What the site has to do
- Explain the mission in the first screen and make the donate button impossible to miss.
- Take one-time and monthly donations with receipts.
- List programs, events and volunteer opportunities with sign-up.
- Publish impact reports and financial statements.
- Be editable by staff and volunteers without a developer.
Donations and CRA receipts
Registered charities must issue official donation receipts with specific content. Canadian-focused platforms such as CanadaHelps and Zeffy issue compliant receipts and integrate with WordPress; general tools such as GiveWP can be configured but need care with receipt content and currency. Choose a processor whose fees fit your donation size, and connect donations to your donor database from day one.
Accessibility is not optional
Ontario nonprofits with 50 or more employees must meet WCAG 2.0 AA under AODA, and funders increasingly require it regardless of size. Build to WCAG 2.1 AA: proper headings, contrast, keyboard navigation, alt text, accessible forms. It is cheaper to build in than to retrofit.
What it costs, and grants that help
Build cost depends on design and integrations, and ongoing hosting and maintenance is the part boards forget to budget for. Many nonprofits qualify for discounted software (TechSoup Canada) and Google Ad Grants for traffic. For registered nonprofits and charities we design and build the website at no charge: you pay for hosting and a maintenance and support plan, quoted in writing before any work starts. See how the free nonprofit website offer works.