Congratulations on your nonprofit website! You've put in countless hours designing, writing, and launching a digital home for your organization. Your website now stands as a 24/7 ambassador for your cause. But the journey doesn't end at launch day.
Think of your website like a community garden. Once planted, it needs regular care to thrive and grow. Without attention, even the most beautiful websites can wither, becoming outdated, slow, or vulnerable to security issues.
In this guide, we'll walk you through a friendly, practical approach to nonprofit website maintenance. You'll learn how to keep your site fresh, secure, and effectively serving your mission without feeling overwhelmed by technical jargon.
Why Website Maintenance Matters for Nonprofits
Your website often forms the first impression potential donors, volunteers, and community members have of your organization. It's your digital front door, open to visitors around the clock.
The Trust Factor
When visitors encounter outdated information, broken links, or slow-loading pages, it can erode trust in your organization. Donors particularly need to feel confident that their personal and financial information will be secure when supporting your cause.
For younger generations especially, website functionality directly impacts trust levels. When surveyed, 44% of millennials and 42% of Gen Z indicated their trust would decrease if they couldn't donate easily online or via mobile devices, compared to only 15% of Baby Boomers. This generational gap highlights just how important a smooth, functional nonprofit website user journey is for connecting with today's donors.
The Hidden Costs of Neglect
Many nonprofits, understandably focused on their missions, view website maintenance as an afterthought. Yet postponing regular upkeep often leads to more expensive emergency fixes down the road.
Consider the parallel to your physical office space. You wouldn't wait until the roof collapses to repair a small leak. Your website deserves the same proactive attention.
Security Concerns for Donation-Accepting Websites
Nonprofit websites face unique security challenges, especially those accepting donations. Hackers often target organizations with less robust security measures, knowing they may have access to valuable donor information.
Regular security updates and monitoring aren't luxuries—they're essential protections for your donors' data and your organization's reputation. Even small nonprofits need to prioritize website security as part of their donor stewardship.
Benefits of Regular Maintenance
Consistent website care delivers multiple advantages that directly support your mission.
First, it creates a more positive experience for everyone who interacts with your organization online. When your site works smoothly, visitors can focus on your cause rather than struggling with navigation or technical issues.
Second, well-maintained websites typically perform better in search engine results. Better nonprofit website SEO helps more people discover your organization and the important work you do.
Finally, regular maintenance gives you peace of mind, knowing your digital presence is reliably representing your organization while you focus on creating impact in your community.
Creating Your Nonprofit Website Maintenance Plan
A successful maintenance strategy starts with understanding what you have and creating a realistic plan to care for it. Let's break this down into manageable steps.
Taking Inventory of What You Have
Start by documenting all the components of your website This inventory becomes your maintenance roadmap.
Make note of your content management system (WordPress, Squarespace, etc.), any plugins or integrations you use, and special features like donation forms, event calendars, or members-only sections. Don't forget to document where your site is hosted and who has access to different parts of the system.
This inventory will help you identify which elements need regular attention and what skills your team needs to maintain them effectively. Keep this document updated as your website evolves.
Setting Up a Maintenance Calendar
With your inventory in hand, it's time to create a schedule that your team can realistically follow.
Different aspects of maintenance need attention at different intervals. Some tasks, like checking for broken links or reviewing analytics, might happen monthly. Others, like deep security scans or content audits, might be quarterly or annual projects.
The key is creating a schedule that's comprehensive without being overwhelming. Start with the most critical tasks if you're short on time or resources, then gradually build a more robust routine.
Assigning Responsibilities
Website maintenance works best as a team effort, with responsibilities distributed according to skills and capacity.
Content updates might be handled by program staff who understand recent developments. Basic technical checks could be assigned to detail-oriented volunteers. More complex security or performance issues might require a full redesign of your nonprofits website.
Make sure everyone understands their role in keeping the website healthy. Create simple checklists that team members can follow, even if they weren't involved in building the original site.
Budgeting for Ongoing Maintenance
Many nonprofits struggle to budget appropriately for website maintenance. Yet setting aside resources for digital upkeep is just as important as planning for other operational expenses.
Experts recommend allocating between 2-4% of your organization's total budget to technology needs. This varies by size—smaller nonprofits typically spend around 13.2% of their overall budgets on technology, while larger organizations spend approximately 2.8%. This difference reflects how smaller nonprofits often need proportionally larger investments to establish their digital presence.
When presenting maintenance needs to your board, frame them in terms of mission protection and advancement. Emphasize how a well-maintained website supports donor relationships, program visibility, and organizational credibility—all crucial to your nonprofit's success.
