Non-profit web development in Birmingham, for teams that do more with less
Your website does the work of several staff members. It answers questions at midnight, signs up volunteers, takes donations, and tells funders what you've accomplished. We build those sites for small teams and tight budgets, for outreach organizations in Birmingham, across Alabama, and beyond.
We know the constraints
Non-profit websites usually run on a few things in short supply: staff time, budget, and someone technical. The site gets updated by whoever has a free hour, maybe a volunteer or a program coordinator, and it has to serve donors, volunteers, partners, and the people you help, sometimes all on the same page.
So we build for that reality:
- Editing anyone on your team can manage. Clear content types and reusable sections, so posting an event or updating a program page doesn't need a developer or a manual.
- The important actions up front. Donate, volunteer, get help, sign up. Each one is easy to find on every device.
- Built to last. A site that's maintainable for years is worth more than a flashy one you'll have to replace in two.
Accessibility is part of the mission
If you serve the public, people with disabilities are part of the community you serve. They should be able to find help, register, and give without hitting a barrier. We build to WCAG 2.1 Level AA, aim for WCAG 2.2, and write our own open-source accessibility tooling. If you receive government funding or partner with a public agency, accessibility may also be a contract requirement.
Not sure how your current site does? Get a free WCAG audit. It costs nothing and gives you a prioritized list. More on our WCAG accessibility services.
Donations, forms, and the tools you already pay for
We build secure, custom donation and form flows, and connect them to the platforms behind the scenes:
- Giving: donation flows that hand payment off to a secure donation platform, such as Bloomerang, GoFundMe Pro (formerly Classy), or Givebutter, with no card data on your site.
- Volunteers and events: sign-ups that go straight into the system your coordinator already uses.
- Email and CRM: newsletter sign-ups and contact records that land in the right list without copy-and-paste.
More on API integrations.
Drupal or WordPress for a non-profit?
Both work well, and we build on both. Smaller organizations with a few editors are often well served by WordPress. Larger organizations with many programs, chapters, or locations, or many editors with different permissions, often outgrow it and do better on Drupal. We'll recommend whichever fits your size and the staff you'll have after launch.
Budget, phases, and after launch
We know budgets often come in grant cycles. Where it helps, we scope a project in phases: launch the essentials first, then add features as funding allows. Non-profits also get 20% off new builds.
After launch, a care plan keeps your CMS updated every quarter, and you can add backups, monitoring, or a bucket of hours as you need them, so nobody on your team has to become the IT person. The 20% non-profit discount applies to care plans, too. For hosting, our first choice is Pantheon, and we're a Pantheon partner. See Pantheon hosting and DevOps.
Case study: a national non-profit network. A national non-profit's local chapters each had their own look, and the national site was outdated and hard to use on a phone. We developed a new national WordPress site and a shared template every chapter could tailor, all hosted on Pantheon, and handled the SEO and accessibility work. In the year after relaunch, visitors rose about 20% and donation clicks rose significantly.
FAQ
Can you work within a grant timeline?
Usually, yes. Tell us the deadline and the funder's requirements up front, and we'll scope to fit, or tell you honestly if it can't be done in time.
Our site was built by a volunteer years ago. Can you take it over?
Yes. We'll review what's there, keep what's worth keeping, and give you a clear plan for the rest. We can't take responsibility for problems in code someone else wrote, but we'll tell you about anything we find.
Do you only work with Birmingham-area non-profits?
No. We're based in Chelsea, Alabama, and work with organizations around Birmingham, Montgomery, and further afield.
Can our staff really update the site themselves?
That's what we design for. We'll set it up around the people who'll be editing it, and editor training is included at handoff.
Let's talk about what your site needs to do
Reach out here with a quick description of your organization and what's not working. A developer will read it and take it from there.