An NGO’s website has several jobs at once. It has to explain the work clearly, prove that the organisation is real and accountable, and make it easy for donors, volunteers and partners to act. Much of that audience arrives on a phone, and many of them are deciding whether to trust you with money.
Trust comes first
Donors and partners look for proof before they give. Put it where they will see it, not on a page few people reach:
- Your registration details and how long you have been working
- Leadership: who runs the organisation and who is accountable
- Where you work and who you serve
- Photos from real field work. They do more for trust than any claim
- Impact in your own figures, reported plainly
Show where the money goes
Most donors never ask out loud what happens to their gift, but most wonder. A short explanation of how a donation moves, from gift to field to update, answers the question before anyone has to ask it, and it belongs before the donate button, not after it.
How a visitor becomes a supporter
- UnderstandThe first screenWhat you do, where, and for whom
- BelieveThe proofRegistration, years of work, leadership and field photos
- ActThe next stepClear routes to donate, volunteer, partner or get in touch
Give every visitor a next step
Donors, volunteers, partners and community members each come for something different. Each should find a clear way to help without hunting for it. For donors, that means a giving journey that handles one-time and monthly gifts, with payment through a provider such as Paystack or Flutterwave where you take donations online.
Explain your programmes in plain language
Funders read programme pages closely. Describe each one in a sentence a first-time visitor can follow, then add the detail: who it serves, where and what it has achieved. Avoid sector jargon on the pages meant for the public.
Build for the phone
Design for phones first, not as a smaller version of the desktop site. Sections should be recomposed for small screens, not shrunk, and pages should load quickly on mobile data. Our checklist for mobile-first Nigeria covers the details.
An example: Grassroots Childcare Initiative
We built the website for Grassroots Childcare Initiative, an Abuja-based NGO registered with the CAC since 2013 that brings basic healthcare to underserved communities. The site leads with registration details, years of work, leadership and field photos, presents eight programme areas, explains how a donation moves before anyone is asked to give, and offers one-time and monthly giving alongside routes to volunteer or partner. It is live at gcci.org.ng.
What an NGO website costs
Most NGO websites are business websites. Ours start from ₦500,000: a starter business website typically costs ₦500k to ₦800k, a professional one ₦800k to ₦1.5m. A typical project takes four to eight weeks, and your team can update the site without a developer. For every kind of website, read how much a website costs in Nigeria.
Tell us about your organisation and who the website needs to reach. We reply within two working days.