Essential Monthly Maintenance Tasks
Establishing a monthly maintenance routine catches small issues before they become major problems. Here are the core tasks to include in your monthly website check-up.
Content Updates and Freshness
Content is the heart of your website, and keeping it fresh is essential for both visitors and search engines.
Start by scanning your site for any outdated information. Check staff listings, program descriptions, upcoming events, and especially your homepage for anything that's no longer current. Nothing undermines credibility faster than promoting an event that happened months ago.
Next, verify that all your links are working properly. Broken links frustrate visitors and signal to search engines that your site isn't well-maintained. Use a tool to check your site for broken links monthly, and fix any issues promptly.
Finally, look for opportunities to add fresh content. This might include recent success stories, updated impact statistics, or news about your organization's work. Regular, well-written nonprofit website content gives people a reason to return to your site and improve your search visibility.
Security Checks and Updates
Security maintenance is crucial for protecting both your organization and your supporters.
Start by ensuring your content management system and all plugins or extensions are updated to the latest versions. These updates often contain important security patches that protect against vulnerabilities.
Review user accounts and access permissions monthly. Remove accounts for people who no longer need access, and verify that current users have appropriate permission levels for their roles.
For donation-accepting websites, pay special attention to payment processing systems. Verify that your SSL certificate is active and that donation forms are functioning correctly. Donor trust depends on knowing their information is safe with your organization.
Performance Monitoring
A slow or poorly functioning website creates frustration and can drive away potential supporters.
Test your website's loading speed monthly using tools that measure performance. Pay particular attention to image sizes, which are common culprits in slow-loading pages.
Check how your site displays on mobile devices, which now account for more than half of web traffic. Make sure text is readable, buttons are easy to tap, and forms work correctly on smaller screens.
Test all forms and interactive elements to ensure they're functioning as expected. This includes contact forms, email sign-ups, and especially donation systems, which should be tested with small test transactions periodically.
Analytics Review
Your website data tells an important story about how visitors interact with your organization online.
Set aside time monthly to review key metrics like visitor numbers, popular pages, time spent on site, and how people find you. Look for patterns that can inform your nonprofit website structure and content strategy.
Pay special attention to conversion points—places where visitors take important actions like donating, signing up for newsletters, or registering for events. If these numbers drop, investigate possible causes immediately.
Use your analytics to identify both strengths to build on and weaknesses to address in your website. This data-informed approach helps you make maintenance decisions that truly impact your nonprofit's effectiveness.
Seasonal and Campaign-Based Maintenance
Beyond monthly routines, your website needs special attention around key events and seasons in your nonprofit's calendar.
Preparing for Peak Fundraising Seasons
Many nonprofits experience concentrated fundraising during specific periods like year-end giving or awareness months relevant to their cause.
Before these critical times, conduct a thorough website review. Test donation pathways with extra care, ensure your site can handle increased traffic, and optimize your donation page design specifically for your campaign.
Remember that during peak fundraising periods, even small website issues can have significant financial consequences. Schedule a pre-campaign website check at least two weeks before major fundraising efforts to allow time for fixing any problems.
Annual Report Updates
Your website should reflect the most current impact information available about your organization's work.
When you complete your annual report, promptly update key statistics and success stories throughout your website. This ensures consistency between your printed materials and digital presence.
Use this annual update as an opportunity to refresh your nonprofit website storytelling. Look for compelling ways to translate numbers into narratives that connect emotionally with visitors and demonstrate your accountability.
Managing Season-Specific Content
Many nonprofits have cyclical programs or campaigns that recur annually. Develop a system for managing this seasonal content efficiently.
Create a content calendar that reminds you when to publish, update, or archive seasonal content. This prevents outdated information from lingering and helps you plan ahead for upcoming needs.
Consider creating templates for recurring campaigns or events. These save time while maintaining consistent branding and functionality from year to year.
Special Events and Registration Systems
When your nonprofit hosts events requiring online registration, additional maintenance steps are necessary to ensure a smooth experience.
Test registration systems thoroughly before launching event promotions. Process a test registration yourself, checking every step of the user journey from discovery to confirmation.
After events conclude, update your website promptly to reflect that registration has closed. Consider adding post-event content like photos or impact statements to engage attendees and document your success.
Technical Maintenance Essentials
Some maintenance tasks are more technical in nature but equally important to your website's health. Here's what you need to know about these essential technical considerations.
Content Management System Updates
Your content management system (CMS) requires regular updates to remain secure and functional.
