Do you want to skip the read and get right to my top pick? The best website builder for charities for most people is Squarespace.
Introduction to Website Builder for Charities:
Much like non profit website builders, website builder for charities are used to create an online presence for philanthropists, religious missions, and either publicly or privately funded groups dedicated to the welfare of the marginalised.
In this review, we look at the top five website builders for charities, including free charity website builders recommended for charity work and philanthropy.
What Are Some of the Best Charity Website Examples?
The best website builder for charities are those that engage the eye through a well-considered and curated design, as well as meaningful content and total ease of navigation on the part of the site visitor.
That said, here are our top charity website examples. But take note that some of these were made with platforms other than the ones included in our top seven list of the best website builders for charities.
Our List of the Best Website Builder for Charities:
The top five choices for the best website builder for charities are as follows:
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Squarespace: best for aesthetic appeal and design
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Weebly: best for beginners
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SITE123: best in metrics and analytics
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Shopify: best in eCommerce functionality
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WordPress.com: best for beginner blogging
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uKit: best for engagement and promotions
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Wix: general website builder for charities
How We Chose the Best Website Builder for Charities:
We followed this criteria when it came to selecting the best website builders for charities and free website builder for charities. These are as follows:
- Ease of use; many nonprofits do not have a sizable budget for marketing initiatives, so it's important that making a free charity website does not have a steep learning curve.
- Features and functionality; the best website builder for charities need to have non-negotiable features such as payment integration, analytics, and metrics.
- Performance and resilience; while a beautiful website can certainly turn heads, a non profit website builder needs to have SEO and eCommerce capabilities;
- Customer support; and
- Value for money.
It is also important that these site builders also have features specific to online marketing, campaign development and deployment, donation drives, and event management, as charitable institutions will be able to use these tools to create compelling fund-raising drives for their respective causes.
Our Best Website Builders for Charities in Detail:
Squarespace
Overview:
While Squarespace is essentially an ecommerce-centric site building platform, many of its functions are applicable in the context of charity work.
Thanks to this non profit website builder's built-in scheduling function much appreciated by those in the service and creative industries, organisations can use the platform to schedule and host online events or set parameters for online fundraising.
The charity/non profit website builder also has payment gateway integration with reputable brands like Stripe and PayPal, so donors who want to send contributions are assured of secure connections.
Charity Website Examples – Made with Squarespace:
There are several charity website examples made with Squarespace, one of which is for Red Made. Equity in health care is the core focus of this organisation. It originally started out as one of the first to call out the global health care system for its seeming indifference towards AIDS / HIV patients and the health workers caring for them. Today, through its slickly designed website, Red Made now supports healthcare workers at the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19.
Another charity website examples made with Squarespace is the Center for Black Equity. This charity seeks to improve the lives of Black LGBTQ+ people around the world – and with a fun website to boot! Their website is interactive and engaging, featuring a great calendar, events, and how you can help improve equity in the community.
Features:
- Drag and drop site builder with built-in ecommerce capabilities;
- Over 100 industry-specific design templates;
- Built-in site customisation modules;
- Cloud-based hosting;
- Mobile application for editing or site management on the fly; and
- SEO toolkit
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Truly optimised for ecommerce site creation and management;
- Industry-specific templates so that creators have a professional look for their sites;
- Top notch when it comes to technical support
Cons:
- Drag and drop builder can be difficult to manipulate, especially for those new to the platform;
- Scores low when it comes to customising your free charity website.
Pricing:
Subscription cost runs between $12 and $40 a month, with ecommerce plans pegged at $26 monthly at the most basic.
The best website builder for charities, Squarespace, has a free trial for 14 days with their Business Plan. Always check through their terms of service before you commit.
>> Try Squarespace For Free <<
Weebly
Overview:
Reliability is a key consideration for many charities where their websites are concerned. Specifically, for those related to disaster or emergency response, their sites have to be accessible – either on desktop or mobile – at any given time and in any given situation.
For this reason, old stalwart Weebly made it to our list of the best website builder for charities this year. Thanks to cloud-based hosting built into practically all of its subscriptions, users are assured of practically 99.9 per cent uptime for their sites and that also goes for many of the connectivities for websites created and hosted on the platform.
In recent years, Weebly has also become a darling of the ecommerce sector thanks to its Weebly eCommerce variant – and it’s actually a builder that charities related to livelihood programmes can use to their advantage. Not only does it help promote their advocacies, but it also enables the communities or focus groups under their care to offer their products to a wider market.
Charity Website Examples – Made with Weebly:
Among the charity website examples we like is Humorology. Laughter is the best medicine – and that’s the central tenet behind Humorology, the Atlanta, GA-based organisation that promotes the therapeutic value of humour for hospitalised patients. It has taken the humour therapy principles adhered to by the legendary Hunter “Patch” Adams MD into the 21st century, enabling patients – especially children affected by illness or physical abuse – to heal.
Another of our Weebly-made charity website examples is nonprofit association Historic Route 20. They encourage travel as a way of supporting communities in need and small businesses by visiting the original US Route 20.
