Designing a website for a charity is about more than just aesthetics—it's about creating a platform that effectively communicates your mission, engages your audience, and drives action. With limited budgets and specific goals, choosing the right tools and technology is essential to ensure your website is both cost-effective and impactful.
This post explores how to design charity websites that are easy to manage, meet your organisation’s unique requirements, and align with your goals—whether that's raising awareness, attracting donations, or building community connections—all while keeping costs under control.
Website design for Camtrust Charity
I created a new website for Camtrust, a Cambridge-based charity that supports adults with learning disabilities by providing life and work skills training.
The new site replaces an outdated and costly WordPress site that required expensive support for even minor updates. By utilising HubSpot's free tier, I was able to deliver a smart new site with significantly reduced hosting and support costs while delivering a robust, user-friendly platform.
The new site uses a modern theme which provides a lovely smart design and great UX, and offers valuable features like easy-to-use data capture forms, newsletter delivery, and reporting tools, empowering Camtrust to better engage with their community and streamline their operations.
Read more about my HubSpot experience or visit the Camtrust charity website.
Cambridge Past, Present & Future
I designed a modern, user-friendly website for Cambridge Past, Present & Future (CPPF), a charity dedicated to protecting and enhancing Cambridge's green spaces, historic buildings, and overall development.
Using WordPress, I created a platform that is easy for anyone within the charity to manage and update without needing technical expertise. The new website reflects CPPF’s mission, providing a dynamic and engaging way to showcase their work, share updates, and connect with the community, while empowering the team to take full control of their online presence.
Cottenham & Rampton Lunch Club
This small local charity was being charged excessively for website hosting and technical support, despite their website receiving very low traffic. The site was outdated and difficult to manage due to a complex page builder, and it lacked an SSL certificate, which was considered too expensive.
To address these issues, I created a user-friendly Google Site using their own domain name and a free SSL. The new charity website design is easy to update, secure, and has no ongoing costs, ensuring the charity can focus its resources where they’re needed most.
Yorkshire Children's Trust website design
I created this website design concept for YCN to explore alternatives to the traditional full-width hero image, offering a fresh and distinctive approach to web design. The concept emphasizes creative layouts and innovative use of space, focusing on engaging visual elements and strategic content placement to make an impact without relying on a dominant hero image.
This design not only breaks away from conventional styles but also aligns with YCN's commitment to originality, ensuring the website stands out while delivering a dynamic and engaging user experience.
Other charity website design projects
Whilst working at awesome local agencies including Ware Anthony Rust and Studio 24, I've been involved in many website design projects including for East Anglian Air Ambulance, Internet Watch Foundation, Thomas Pocklington Trust, Sports Connections Foundation, Save the Rhino International and many more.
Through my work with numerous blind and vision charities, I’ve developed a deep understanding of accessibility and inclusive design principles, becoming an ambassador for creating websites that are usable and welcoming for everyone. This experience has taught me the importance of designing with empathy, ensuring that digital platforms are not only visually appealing but also functional and accessible to users with a wide range of abilities. I advocate for features like screen reader compatibility, logical navigation structures, clear typography, and optimised colour contrast to ensure inclusivity. My goal is to create websites that empower all users to engage with content effortlessly, fostering a more inclusive online experience.
Get in touch if you need a hand with your charity website design.