Different types of updates serve different purposes. Security updates should generally be applied immediately, while feature updates might be scheduled for less busy periods. Make sure you understand which updates are critical versus optional.
Before applying significant updates, back up your website. This creates a safety net in case anything goes wrong during the update process. For major updates, consider testing in a staging environment first if possible.
SSL Certificate Management
An SSL certificate creates a secure connection for visitors to your website, indicated by the padlock icon in browsers and the "https" in your web address.
Nonprofit websites with donation functions absolutely must maintain valid SSL certificates. Monitor your certificate's expiration date and renew well before it expires to prevent security warnings that could frighten away supporters.
If you change hosting providers or make major changes to your domain structure, verify that your SSL certificate continues to function properly across all pages. Pay special attention to donation pages, which must maintain the highest level of security.
Database Maintenance
Behind the scenes, your website stores information in databases that benefit from occasional cleaning and optimization.
Regular database maintenance includes removing spam submissions from forms, archiving outdated content, and optimizing tables for better performance. These technical tasks may require professional assistance depending on your team's expertise.
For membership organizations, database maintenance also includes reviewing and cleaning up user accounts, removing duplicates, and ensuring information is current and accurate.
Media Library Management
As your website grows, your collection of images, documents, and other media files can become unwieldy without regular attention.
Organize your media library with a consistent naming convention and folder structure. This makes it easier to find and reuse assets, saving time and storage space.
Optimize images before uploading them to your site, balancing quality with file size. Large, unoptimized images significantly slow down your website, creating frustration for visitors and negatively impacting your search ranking.
For video content, regularly check that embedded videos are still available, captions remain accurate, and playback functions properly across different devices and browsers.
Fixing Broken Links and 404 Errors
Broken links create dead ends for your visitors and signal to search engines that your site isn't well-maintained.
Use a broken link checker tool to scan your site monthly for these issues. Fix problems promptly by updating links, creating redirects, or removing outdated references.
Create a custom 404 (page not found) error page that helps redirect lost visitors. Your error page should include your navigation menu, a search function, and links to popular content to help people find what they're looking for despite hitting a dead end.
Special Considerations for Nonprofit Websites
Nonprofit websites have unique features that require special maintenance attention. These elements often directly support your fundraising and community-building efforts.
Donation System Maintenance
Your donation system deserves the most rigorous maintenance routine on your website.
Monthly, process a test donation to verify the entire system works smoothly. Check that forms submit properly, payment processors connect correctly, and confirmation emails deliver promptly.
Update your donation page content regularly to reflect current campaigns, needs, and impact stories. Donors are more motivated when they understand exactly how their contribution will make a difference.
Verify that donation receipts contain all information required for tax purposes in your region. If tax laws change, update your receipt templates promptly to maintain compliance and donor convenience.
Accessibility Compliance
Making your website accessible to people with disabilities isn't just a legal consideration—it's central to many nonprofits' inclusive values.
The current state of website accessibility among nonprofits remains concerning, with approximately 78% of nonprofit websites being inaccessible to visitors with visual and hearing disabilities. Even more troubling, less than 2% of nonprofit organizations have real nonprofit website accessibility. These statistics remind us how much work remains to create truly inclusive digital spaces.
Regularly test your site with accessibility tools that identify common issues like missing alt text for images, poor color contrast, or navigation problems. Many of these issues can be fixed quickly once identified.
When creating new content, build accessibility into your process rather than treating it as an afterthought. This includes adding descriptive alt text to images, using proper heading structures, and ensuring links make sense out of context.
Membership Area and Volunteer Portal Upkeep
If your site includes private areas for members or volunteers, these sections need special maintenance attention.
Regularly review user accounts, removing access for individuals no longer affiliated with your organization. This maintains security and ensures your user data remains current.
Test the login process monthly to verify it works smoothly. Check that password reset functions operate correctly and that users can easily navigate once logged in.
Update resources in these private areas regularly. Members and volunteers engage more actively when they find fresh, relevant content each time they log in.
Multi-language Content Maintenance
For organizations serving diverse communities, maintaining content in multiple languages presents additional challenges.
When updating content, remember to refresh all language versions simultaneously. Inconsistencies between language versions can create confusion and undermine trust with multilingual audiences.
Periodically review translations with native speakers to ensure they remain culturally appropriate and technically accurate. Machine translation tools may help with initial drafts, but human review is essential for quality.
Test navigation and functionality in each language version to verify that you're following best practices and your user experience remains consistent regardless of language choice.
Email System Integration
Many nonprofits integrate their websites with email marketing systems, creating connections that require regular maintenance.