Features:
- Intuitive drag-and-drop website builder for charities to create a free charity website easily;
- SEO toolkit;
- Ecommerce toolkit;
- In-platform applications marketplace for third-party integrations;
- SSL certificate; and
- Cloud-based hosting
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Drag and drop interface so that you get easy – and quick – creation of a free charity website;
- One of the most affordable in terms of pricing;
- Already includes ample site security features in its packages
Cons:
- Limited choices when it comes to aesthetic elements;
- Offers SEO tools, but the functionality is limited;
- Updates to your free charity website are sporadic at best.
Pricing:
It's a free charity website builder if you want a barebones site. From $5 monthly cost for a Weebly subscription, but a caveat: full functionality is only available for the top two pricing tiers.
A 30-day money back guarantee is applicable to all paid subscriptions. Therefore, users who aren't happy with the service can receive a full refund if they cancel their account within 30 days of activation or within 30 days of the service contract renewal.
SITE123
Overview:
Transparency is something required of – even demanded from – both non-profits and charitable institutions, as donors would like to know exactly where their money is going. Hence, the strong metrics and analytics engines of SITE123 will certainly give a charity a leg-up in this particular context.
The platform boasts of a strong analytics management feature powered by Google paired with social media integration with over 35 possible platforms. In doing so, organisations using the platform to create their sites have the ability to compile information, create reports, and also monitor the impact of different initiatives deployed online.
But while SITE123 is one of the easiest website builder for charities one can use, we can help but feel that it is very basic. For those who are just starting their advocacies, we do recommend the platform as it enables you to get a site up and running in minutes. But, as both your organisation and advocacy grow, you may find yourselves outgrowing the platform as it lacks the means for long-term scalability.
Charity Website Examples – Made with SITE123:
The Rotary Club of Glenhaven, situated in Glenhaven and Hills District, has donated to community organisations and charities, local and international, worldwide for 27 years.
Features:
- Conventional drag and drop website builder to create a free charity website;
- Core SEO toolkit;
- Google Analytics for metrics monitoring;
- Social media integration for more than 25 popular social networking platforms, but note this does not offer live feeds to user pages
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Predefined parameters to create a free charity website allow for the ultimate ease of use;
- One of the few site builders to offer a free-to-use edition;
- Offers multilingual options so that things are easier for site creators whose native language isn’t English.
Cons:
- Free charity website builder edition is riddled with pop-ups that tend to distract site creators from their work;
- One of the pricier website building options, but it doesn’t really give that much bang for your buck;
- Layout templates are very pedestrian at best and there are very few ways by which these can be enhanced.
Pricing:
The terms of service page states you can cancel your service contract and receive a full refund within 14 days of your initial purchase.
Shopify
Overview:
Due to its extensive eCommerce functionality, Shopify is easily one of the best website builders for charities. It has been widely used by for- and non-profit organisations in over 175 countries around the world. With a stable platform and evolving set of features, it's thought to be the leading player in the online marketplace space.
With an easy site builder, it will be painless to create a charity website with Shopify. The UI is simple and constructed for maximum ease of use and overall experience. It also grows with your charity with an ever-evolving set of tools.
Charity Website Examples – Made with Shopify:
Its name means beautiful wave in Spanish. It is an appropriate one for Ondalinda – a cultural charity dedicated to promoting sustainability and environmental awareness in the context of indigenous arts and culture.
Features:
- Intuitive site builder;
- Excellent POS capability;
- Great toolkit for international transactions;
- Painless and efficient logistics solutions.
- Tools for online/offline marketing.
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Excellent third-party integrations, specifically payment channels to accept donations;
- Social media marketing solutions;
- Email solutions available;
- Excellent analytics to help you trace the growth of your charity website.
Cons:
- Relatively more expensive than other website builder for charities;
- Blogging feature can be much improved;
- Customising your site can be difficult.
Pricing:
Subscriptions may set you back between $29 and $299 monthly, making Shopify one of the most expensive platforms to use
WordPress.com
Overview:
The best charity website examples require not only an inspiring message and branding, but a website that fully reflects the persona the organisation intends to show. WordPress is one of the best website builder for charities because it's highly customisable, flexible, and has an easy-to-use eCommerce plugin WooCommerce.
That said, WordPress enables you to create a stunning and functional charity website storefront. And of course, since it is basically the pioneer in blogging, you can directly engage with donors and supporters with news and fresh content for maximum engagement. You can tell success stories of your charity more effectively.
Charity Website Examples – Made with WordPress.com:
For an organisation that has been around since 1873, the US Naval Institute’s charity website examples is anything but shabby. Constantly updated with engaging articles regarding both the military and civilian aspects of naval life in the 21st century, it seeks to educate readers on the institution’s fine traditions of integrity and service.
Features:
- Highly flexible CMS site creator/editor;
- Excellent and unparalleled blogging function;
- WooCommerce plugin for eCommerce management;
- Post scheduling feature;
- Responsive design with a wealth of templates you can choose.
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- SEO- and mobile-ready charity websites so you can get a rankings boost;
- Excellent social media integration and marketing tools;
- Stunning templates and highly customisable sites;
- Wide range of third-party integrations.
