How to Start My Own Non Profit Website

Nonprofit websites can bring awareness to a cause, raise money for charities, or provide useful information to people. Nonprofit organizations and websites typically perform services that the state or local government does not fully provide. The common theme to all nonprofit websites is that their goal is for all money earned by the site to go to the cause the site supports.
Starting a nonprofit website allows people with a passion for a cause to publish information on the Internet with the potential for tax benefits and tax-exempt status.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Create a mission statement. Your nonprofit organization's mission statement will define the reason for your nonprofit website including why the nonprofit website should be created and who it will serve.

2. Choose a name and domain name. The domain name should ideally be the name of your nonprofit organization and end in ".org". For example if your nonprofit organization is called "My Nonprofit Website" you should ensure that the site www.mynonprofitwebsite.org is available. Check domain name availability on GoDaddy or BustaName.

3. Purchase the domain name and hosting package for your nonprofit and build the website. Many website hosting companies, including Yahoo and Go Daddy, include free website templates for easy creation of your website.

4. Determine the funding model for your nonprofit website. How will your nonprofit website bring in money? Some options to consider are donations, affiliate marketing, grants, advertisements and sponsorships. Before determining if your nonprofit organization needs to be incorporated (see step 5), estimate how much money your nonprofit website will be taking in and where the money will be spent.

5. Determine if you need to incorporate your nonprofit organization. If your website will be in operation of less than $25,000 it can be considered an association or club. Incorporating can be time consuming and cost money. However, the benefits of incorporation include having tax-exempt status and reducing liability for you and the organization. Read more about incorporating a nonprofit before deciding if this is for you. (See resources section for recommended reading.)

6. If you need to incorporate you will need to file for tax exempt status with your state's Secretary of State and with the IRS. See articles in Resources Section for articles about this lengthy process.

7. Launch your nonprofit website and bring in traffic. Email friends, colleagues, and relatives to let them know about the launch of your nonprofit website. Submit press releases to free online press release sites (see resources below) Contact blogs in your nonprofit's niche to let them know about your nonprofit website's launch.

Tips & Warnings

• Reach out to other people in your nonprofit website's niche to ask advice about how your nonprofit can be most useful for them.
• If you need to incorporate your nonprofit website you may want to consult with a lawyer to ensure that all forms and laws are adequately completed and met.

Resources

• Alternatives to Starting a Nonprofit Organization
• Check the availabilty of domain names
• Society for Nonprofit Organizations
• Management Library: How to Start a Nonprofit
• Free press releases