Nonprofit

The website is yours now. Good luck.

That is how most nonprofit websites change hands: a sticky note, a departing volunteer, a shared password nobody has changed since 2019. This is the manual that should have come with it.

Start with the first two chapters, free.

Chapters 1 and 2 of Strategic Web Management, plus the companion worksheets and the one-page site summary template. No purchase required.

One short email a week after that, with one fix in each. Leave any time.

Does this sound like your organization

Somebody manages the website. Nobody was asked.

At most nonprofits the website belongs to whoever was nearest when the last person left. It may be the development director between grant deadlines, the office manager, or a volunteer who said "I can take a look." Nobody trained them, and nobody wrote down where the domain is registered, which card pays for hosting, or who else can log in. When that person moves on, the knowledge moves with them, and the next person starts from the sticky note.

• The domain renews every year, and nobody is sure which card it charges, or whose.
• The last webmaster was a volunteer. The password is in their head, or in an email nobody can find.
• The board asks how the website is doing, and the honest answer is "it's up."
• Donation and volunteer forms get tested when someone complains, not before.
• The website has been on the "after the gala" list for three galas.

If two or more of those landed, nothing is wrong with your organization. This is the normal state of a nonprofit website, and it can be put right by a volunteer with a list, a calendar, and a few hours.

What you'll learn in the first two chapters

Two chapters, about an hour, one task you can finish this week.

The download includes the first two chapters of the book and the companion resources that go with them. Here is what you'll have by the end.

1. Own it on paper. Why the domain, the hosting, and every connected service belong in one inventory, in the organization's name, with two current people who can reach the logins. Chapter 1 explains the job you've been handed and how to size it.

2. Protect what you can't afford to lose. The three ways nonprofit websites end: the lost password, the expired card, and the dead server. Chapter 2 gives each one a short preventive routine.

3. Hand it off without a sticky note. The one-page site summary template, filled in, is the document the next volunteer or staff member picks up on day one. It is included in the download.

Done looks like: two chapters read, one inventory started, and the sticky note retired.

Why a nonprofit website needs a manager, not a hero

The website is part of the mission, not a side project.

Your website is where a donor decides whether to give, where a family finds the intake form, and where a reporter checks the facts before the story runs. While the site is rarely the reason anyone supports the organization, a site that is down, outdated, or compromised can undo a great deal of good work in an afternoon.

The usual answer is to find a hero: a board member's nephew, a generous volunteer, a staff member who is "good with computers." Heroes leave. What survives a departure is documentation: an inventory of what you have, a record of who can get in, reminders before anything renews, and a backup someone has tested. None of that requires technical skill. It requires an owner, and a little time set aside each month.

Strategic Web Management is written for that owner. It covers domains and hosting, access and passwords, backups, security, platforms, content, search, email, analytics, compliance, and the sensible use of AI tools, each framed by what it does for the organization and its stakeholders. Every chapter ends with a worksheet, and every task carries a "done looks like."

"Most nonprofits don't have a website problem. They have a website management problem, and it can be solved by a volunteer with a list, a calendar, and a few hours."

Get the book

When you want the whole system

The first two chapters get the inventory started. The full book carries your organization through the rest of the year: the quarterly review, the board report, the budget line, and the day something breaks. Paperback $32 • eBook $5.99 (limited time). Available at Amazon.com

Get the Book

Bring it to your team

Training, bulk copies, and questions

Some organizations want more than a book on one desk. Bryan offers a practical session for staff, volunteers, and boards, "The Website Is Yours Now," which can run in person or online and ends with every attendee holding a started inventory. Bulk copies are available for staff, volunteer teams, and board orientation packets, and a short note is welcome if you simply have a question.

About Bryan

Who wrote this

Bryan C. Mills has spent twenty years managing web infrastructure and helping churches, nonprofits, and small organizations take control of their websites. He is the author of Strategic Web Management, the host of The Web Managers Podcast, and the founder of Web Managers.

Prefer to listen while you work? The Web Managers Podcast releases weekly wherever you get podcasts.

FAQ

We're a volunteer-run organization with no budget for this. Is the download really free? Yes. The two chapters and the companion resources cost nothing and require no purchase. They are the starting point the author wishes every nonprofit had.

Our website was built by a volunteer who has moved on. Where do we start? With the inventory in Chapter 1, and then with the domain. Go to lookup.icann.org, type in your domain, and read the registrar and the expiration date. If the organization cannot log in to that registrar today, that is the first task, and the download shows where it fits.

We use Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress.com. Does this still apply? It does. A hosted platform takes care of the server; it does not take care of your domain, your logins, your renewals, your content, or your donor forms. Those remain yours.

Can the board get a copy? Yes. Bulk copies for board orientation packets are available through the inquiry form on this page, and a one-page board report template is part of the book's companion materials.

Is this legal or security advice? No. The book provides preparation for decisions and points to the standards and professionals you should consult. Security and compliance chapters are written in a sober register and favor documentation over alarm.