This document discusses how to use WordPress to build an effective nonprofit website. It recommends WordPress because it is inexpensive and has a generous community and large plugin library. The primary goal of a nonprofit website is to help the organization meet its mission. Storytelling is important for motivating actions like donating, volunteering, and signing up for mailing lists. WordPress makes it easy to tell stories and add calls to action using posts, pages, media, and plugins. The document provides tips for collecting donations, recruiting volunteers, managing events, and maintaining a healthy WordPress site over time.

1. How to Use WordPress to Build
Your Nonprofit Website
Andy Stitt
WordCamp Lancaster
April 27, 2019

2. About Andy
● Working in the nonprofit world for 15 years
● WordPress website manager for the Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia
● Runner of races
● Listener of 90’s hip-hop

3. Why WordPress for nonprofits?
● Doesn’t cost a fortune
● Generous community
● Large library of plugins

4. The #1 goal of any
nonprofit website?

5. It must help the organization
meet its mission.

6. Different kinds of nonprofits and
their missions
● Cause-based: serving people around a cause, i.e. clean water and
healthcare
● Membership associations: serving members and chapters
● Schools: serving students

7. Storytelling for nonprofits
● Telling stories about your impact
● Individuals telling stories of how their lives were changed
● Stories where the donor is the hero
● “Here’s how your gift made a difference”

8. How important is storytelling?
● Stories motivate people to take action
● Actions include:
● Donating
● Volunteering
● Signing up for your mailing list

9. Example of storytelling
https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/ohios-mayors-courts-increase-injustice-across-stat
e

10. Standard call to action on all stories
https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/ohios-mayors-courts-increase-injustice-across-stat
e

11. Call to action at the bottom of the story
https://www.rescue.org/article/4-ways-4-years-war-yemen-has-impacted-women-and-girl
s

12. Call to action at the bottom of the story
https://www.rescue.org/article/4-ways-4-years-war-yemen-has-impacted-women-and-girl
s

13. Storytelling on your
WordPress website

14. Use posts and pages to tell stories

15. Pictures and video =
powerful storytelling

16. Use the Media Library for pictures

17. Easy to embed videos
Just copy and
paste the video
URL.
Works with
YouTube and
Vimeo.

18. Insert calls to action
● Widgets
○ Easy Forms for Mailchimp for email opt-ins
● Gutenberg Blocks
○ Call to action block in Atomic Blocks plugin
● Page Builder Modules
○ Beaver Builder, Elementor, and Divi have call to action modules
● Advanced Custom Fields

19. Standard call to action on all stories
https://jewishphilly.org/the-unique-and-significant-role-of-jewish-women-today/

20. Standard call to action on all stories
https://jewishphilly.org/the-unique-and-significant-role-of-jewish-women-today/

21. Call to action at the bottom of the story
https://jewishphilly.org/strong-like-esther-e-book-our-purim-gift-to-you/

22. Call to action at the bottom of the story
https://jewishphilly.org/strong-like-esther-e-book-our-purim-gift-to-you/

23. Call to action at the bottom of the story
https://jewishphilly.org/strong-like-esther-e-book-our-purim-gift-to-you/

24. Collecting donations
● Form builder plugin with integration to your payment processor
● I have used Gravity Forms, Formidable Forms, and Ninja Forms
● Give plugin by Impress.org
● Don’t forget your free SSL certificate through Let’s Encrypt

25. Recruiting volunteers
● Tell stories of how volunteers make an impact
● Use your chosen forms plugin to collect sign-ups

26. Volunteer recruitment excellence

27. Event management
● Nonprofits have lots of events
● Donor receptions
● Program-related events
● Use an event management plugin to advertise and collect sign-ups

28. Recommended plugin:
The Events Calendar
● https://theeventscalendar.com/
● Free with optional paid upgrades
● Integrates with Eventbrite (paid upgrade)
● Used on over 700,000 websites (as of today)

29. https://jewishphilly.org/events-calendar/

30. Maintaining a healthy
WordPress website

31. Website maintenance 101
● Keep your plugins, theme, and WordPress core up to date
● Do regular backups: UpdraftPlus plugin is great
● Security: Wordfence and iThemes Security are great
● Hire a freelancer or agency if you need help with any of this

32. Resources
● NonprofitWP by Mark Root-Wiley
● The Give Blog

33. Stay in touch
● Twitter: @andystitt829
● LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewstitt
● Email: andy@andystitt.com
● https://andystitt.com