If you want a website, you need a website builder.
Website builders are platforms that help you establish your online presence. They offer a variety of customizable elements, so you can design an engaging, on-brand site to boost your nonprofit’s impact.
There are countless website builder platforms and programs out there, and they’re not all created equal. Which is the best website builder for nonprofits? We’ll let you decide.
In this post, we will compare Butterflyly with four of the best website builders based on their:
- Usability
- Nonprofit website builder features
- Price
- Pros and cons
Wix
Usability: Wix is known for its user-friendly site building capabilities, especially for beginners. They offer various templates where you can drag-and-drop images and text. With Wix, you can build a free, fully-functional website in a matter of minutes. This is probably why it has more than 120 million users and powers over 600,000 eCommerce stores.
Nonprofit Website Builder Features: Wix has several helpful features for nonprofits, including 16 non-profit-themed templates. Once you create an account, Wix allows you to personalize your site with the drag-and-drop editor. You can also use their artificial design intelligence (ADI) software to build a site for you.
Wix’s nonprofit themes have a PayPal button to accept online donations. You can also create a contact form and install a live chat integration, making it easy for visitors to contact you with any questions they may have.
Price: Wix has 9 plans: 1 free, 5 for regular websites, and 3 for eCommerce
| Plan Type | Price | Capabilities |
| Free | Free | No customizable domain or donation options |
| Business Basic | $23/mo | 20GB storage, all the basic eCommerce features |
| Business Unlimited | $27/mo | 35GB storage, Business Basic features plus subscription sales, product review features, and dropshipping |
| Business VIP | $49/mo | 50GB storage, Business Unlimited features plus priority support, loyalty program, and sales tax calculation |
Pros:
- Easy to use
- 16 nonprofit templates available
- Free option
- Websites can literally design themselves
Cons:
- Limited creativity
- Not great for SEO
- Need an eCommerce plan to accept online donations
- Not great for complex websites
SITE123
Usability: Like Wix, SITE123 is really easy to use. It usually takes you no longer than an hour to get a site up and running. However, it also lacks the flexibility that more advanced and SEO-concerned businesses require—much like Wix.
Nonprofit Website Builder Features: When you start here creating a SITE123 account, you’ll be asked to choose a niche and name for your site. As a nonprofit, you have to select the ‘Community’ niche. Once you do, you’ll get a pre-generated website ready for personalization. If you don’t want this, you can opt for one of their 7 charity templates instead.
You can take online donations via PayPal or AmazonPay Integration. Their Professional and Gold plans also enable credit card donations.
Price: For non-profit websites, SITE123 offers a 40% discount for all its paid plans.
| Plan Type | Price | Capabilities |
| Free | Free | 250MB Storage and 250MB bandwidth |
| Basic | $12.80/mo | 10GB storage, 5GB bandwidth, free domain for 1 year |
| Advanced | $13.80/mo | 30GB storage, 15GB bandwidth, PayPal and Amazon pay integration, 2 mailboxes |
| Professional | $19.80/mo | 90GB storage, 45GB bandwidth, PayPal and Amazon pay integration, accept credit card donations, 5 mailboxes |
| Gold | $25.80/mo | 270GB storage, 135GB bandwidth, PayPal and Amazon pay integration, accept credit card donations, gives website statistics, 10 mailboxes |
Pros:
- Easy to use
- 40% discount for non-profit website
- Free option
- Great for simple websites
Cons:
- Limited creativity
- Not great for SEO
- Need an eCommerce plan to accept online donations
- Not great for complex websites
Weebly
Usability: Weebly’s drag-and-drop feature makes it easy to customize your webpage designs. If you’re a new website builder, you can get step-by-step guidance on how to use Weebly’s platform to build and launch your website. As far as website builders go, Weebly really shines in the eCommerce space by making it easy to manage your orders, ship products, and receive payments.
Nonprofit Website Builder Features: Weebly’s templates are meant for all-purpose use, so they don’t have anything specific to nonprofits. However, as an eCommerce platform, you can easily add a “donate” button and accept online donations via credit card, Google Pay, and Apple Pay. You can also integrate a contact form, which you can use to collect donor information for email campaigns.
Price: Weebly offers 1 free and 3 paid plans, as well as a 33% discount for all nonprofit sites.
| Plan Type | Price | Capabilities |
| Free | Free | Free, but with unspecified storage or bandwidth |
| Personal | $6/mo | Free SSL, the ability to accept payment credit cards, Google Pay, and Apple Pay payments, allows for custom domain connection |
| Professional | $12/mo | Everything above, plus unlimited store, a free domain, password protection, and no Square Ads |
| Performance | $26/mo | Everything above, plus you can accept Paypal payments |
Pros:
- 33% discount for nonprofit sites
- Price – the personal plan is $6/mo ($4/mo with the nonprofit discount), and you can receive payment with it!
- Easy to use and has a great selection of eCommerce tools
- It’s really easy to receive payments and manage your orders
Cons:
- You have to abide by their grid pattern when editing, which limits your creative options
- You need the performance package to accept Paypal payments
- Comes with theme, forum, and blog limitations
- Not specifically geared toward nonprofits
Shopify
Usability: Shopify defines itself as an “eCommerce company.” If your nonprofit involves selling merchandise, Shopify is an excellent option.
However, it has some setbacks. Shopify is a little more complicated to understand than some of the above website builders, so it takes a second to get the hang of things. Also, the themes aren’t as customizable as you might expect.
Nonprofit Website Builder Features: Shopify has 9 free responsive templates that you can use for whatever you’d like. However, none of them are specific to nonprofits. If you don’t like one of their free options, most of their paid templates cost $180. Once you decide on a template, the editing experience is pretty smooth and easy to navigate. Just remember that some aspects of the templates you use can’t be altered.
Price: Shopify has two plans specific to nonprofits: NPO lite for $9/mo and NPO full for $79/mo. Both plans include the ability to take online donations, and includes free SSL and unlimited storage space.
Pros:
- Special discount plans for nonprofits
- Easy to edit on the site
- Has an extensive App store
- Great for nonprofits with lots of merchandise
Cons:
- An eCommerce platform first and a website builder second
- Only has 9 free templates
- Templates lack customization
- Not specifically geared toward nonprofits
Butterflyly
Usability: Butterflyly is a great website builder for nonprofits that started with something like Wix or Weebly and are looking to upgrade to a platform that better serves their needs. They are incredibly user-friendly if you’re looking to DIY your site. However, the Butterflyly team can also build your website for you, saving you time so you can focus on other aspects of your organization.
Nonprofit Website Builder Features: Butterflyly’s platform is tailored to your nonprofit’s needs. They are customizable and easy to edit, and their customer service team is very responsive. If you need them to create a website for you, they can lend you their expertise in layout, content forms, SEO, and more.
Price: Price varies based on your needs. Contact them for a quote. You can also try Butterflyly free for 30 days.
Pros:
- Specifically for nonprofits
- Great for complex sites and SEO
- The Butterflyly team will do your site for you
- Customizable layout and design options
Cons:
- Smaller team compared to other website builders
- They lack the statistics other website builders for nonprofits boast… for now.
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