How to Get a Website for Your Community Group or Charity on a Small Budget

Most community groups don't need a big website. They need a clear one. When someone hears about you at the markets or on Facebook, they want to find out three things quickly: what you do, when and where, and how to get involved or help.

If your website answers those three questions on a phone in under ten seconds, it's doing its job.

What you actually need

• A home page that says what you do in one sentence. "Free food for anyone doing it tough, every Wednesday in Blaxland" beats a paragraph about your values.
• When and where. Opening times, meeting days, the address and a map.
• How to help. Volunteer, donate, or come along. One clear button for each.
• Contact details. An email address that gets answered and, if you're happy to share it, a phone number.
• A few real photos. Your volunteers, your space, your events. Ask people before you post their faces.

That's often four or five pages. Many groups do well with one long, well-organised page.

What you can skip

You probably don't need a members' area, a forum, a complicated events calendar or an online shop on day one. Each of these adds cost and something that has to be looked after. Add them later if people are asking for them.

Ask the right questions

Ongoing commitments are where small groups get caught out. Before you agree to anything, ask:

1. What's included each year? Ask what you get for any ongoing fee: hosting, updates, backups and help when something breaks.
2. Who owns the domain name? It should be registered in your organisation's name, with a shared email address the committee can access. Groups lose their website when the one volunteer who registered it moves on.
3. What needs updating, and who does it? Sites built on plugins need regular security updates. A simpler build needs far fewer.

Free help is out there

Registered charities can often get free or discounted tools, including Google's nonprofit programs and Canva for Nonprofits. We've written a guide to free tools for not-for-profits.

Where to spend the money

If your budget is small, spend it on two things: clear writing and a site that's quick and easy to update. A beautiful site nobody can update is out of date within a month.

We offer a community rate for not-for-profits. If you'd like to talk through what your group needs, book a free chat.