Before a nonprofit web design agency shows you a single design, they should be asking you questions. What's the biggest challenge in your work right now? Who are you trying to reach, and what do you need them to do? What has to happen on this site for it to be worth the money? If they lead with a pretty mockup instead, you're looking at a design that isn't rooted in your business. Nice to look at. Not built to do anything.
I see this a lot. Some agencies show fancy designs without even talking to the client first. The work looks good in a presentation. Then it goes live and it doesn't say what the organization actually does, because nobody ever asked.
So when you're picking someone, watch what they do in the first conversation. Do they want to see your logo files, or do they want to know what's hard about your work right now?
Here's what I ask, and why.
1. What's the biggest challenge you're facing right now?
I start here on purpose. Not "what do you want the site to look like," but what's actually hard. Because I want the website to help solve that problem, whatever it turns out to be. Sometimes it's that donors don't understand the program. Sometimes it's that staff spend three hours a week answering the same email. Those lead to very different websites.
2. Who do you need to reach, and what do you want them to do?
A site built for everybody does nothing for anybody. Funders, volunteers, the people you serve, board members: they want different things and they arrive from different places. If nobody asks you this, the site gets built for whoever the designer imagined.
3. What do people get wrong about what you do?
Almost every organization has one. A program people assume is something else. A name that suggests the wrong thing. This is usually the most useful answer in the whole conversation, and it almost never comes up unless you ask directly.
4. How do you describe your work when you're not writing a website?
At a fundraiser, to a friend, on the phone. People are clearer out loud than they are in a document. That spoken version is often the message, and the website has just never caught up to it.
5. What's not working about the site you have?
Not what's ugly about it. What's not working. Those are different, and the second one is the one worth paying to fix.
6. What has to be true a year from now for this to have been worth it?
More donations. More applications. Fewer emails. Something you can point at. If nobody asks, you'll get a site that's judged on whether people like the colors.
7. Who else needs to be in these conversations?
Boards, program directors, the person who actually updates the site. If they show up after the design is approved, you're rebuilding. Better to hear them early, even when it slows things down.
8. What happens after we launch?
Who keeps it updated, who patches it, what happens in month eight when something breaks. Platforms keep moving: WordPress alone ships regular core and security releases (opens in a new tab) that somebody has to stay on top of. A site is not finished at launch, and an agency that hasn't mentioned this yet is quoting you for half the job.
Why this takes longer than you'd think
Redesigning a site takes time because you really have to listen, and then keep listening until you get to the root of the message. That part isn't fast and it shouldn't be. The conversations are where the work actually happens. The build is what comes after, once we know what the thing needs to say.
I've written before about why the content has to come before the design. Same idea here, one step earlier: the questions come before the content.
I'd rather tell you that up front than sell you a quick turnaround and hand you something that looks nice and misses.
What listening turns up
I was in a discovery meeting with a nonprofit in Burien, Washington when they told me they have Padrinos and Madrinas, people who give every month instead of just once. It was barely described anywhere on their site. In Mexico a padrino or madrina plays a real role in a child's life by supporting them over time, and that story wasn't being told at all.
So we built a dedicated Padrinos page. The story behind the name, photos of actual padrinos and madrinas, testimonials, an FAQ, and a donation form that makes joining easy.
That page came out of one question in that meeting.
When a rebuild isn't the answer
Sometimes it isn't, and I'll say so.
I'm working with an automotive repair shop whose site has been neglected for years. Not a nonprofit, but the same call. I walked the owner through everything that could be better, and there was plenty. They don't have the budget for a redesign.
So we picked one thing: the book-an-appointment page, because that's what actually brings people into the shop. We made sure it captures reservations reliably and left the rest alone.
Sometimes the right answer is one page, fixed properly.
How to spot the right nonprofit web design agency
If you're talking to agencies, notice who asks and who presents. The one who asks is the one who'll build you something rooted in the business. The one who presents first is showing you a template with your logo on it.
If you're weighing this up and want a second opinion, I do a free 15 minute Fit Call. No pitch. We talk about what's actually going on with your site, and I'll tell you straight whether I'm the right person for it or whether your money is better spent somewhere else.