Why it matters
What a registered charity's website actually needs
A registered charity's website needs five things: a clear statement of what you do and who you serve, a donate path that works on a phone, your accountability details (charity number, annual report, board), your programs described in plain language, and an obvious way to get in touch or volunteer. Everything else is optional.
Most charity sites fail not because they are missing features but because the three things a visitor came for — donate, contact, what do you actually do — are buried under everything the board wanted included.
The five things every charity site needs
- What you do, in one sentence, above the fold. Not your mission statement — the plain version you would say out loud.
- A donate path that survives a phone. Every extra tap between intent and payment loses people.
- Transparency: your registered charity number, your most recent annual report or financials, and who is on your board.
- Programs and services, described the way the people you serve would describe them — not in sector language.
- Contact and volunteer paths, both easy to find from any page.
Write the 'what we do' sentence first, before anyone designs anything. If the board cannot agree on one sentence, the website is not the problem.
What donors and funders check
Donors do a quick credibility pass before giving, and funders do a slower one before granting. Both look for the same signals: that the organization is real, current and accountable.
- A registered charity number they can verify against the CRA listing
- Recent activity — a dated update, a recent report, an event that has not already passed
- Named people, with real photos, rather than an anonymous 'our team'
- Concrete outcomes rather than adjectives: numbers served, meals delivered, hours funded
- A site that loads quickly and works on a phone, which is where most first visits happen
What a charity site can safely skip
Scope creep is what turns a two-week website into a six-month one. These are usually safe to leave out of a first build:
- A blog nobody has committed to writing. An empty blog dated eighteen months ago is worse than no blog.
- A members-only portal, unless you already have members asking for one.
- A custom event ticketing system — use an established platform and link to it.
- A photo gallery of every event since 2014.
- A newsletter signup you have no plan to send anything to.
Accessibility is not optional
If your organization serves the public, people using screen readers, keyboard navigation or high-contrast modes are part of your audience — and in Ontario, accessibility obligations apply to many organizations under the AODA. The practical basics are inexpensive when built in and expensive when retrofitted: real text instead of text baked into images, genuine heading structure, alt text on meaningful images, sufficient colour contrast, and forms that can be completed by keyboard alone.
Ask any prospective builder how they handle this. The answer tells you a lot about the rest of the build.
Being findable
A charity website that nobody finds does not raise anything. The two highest-leverage things are a complete Google Business Profile, so you appear on Maps and in 'near me' searches, and a site whose structure and structured data make it clear what you do and where. Both matter more than word count.
FAQ
Related questions
Does a charity website need to show the charity number?
It should. Donors and funders use it to verify you against the CRA listing, and its absence reads as a red flag even when everything else is in order.
How many pages does a small charity website need?
Usually four to six: what you do, programs, donate, about and board, contact. Adding pages you have no one to maintain makes the site worse, not better.
What is the best way to take donations on a charity website?
Use an established payment or donation platform and link to it rather than building your own. Your job is to remove taps between the donate button and the confirmation.
Do we need a blog?
Only if someone has actually committed to writing it. A dated, abandoned blog undermines the credibility the rest of the site is building.
Does accessibility apply to non-profits in Ontario?
Many Ontario organizations have obligations under the AODA, and the practical basics — real text, heading structure, alt text, contrast, keyboard-navigable forms — are cheap when built in from the start. Get specific advice for your organization's size and type.
How do we keep the site current with no staff?
Build it so that whoever answers the phone can update it. Hours, event dates and the donate link should be editable in seconds, without a developer and without an invoice.