Verify that sign-up forms on your website correctly add people to your email list. Test this process monthly by subscribing with a test email address.
When you update your website design, check whether corresponding changes are needed in your email templates to maintain consistent branding. Visual consistency builds trust across all your digital channels.
Regularly test the links in your emails that point back to your website. Email clicks often drive significant traffic to nonprofit websites, so these pathways need to function flawlessly.
DIY vs. Professional Maintenance
Deciding what to handle in-house versus when to call in professional help is a common challenge for nonprofits. Here's how to find the right balance for your organization.
What You Can Do In-House
Many routine maintenance tasks can be handled by staff or volunteers with basic training.
Content updates, simple image changes, and regular link checking can usually be managed in-house with minimal technical expertise. Create simple guides for these common tasks to empower your team.
Organizations like Nonprofit Ready offer free online courses specifically for nonprofit professionals, covering various aspects of website management and digital skills. With over 600 learning resources available, your team can gradually build the skills needed for basic maintenance without straining your budget.
Analytics review and basic performance monitoring can also be handled internally. Set up a simple dashboard or report template that makes it easy for non-technical team members to spot important trends.
When to Call the Professionals
Some situations clearly signal the need for professional website support.
Security incidents, significant performance problems, or technical errors that prevent core functions like donation processing require immediate expert attention. Having a relationship with a trusted technical partner before emergencies occur is invaluable.
Major updates to your content management system or key plugins often benefit from professional oversight. The cost of expert help during these transitions is typically far less than fixing problems afterward.
Professional website maintenance becomes especially important before major fundraising campaigns or events. Consider scheduling a professional review before these critical periods to ensure everything is optimized for success.
Maintenance Service Options
Various support models exist to help nonprofits maintain their websites effectively.
Monthly maintenance packages often provide the best value, combining regular updates with monitoring and a certain amount of support time. These predictable expenses are easier to budget for than emergency fixes.
When evaluating maintenance providers, look beyond price to understand exactly what services are included. Verify whether the provider has specific experience with nonprofit website design and the particular systems your organization uses.
Ask potential providers about their response times, especially for urgent issues. Understanding how quickly they'll address different types of problems helps set realistic expectations for your team.
Building a Culture of Website Care
For sustainable website maintenance, weave digital care into your organization's culture. Here's how to make website upkeep a natural part of your nonprofit's operations.
Getting Your Team on Board
Help your entire team understand how the website supports your mission and their role in keeping it effective.
Incorporate basic website checks into existing workflows. For example, program staff might verify their program descriptions quarterly, or event coordinators might be responsible for updating event listings.
Recognize and appreciate team contributions to website maintenance. Celebrating improvements helps everyone see website care as valuable rather than burdensome.
Creating Documentation That People Will Actually Use
Effective documentation makes maintenance more consistent and less dependent on specific individuals.
Create simple, visual guides for common tasks rather than comprehensive technical manuals. Screenshot-based instructions with clear callouts are typically more helpful than text-heavy explanations.
A well-structured approach includes creating a detailed checklist that outlines regular maintenance tasks, from weekly content updates to quarterly accessibility audits. Make sure to clearly define who is responsible for various tasks, assigning specific team members to content updates, security checks, and technical maintenance based on their skills and capacity.
Consider recording short screencast videos for more complex procedures. These visual demonstrations often communicate processes more clearly than written instructions, especially for visual learners.
Emergency Response Plan
Despite your best maintenance efforts, emergencies sometimes occur. Being prepared makes all the difference.
Develop a simple website emergency plan that includes contact information for key support resources, backup access credentials stored securely, and step-by-step procedures for common scenarios like site outages or security breaches.
Make sure multiple team members know where to find this emergency information and are authorized to initiate the response plan. Website emergencies don't always conveniently occur when your webmaster is available.
Test your emergency plan periodically through simulation exercises. This gives your team confidence in their ability to handle unexpected situations while identifying any gaps in your preparation.
Conclusion
Maintaining your nonprofit's website isn't just a technical responsibility—it's a mission-critical function that protects and advances your organization's work in the community.
The good news is that website maintenance doesn't have to be overwhelming. By establishing clear routines, distributing responsibilities appropriately, and knowing when to seek professional help, your nonprofit can maintain a digital presence that truly serves your mission.
Remember that perfect website maintenance doesn't happen overnight. Start with the most critical aspects—security, donation functionality, and content accuracy—then build more comprehensive routines as your capacity allows.
Your website is one of your most powerful tools for advancing your cause. By giving it the regular care it deserves, you're making a significant investment in your nonprofit's ability to create lasting change in the world.
