partnered with Morweb, a nonprofit and associations CMS platform, to create a professional and intuitive website.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
Upon arrival to the homepage, visitors immediately see an image carousel showcasing the YMCA’s new developments and programs.
As you scroll down the page, you can see more information regarding the YMCA association, how to get involved, and special upcoming events. Their branding and contact information is clearly visible and professionally presented, and other information is readily available.
Offering intuitive navigation to their membership information, special events, locations, and other important details, users can easily find the information they’re seeking and learn how to get involved with the YMCA.
Memphis Zoo
Along with being a home for animals, The Memphis Zoo is committed to all sorts of animal-related pursuits, from protecting endangered species to conducting research to improve zoo conditions and more. They also host plenty of events and exhibits to bring their community together and to teach people more about animals and what they can do to protect them. The Memphis Zoo’s website was made by Speak, a full-service digital agency that’s specializes in designing with movement.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
When you land on the Memphis Zoo’s site, you’re immediately drawn in by full-screen footage of their animals and exhibits.
The only other elements on their homepage are their logo, a call-to-action urging you to “Discover Your Memphis Zoo,” and a button that visitors can click to scroll down and learn more. This minimalism creates visual impact and makes their site easy to navigate.
They also have a bunch of unique and graphically interesting features, like a gallery you can click through to get to know their animals a little better (pictured above!).
Rhode Island School of Design
Located in Providence, Rhode Island School of Design is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious design schools. They offer hands-on, studio-based education programs in 19 art-related majors to around 2,300 undergrad and graduate students annually. Considering that they specialize in all things design, it’s no surprise that the Rhode Island School of Design created their website themselves!The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
Leave it to a design school to create an amazing website design!
By using full-screen photos of their students and staff accomplishing amazing feats, Rhode Island School of Design has made their website both personal and visually impactful. Visitors know the university’s identity from the moment they land on the page.
Not to mention, their homepage is very user-friendly. All they’ve included are minimal navigation structures that highlight their key pages, enabling visitors to quickly locate the information they’re looking for.
We Heart Trees
We Heart Trees‘ name says it all. A philanthropic project of Knock (the web design company who created the site), the organization advocates for planting more trees, saving and recycling paper, and any other action people can take to be kinder to trees! Both We Heart Trees’ website and the organization itself are a brainchild of KnockInc, a full service digital marketing agency with a passion for philanthropy.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
The sheer creativity and interactivity of We Heart Trees’ website makes it one of the most attention-grabbing and memorable nonprofit websites out there.
Just take their homepage; instead of going for a traditional design and content strategy, the organization features an Arbor Day quiz visitors can take to find out which celebrity tree they are.
Each celebrity tree’s clever and quirky bio illustrates the characteristics of a certain type of real-life tree, so along with being fun, the experience is 100% educational!
The Malala Fund
The Malala Fund, inspired by a brave Pakistani activist named Malala Yousafzai, is on a mission to help girls reach their full potential through higher education. The organization seeks to secure the right to 12 years of safe, affordable, and quality schooling for girls all over the world by advocating for policy changes and by raising money to send them to school. The Malala Fund’s website was designed internally at the organization.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
First off, The Malala Fund’s website is aesthetically beautiful. Its crisp, modern design and feminine but empowered color scheme make it quite the sight (or should we say “site”?).
From a user experience standpoint, the website does an excellent job of engaging visitors through the use of multimedia. There are videos, images, and other digital testaments to the women they’ve served throughout.
This personal touch really brings their cause to life and portrays their work in an emotionally-charged and impactful way.
To Write Love On Her Arms
To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) began when one ordinary man posted a MySpace article telling the story of a friend who was struggling with addiction, depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. Now a registered nonprofit, TWLOHA provides those struggling with their mental health a forum for telling their stories, resources for overcoming their conditions, and a community that shows them they’re not alone. To Write Love On Her Arms’ website was built internally at the organization.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
To Write Love On Her Arms began with a story and continues to thrive through storytelling.
Their “Learn” page lays out the organization’s whole conception and evolution in an easy-to-follow timeline format, bringing the story to the forefront to inspire donors and service recipients alike with their mission.
Not to mention, TWLOHA has an excellent, multivocal blog that features stories about experiences with mental health from people all over the world. The structure and content strategy of their site perfectly embodies the community mindset that’s essential to their mission.
I Had Cancer
I Had Cancer is an online, peer-to-peer support system for the fighters and survivors of cancer, as well as the allies who support them. The organization brings people together from all over the world, providing them with a forum for telling their stories, enabling them to connect with others who have shared a similar experience, and overall reminding them that they don’t have to fight alone. I Had Cancer’s website was designed by Squeaky Wheel Media, who won a Webby for their work.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
I Have Cancer’s website was built to foster community, and thus, successfully furthers their mission.
The site revolves around the people it serves; for example, the homepage features popular forum threads and snippets from fighters’ and survivors’ personal letters to cancer. These openings for discussion prompt visitors to get involved from the moment they land on the site.
