As you discuss your nonprofit website with a development company, there are certain questions you should ask that extend beyond basic website design. It is helpful to read up on back-end functionality, content management systems, and website trends, so you’ll know what questions to bring to your nonprofit website developer. Below are some important considerations—your “nonprofit website checklist”—that you should discuss with your developer before you proceed. Finding the Right Nonprofit Website CMS The Content Management System (CMS) that you decide to work with will greatly influence the ease with which you can work with and edit your website later on. Ask your developer if there’s a CMS platform that he or she prefers. Ideally, unless you have technical marketing or IT staff, they’ll work with an open-source platform like WordPress, Drupal, or DotNetNuke. Open-source platforms are much easier to work with than closed-source systems, and can often self-update to account for the latest tools, features, and plugins. Integrating Nonprofit Management Tools If you truly want to maximize your donations, volunteer applications, media inquiries, and more, make sure your site is mobile optimized today. There are a plethora of tools on the market that will help your nonprofit flourish, such as grant management software for nonprofits. Ask your developer which tools they recommend. Important tools to consider include: a CRM system, which will automate the way you communicate with your clients and donors; a safe, secure payment processing platform for donations; a way to dynamically generate tax information for your donors; robust marketing analytics software; and user-friendly add-ons like a search function or social media integration. Considering a Mobile Nonprofit Website You may have heard that all of the cutting-edge for-profit and ecommerce websites are going mobile, and for good reason: an exponentially increasing number of people are hitting websites and making purchases via mobile devices like iPhones, Androids, or Windows devices. This is true of nonprofit websites, too. If you truly want to maximize your donations, volunteer applications, grant management software, media inquiries, and more make sure your site is mobile-optimized today. Ask your developer if they work with HTML5 and if they can perform cross-platform development; these are great signs, and will keep development costs low. Find out more about Clarity VenturesSee our Enterprise Web Portfolio