A charity website serves more audiences than most business sites: donors, volunteers, people who need your help, funders, partners, trustees and journalists. Each arrives with a different question, and most charity sites try to answer all of them on the homepage at once. The charity website requirements that matter most are clarity about what you do, a donation route that is quick and trustworthy, and the registration details that let people check you are genuine.
This guide is for small and medium charities, community interest companies and not-for-profits in the UK. Larger charities will have more complex needs, but the fundamentals are the same.
Say what you do in one sentence
Visitors should be able to tell what your charity does, for whom and where within a few seconds. “We provide free counselling for young people aged 11 to 25 in Devon” is clear. “Empowering communities to thrive through holistic support” is not. Put the clear sentence at the top of the homepage, then show the three or four ways people usually engage: get help, donate, volunteer, fundraise.
If people come to your site for help, especially in a crisis, that route must be the easiest thing to find. Put urgent contact details or signposting to crisis services where they can be seen immediately.
Pages a charity website needs
| Page | What it must do |
|---|---|
| Home | What you do, for whom, where; the main routes (get help, donate, volunteer); a recent story of impact. |
| Get help | Who you help, how to access the service, eligibility, and what to do in an emergency. |
| Donate | One-off and monthly giving, suggested amounts with what they pay for, and a Gift Aid declaration. |
| Volunteer | Roles available, time commitment, checks required and a simple way to register interest. |
| Fundraise for us | Events, challenges, packs and how to set up a fundraising page. |
| Our impact | What you achieved last year, with real numbers from your own records and real stories with consent. |
| About and governance | Trustees, staff, annual reports and accounts, safeguarding policy, and registration details. |
Donations: make giving quick and trustworthy
The donate button should be on every page, ideally in the header. The donation form should be short: amount, one-off or monthly, name, email, payment and Gift Aid. Suggested amounts linked to what they fund (“£10 pays for a helpline call”) help donors decide, but only use figures that are true for your charity.
Gift Aid lets charities claim an extra 25p for every £1 donated by a UK taxpayer. The donor has to make a Gift Aid declaration, and HMRC publishes model wording and the information you must collect. Most donation platforms include a compliant declaration; if you build your own form, check it against HMRC’s guidance.
Monthly giving is the most valuable donation for most charities, so make it the default option or at least equally prominent. Show that the payment is secure, and explain how to change or cancel a regular gift. Most charities use a specialist donation platform rather than building payments themselves, and it is worth comparing their fees, since they vary.
Registration details and the rules
Registered charities in England and Wales with an income over £10,000 must state that they are a registered charity on certain documents, including fundraising material, under the Charities Act 2011, and in practice most show their registered name and number in the website footer. In Scotland, charities must show their name and Scottish charity number, and whether they are a charity, on their website and other documents, under OSCR’s rules. Charities in Northern Ireland register with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. Check the regulator’s guidance for your nation.
Charitable companies must also show their company details. Fundraising should follow the Code of Fundraising Practice, overseen by the Fundraising Regulator in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Scottish Fundraising Adjudication Panel in Scotland. Charities registered with the Fundraising Regulator can display its badge, which is a useful trust signal.
Personal data about donors, volunteers and service users must be handled under UK GDPR, and information about service users is often sensitive. Email and text marketing to supporters needs consent; the soft opt-in for existing customers did not traditionally apply to charities, though the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 introduced a charity soft opt-in, so check the ICO’s current guidance before relying on it.
Accessibility is part of the mission
Many charities serve people who are disabled, older, or less confident online, so accessibility should be a priority. Work to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA: good colour contrast, readable text sizes, meaningful link text, alt text on images, forms that work with a keyboard and screen reader, and plain English. Provide easy-read versions of key information if your service users need them.
Charities are generally not covered by the public sector accessibility regulations unless they are mostly publicly funded and provide public services, but the Equality Act 2010 duty to make reasonable adjustments applies to service providers, including online.
Mistakes charity websites make
- A vague mission statement instead of a clear sentence about what you do.
- The donate button buried, or a long donation form with unnecessary fields.
- No Gift Aid option, which leaves money unclaimed.
- Impact claims with no evidence behind them.
- Stories and photos of service users used without clear consent.
- Out-of-date events and volunteering roles.
- Poor accessibility on a site used by people with access needs.
What a charity website costs
Charity website costs range widely. Small charities often use DIY builders at £10 to £40 a month. Freelancers commonly charge £1,000 to £5,000, and agencies specialising in charities can quote £5,000 to £30,000 or more for larger organisations. Donation platforms usually take a percentage fee or a monthly subscription, and some offer free plans for small charities. Google’s Ad Grants programme gives eligible charities free search advertising, which is worth applying for once the site is ready.
We design charity websites from scratch, write the copy with you in plain English, and build to WCAG 2.2 AA. A small charity fits Monthly at £299 plus £99/month (12 months minimum) or Own It at £1,795 plus £49/month for up to 25 pages. Larger charities needing donations built in, CRM integrations or several local branches would look at Pro at £6,950 plus £299/month. Nerdsharks works with community groups and national charities alike.