Not to mention, the site provides users with quick, targeted access to support. You can search for peers to connect with by cancer type, so you’re instantaneously matched with an empathetic support system.
Abundant Living Faith Center
Abundant Living Faith Center (ALFC) is a nondenominational church located in El Paso, Texas. Their mission is to provide an all-inclusive place for worship that brings people in all stages of their spiritual journey closer to God. They also strive to make a positive difference in their greater community. The Abundant Living Faith Center’s website was created by an in-house web designer.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
Abundant Living Faith Center’s website is extremely thorough. They include every piece of information that visitors could possibly find of interest.
For example, they have a page that walks visitors step-by-step through everything they need to know when attending their first service, helping them feel more comfortable taking the leap to become one of the congregation.
Another notable feature is their sermons, which they live stream weekly and then archive on their website. You can attend services past and present without even leaving your house!
Team Rubicon
Team Rubicon has a dual mission: to reinvigorate veterans with a sense of purpose and self-worth, while simultaneously administering immediate disaster relief to those in dire need. The organization, going even where others fear to tread, combines the skills of veterans, first responders, and medical professionals with the power of technology to go above and beyond in providing aid. Team Rubicon’s website was designed and built in-house.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
Team Rubicon’s website looks excellent on a computer, but even more impressive is all of the thought that they put into their mobile site.
When viewed on a smartphone or tablet, their website transforms into a dashboard that users can consult for quick reference on disaster relief efforts. Current operations are scrolled through as an alert at the very top of the page, and strategic icon placement and color coding make it easy for the reader to scan all of the information on their site.
Given that expediency is so crucial to the organization’s mission, this thoughtful touch makes their website all the more powerful.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) began in 2000, when a courageous 4-year-old cancer fighter named Alexandra Scott decided to open a lemonade stand to raise money to help other kids fighting cancer. Her compassion inspired a nonprofit organization that’s dedicated to funding research on cures and treatments for childhood cancer by encouraging their supporters to open their own lemonade stands. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s website was designed in-house.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
The branding on Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is vivid and consistent, reinforcing to users that they’re interacting with a website they can trust.
The look and feel of the website is incredibly thoughtful. Since they serve kids, ALSF opted to use bright colors, whimsical fonts, and friendly icons, some of which look like they could have even been drawn by the kids themselves!
Their branding not only captures the attention of even the youngest visitors (after all, Alex teaches us that anyone, regardless of age, can make an impact), but also conveys who they are as an organization from the minute a visitor lands on the page.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch‘s mission is to raise more awareness of human rights issues and injustices and to take measures to combat them. They enact their mission by publishing over 100 informative, nonpartisan reports from human rights experts yearly and by mobilizing targeted advocacy actions on a local, national, and international level. Human Rights Watch built their website internally, at the organization.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
Since they’re in part a news source, The Human Rights Watch’s website is jam-packed with quality information.
While this could be overwhelming to the end user if left unstructured, HRW has developed a clear-cut content strategy that makes their website content both cohesive and easy to navigate for their visitors.
Not to mention, they’ve utilized multimedia to portray their content in various ways, catering their website to supporters with different engagement preferences. For example, visitors could read full news articles, watch videos, scan through Tweets, or skim a quick daily brief to receive their information.
PeacePlayers International
Sports know no cultural or linguistic boundaries, and that’s exactly the premise that PeacePlayers International was founded on. The nonprofit engages children in communities on opposite sides of ideological divides in basketball games. The hope is to foster respect and understanding of different cultures and to show that, with a little common ground, everyone can coexist. PeacePlayer International’s website was created at the organization.The Organization
The Designer
Why Their Website Made the List
PeacePlayers International’s website brings the most important aspects of their organization to the forefront: the people they serve and the opportunity for supporters to further the cause.
When you land on the homepage, the first thing you see is real footage of the children they serve playing basketball, overlaid with their mission statement and a donation button.
This homepage design leaves no uncertainty around who the organization is, what they do, and where visitors can go to start supporting them, likely resulting in deeper online engagement and more donations!
Additional Fundraising Resources
Top Nonprofit Software Providers
Your website can be a valuable marketing tool, but it’s not the only way you’ll get your cause out there.
Research the best nonprofit marketing software options to see how the right marketing tools can help your organization grow. Start your search with this list!
3 Optimized Donation Pages
Now that you have the inspiration you need to build your own nonprofit website, it’s time to zero in on the most important page on your website, your donation form.
Check out these 3 peer-approved donation pages to learn how your organization can find design a successful fundraising form.
Top Online Donation Tools for Nonprofits
To get the most out of your website, you’ll want to pair it with a user-friendly, well-branded donation form.
Searching for the perfect online giving tool can be intensive, so check out our favorite online donation software providers before you start shopping around.
6 Best Nonprofit Website Ideas
Ready to design your nonprofit’s new website, but not sure where to start? We’ve got examples of the best nonprofit websites.
Check out these amazing nonprofit website examples as you design your new online home. Even better, learn how these sites were made.
Does your organization want to promote its website on Google?