Cons:
- Customisation may be expensive in the long run so you won't personalise your site as much;
- May not appeal to complete beginners;
Pricing:
- Free to use version available so you can make a free charity website, but additional features and functionality require a paid subscription.
- Monthly rates range of this top website builder for charities are between $4 to $45
Pricing:
A 14-day money-back guarantee applies to all paid subscriptions as per their Terms of Service.
uKit
Overview:
Like SITE123, uKit is a basic website builder for charities, but one that skews more towards the ecommerce sector.
With uKit, what you see is what you get: a quick to set up drag and drop-style builder that allows users to create a custom site in minutes. You can even use a custom domain to reflect the nature of your organisation.
Surprisingly, for a basic builder, uKit also offers users a range of tools for analytics and promotions – two key necessities for any charity operating online.
Charity Website Examples – Made with uKit:
This charity website examples made with uKit for Compassion help connect donors with children in poverty from around the world. You can send birthday cards or donate money to their education through their website.
Features:
- Conventional drag and drop website builder so it's intuitive;
- Mobile-responsive templates and layouts;
- Design suite featuring a number of colour palettes and typography selections;
- Google Analytics interface; and
- Promotional toolkit so you can boost your marketing efforts.
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Quite powerful and features-laden for a basic builder;
- Offers multilingual support;
- Has extensive third-party integrations so you can create a highly engaging website
Cons:
- No free plan for this best website builder for charities option;
- Snap-to-grid layouts can be cumbersome to use so you'll have a learning curve;
- Limited options for customisation
Pricing:
Wix
Overview:
If you aren’t exactly clued in with regard to building a website, Wix takes out the bulk of the guesswork for you. As a result, you can focus on doing the good work and getting people on the ground up and running.
Wix employs a two-pronged approach as a website builder for charities. On one hand, you can create a free charity website site using their intuitive AI-design module (Wix Automated Design Intelligence or Wix ADI.) On the other, you can create one using the platform's standard drag and drop builder which is easy enough to learn and use. Regardless of how you go about creating your site, you can have it up and running in mere minutes.
Moreover, keep in mind that this particular platform is highly versatile as illustrated by several charity website examples. Even better, you'll have an extensive range of options one has for creating and deploying content. It is an excellent way for creating a site that will encourage visitors to do their part in helping others out.
Charity Website Examples – Made with WIX:
A first look at the BRAG website will make visitors wonder if they haven’t surfed onto the site for a haute couture label by mistake. Not surprising as this charity website examples advocates for racial and cultural diversity in fashion since 1970.
Operation Enduring Warrior is a Wix-made charity website examples is dedicated to helping and assisting the rehabilitation of veterans from the military and law enforcement.
Features:
- WIX ADI site builder;
- Conventional drag-and-drop builder;
- SEO tool suite; and
- Ecommerce tool suite
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- One of the easiest nonprofit website builders to learn and use;
- Offers possibly the most extensive selection of functional add-ons;
- Offers maximum creative flexibility, as you would see in several nonprofit website examples;
- Excellent technical assistance
Cons:
- No reversion function. If you create a page using a specific template, you can’t easily swap it out and need to start again from scratch;
- The more scalable features involve premium third-party applications that need to be paid for;
- One can easily get lost with all the available features in the UI
Pricing:
Monthly rates of this charity/nonprofit website builder start at $4.50
There's a Wix free plan as well as a 14-day money-back guarantee on all plans.
Conclusion and Recommendation for the Best Website Builder for Charities:
As far as we are concerned, the best website builder for charities are those that are very easy to use and have the necessary tools for driving up browser and social media engagement when it comes to core audiences.
Similar to our review of the best website builders for non-profit organisations, Squarespace takes top marks thanks to numerous features that will enable charities to raise awareness about their causes and call the public to action. Still, the other builders reviewed here all give charities an opportunity to put their best foot forward online.
Nevertheless, as with all our reviews, we recommend that anyone looking for a reliable best website builder for charities ought to read up, do their own research, and find a nonprofit website builder that really suits the way they work.
FAQs:
Our organisation isn’t exactly well-funded. Are there any free charity website builders?
Yes: both Wix and Weebly website builders for charities offer free editions of their building platform and you can use them right out of the box, so to speak. However, do keep in mind that a free plan will not entitle your organisation to a custom domain and your site will feature in-platform advertising.
We’re in the market for a basic builder for our charity and we've looked at charity website examples. Which would work better for us as : SITE123 or uKit?
If we’re going by basics, both of these site builders work quite well for beginners. But, especially if your organisation has plans to expand its operations to other places or your advocacy grows to cover other related topics, SITE123 may not be able to provide the scalability you will require. In which case, uKit would be a better choice.
That's all for now:
If you've read all the way through this best website builder for charities list, we are thankful. We hope you can now answer the question of what is the best free charity website builder for you! We have a large collection of articles, guides, and comparison reviews of eCommerce solutions, web hosting providers, website builders, and more! Feel free to check them out;
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