Forging Tomorrow
Free nonprofit website checklist

You do the real work. Here’s how to check your website says so.

A first-time donor, a grantmaker doing due diligence, or someone thinking about volunteering usually decides how much to trust you within the first few seconds on your site, long before they read a word of your program descriptions. They’re not questioning whether your work is real. They just don’t know that yet, and your website is often the only evidence they have. This checklist covers the specific signals that tell a stranger you’re legitimate, accountable, and worth their time, trust, or gift. No web expertise required, just ten minutes and an honest look at your own site.

It takes about 5 minutes, it’s free, and you’ll see your results right away.

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Answer honestly, based on what’s actually live on your site today. Most organizations have earned more trust than their website is currently showing. This isn’t about whether the work is real, you know it is, it’s about whether a stranger landing on your site can tell.

01 Your mission is stated in plain language, above the fold Someone landing on our homepage can read, in a sentence or two, what we do and who we help, without scrolling or clicking into another page. How to check: Open your homepage like you’ve never seen it before. Can you find your mission in the first screen, before scrolling? If it’s buried in an “About” page three clicks deep, that’s a gap.
02 Our nonprofit status is visible, not just implied Our site says clearly that we’re a registered nonprofit (our tax-exempt status, our EIN, or both), somewhere a visitor can actually find it, not just on a page nobody clicks. How to check: Look in your footer, your About page, and your donate page. If you can’t find your EIN or nonprofit status anywhere without hunting, that’s a gap. Donors and grantmakers both look for this specifically.
03 Our financials or impact reporting are linked, not just mentioned A visitor can click straight to something concrete about our finances or outcomes, our 990, an annual report, or an impact page, not just a sentence saying we’re “transparent” with no document behind it. How to check: Try to find and open an actual financial or impact document from your site in under 30 seconds. If you can’t locate one, or it only exists on paper, that’s a gap.
04 We explain where the money actually goes Beyond just having a financial document linked, our site tells visitors in plain language how funds are used (how much goes to programs, what a gift funds specifically), not just “your donation makes a difference.” How to check: Read your own donate page and About page as if you were deciding whether to give. If you can’t answer “what does my money actually do here” from the words on the page, that’s a gap, even if a 990 is linked elsewhere.
05 There’s a real, physical address on our site Our site lists a real street address (an office, a program site, or a mailing address), not just a city and state or no location at all. How to check: Search your site for an address the way a visitor would, footer, contact page, About page. If all you find is a city name or nothing, that’s a gap.
06 There’s a human being to contact, not just a form A visitor can find a name, phone number, or direct email for an actual person, not only a contact form that disappears into an inbox with no name attached. How to check: Look at your contact page. If the only option is a form with no named contact, phone number, or direct email anywhere, that’s a gap. People trust a name more than a form.
07 Our leadership or board is named on the site We list who runs the organization (our executive director, key staff, or board members) by name, not just a generic “our team” with no one identified. How to check: Find your team or board page. If it exists but has no actual names, or doesn’t exist at all, that’s a gap. Grantmakers and larger donors look for this specifically as part of due diligence.
08 Something on our site is dated recently Somewhere on our site, a visitor can see a recent date, a news post, an event, an updated impact number, so the site doesn’t look abandoned even if it hasn’t changed structurally in a while. How to check: Look for any visible date on your site. If the most recent one you can find is over a year old, that’s a gap. An undated or stale-looking site quietly reads as inactive, even to an org that’s very active.
09 Our donation path feels safe to use Our donate button leads somewhere that looks secure and trustworthy (a recognized payment processor, a secure-looking page, no dead links or broken redirects), not something that makes a visitor hesitate before entering their card number. How to check: Click your own donate button all the way through, like a stranger would. Does the page look secure and finished? Does it work? If it’s broken, outdated-looking, or redirects somewhere unexpected, that’s a gap.
10 Our photos are real people doing real work The photos on our site are actual pictures of our people, our space, or our work, not generic stock photography of unrelated people smiling at a camera. How to check: Look at your homepage and About page photos. Would someone who knows your organization recognize the people or places in them? If the photos could belong to any organization, that’s a gap.
11 We tell at least one specific story or number, not just general claims Somewhere on our site, we name a specific outcome (a real number we’ve verified, or a real, specific story), not only general language like “we’ve helped so many people” with nothing concrete behind it. How to check: Read your homepage and impact page looking for one specific, nameable fact or story. If everything reads as a general claim with no specifics anywhere, that’s a gap.
12 Someone who wants to help knows exactly what to do next A visitor who’s ready to act (donate, volunteer, get in touch) can find one clear, obvious next step, not several competing options with no clear lead, and not a dead end with nothing to click. How to check: Land on your homepage and time how long it takes you to find the one thing you’d want a first-time visitor to do. If it’s not obvious in a few seconds, that’s a gap.
13 We explain what we do without relying on jargon or acronyms Someone outside our field could read our site and understand our work without already knowing our program names, internal acronyms, or field-specific terms. How to check: Read your homepage and program descriptions as if you’d never heard of your organization. If you hit acronyms or insider terms with no plain-language explanation nearby, that’s a gap. Unexplained jargon reads as exclusive, not expert, to a first-time visitor.