Looking to redesign your nonprofit’s website but overwhelmed by all the options? Here are 5 tips for finding your organization’s right website design partner.
Choosing the right website design and development studio for your organization’s website project can feel overwhelming. But it’s also an important step—finding the right partner means working with someone who understands your unique needs so they can create a website that is functional, strategic, and supportive of your organization’s goals. The wrong partner, on the other hand, can leave you feeling frustrated and stressed—two things that don’t set a project up for success.
So, where to begin? We’re sharing our top five tips for finding the right website design partner, along with key questions and considerations to make before and during your search.
Table of Contents
What’s the difference between website design and development?
Spoiler alert: there’s a difference between a website designer and a website developer. While these terms are often used interchangeably, knowing the distinction is helpful before you embark on your website project.
Website designers focus on the look, feel, and overall aesthetic of your site. They help determine page layout, graphic placement, text formatting, and color selection based on your brand standards. They think about the big picture of your website strategy and ensure your website aligns with your organization’s identity.
Website developers, on the other hand, handle the technical side of things—turning the design into a functional website through coding and technology.
At BrandRaise, we work with WordPress and use the Divi theme and page builder. This allows us—and our clients—to design and develop a website without extensive tech knowledge. Platforms like Squarespace and ShowIt also make it easier for one person to serve as both designer and developer.
When is the right time to start searching for a website design partner?
Here’s the annoying but true answer: the right time looks different for every organization.
But also, there are a few key factors that might make it easier to determine your organization’s right timeframe:
- What internal capacity do we have? Who will be involved in this process, and when do they have availability to support it?
- What key events or deadlines do we need to plan around? If your organization has a major campaign or launch coming up, that will impact your timeline.
- What are we hoping a new website will do for our organization? Having clear goals ensures you find the right partner to meet them.
Tip 1: Decide between a freelancer or a studio/agency
Once you decide to bring in support, the next question is: do you work with a freelancer or an agency/studio?
Freelancer/individual
Hiring a freelance web designer means you’ll work directly with an individual; they are the one providing your new website and who you will be interacting with from start to finish.
The pros? From trying new concepts to adjusting schedules, you will usually have more flexibility because it’s a one-person operation. Additionally, choosing a freelancer is generally less of a monetary investment because they don’t have the additional expenses that come with a team.
The cons? Resources are often less available because it’s a one-person show. From client meetings to collection of website content to meeting deadlines, everything is handled by one person, which can be a detriment if there isn’t a proven process in place. The other consideration for resource availability is their capability as a website designer – there can be limitations to their skillset and expertise as a website designer which can negatively impact your project outcome.
Agency/studio
When you partner with an agency, studio or company, you’re hiring a team of people to work together on your website project.
The pros? You have access to a team of people with a variety of expertise; this is especially helpful if your website has specific functionality needs since you’ll be able to tap the resources of multiple people versus a single designer. Additionally, because the scope of the project is divided among multiple people, the turnaround time can be quicker and the communication more streamlined.
The cons? Because of the team, it’s generally a higher monetary investment to work with a company. Additionally, there isn’t always as much flexibility in terms of timeline adjustments and change in scope of work.
The TLDR version? There’s no right or wrong choice—only what aligns best with your organization’s budget, needs, and capacity.
Tip 2: Determine your budget and available resources
Before you begin your website designer search, it’s important to get clarity on the resources your organization has available. Yes, a significant part of this is budget but also, team capacity.
Let’s first chat about budget. There’s a lot of choice and variety out there when it comes to website design price, which can make the entire process that much more overwhelming. It’s helpful to first determine what functionality your website needs to have and then come up with a range that you’d like to stay within to accomplish your website goals.
Because numbers are helpful, I think it’s reasonable to expect to pay anywhere from $5,000 for a basic website (freelancer) to $30,000+ for a more complex website (studio). Again, this goes back to getting clear on what functionality your website needs to have in order to support your organization’s goals. And of course, you can always determine what the ‘must-haves’ are for right now and the ‘nice-to-haves’ for later down the road.
A personal note on pricing: When it comes to brand and website design, I’m a firm believer in ‘You Get What You Pay For’. We’ve had one too many clients come to us after being burned because they wanted to go the ‘cheap’ route. Your website is an incredibly powerful tool for your organization and it’s worth investing in.
Now for team (and other needed resources). Even when hiring a designer to support in the project, there are certain deliverables that your organization has to be responsible for. Because of this, team capacity is another significant consideration when determining when and who to partner with for your website project. If you decide to work with a freelancer, your organization may be responsible for more of the work than if you were to hire a studio with a team. Additionally, there’s feedback and deliverables needed throughout the process so that also needs to be taken into account when you map out available capacity.
Tip 3: Look at past experience and reviews
It’s important to look at both a designer’s past work (what they say) and reviews/testimonials (what past clients say) to get an accurate idea of what it’s like to work with them.
Specifically, you want to understand:
- Their experience working with organizations like yours. Do they understand nonprofit needs? Have they designed for mission-driven organizations? I.e., A website design partner who has only worked with e-commerce print-on-demand accessory brands may not be the best fit for your human services nonprofit organization. It’s really helpful to be able to leverage the expertise and experience of your design partner and that can only happen if they’re well-versed in your space.
- The quality of their work and process. Do past clients speak to their responsiveness, ability to meet deadlines, and strategic thinking?
- Their approach to collaboration. How they respond to reviews—both positive and constructive—can tell you a lot about how they work with clients.
Tip 4: Connect with multiple potential design partners
This is not the time to go for ‘One and Done’. As tempting as it may be to go with your first option or to only schedule a meeting with one person, it’s so unbelievably helpful to put the feelers out and connect with a variety of design partners.
Yes, it can be a little more leg-work up front, but meeting with multiple candidates will give you the ability to compare and contrast so you can get a better understanding of what’s available to your organization. And, it ensures that you are intentional about finding your right fit.
Quick note on this: Make sure your potential partner will actually meet with you, face to face (real-life or virtual). There’s absolutely no reason why they shouldn’t make the time to connect with you and learn about your organization’s needs, especially because a website project can be a significant investment of both time and money. You deserve to see who you’re collaborating with.
Here are a few questions to ask to help you get a feel for their process and working style:
• In the last project you worked on, what was the client looking for in terms of the goals of the website and how do you see the final result as aligning with those objectives?
• Can you share more about how you interpret what the website will look like based on this [xyz] visual direction?
• We’re looking for our organization’s website to help us achieve this [xyz] goal; high level, how would you get us there?
• What does your communication look like throughout the process? What happens if a deadline is missed – yours or ours?
Tip 5: Have clarity on the scope of your functionality and design needs
When you know what the site needs to do to function well for your organization and the style that you’re most aligned with, you’ll have a much better understanding of who will be a good fit for your website project.
For example, if your website has just a handful of pages and all you need to do on a regular basis is swap in images and update text, the right partner is going to look vastly different than if you need to collect donations, publish blog content, collect email addresses for your email marketing, have membership functionality and integrate with your organization’s podcast.
And if you need some more support, here are a few considerations to get you thinking about aesthetics and functionality:
- Essential features: Do you need donation processing, blog functionality, membership access, or integrations with other tools?
- Design preferences: What websites inspire you, and why? Are there specific aesthetics or structures you want to incorporate?
- User experience needs: Who will be using the site, both internally and externally? What functions will they need?
Few final thoughts
Yes, there is a lot to consider when selecting your right website design partner. But, that’s also kind of the point. A well-designed, intentional, and strategic website has the power to move your organization forward, so it makes sense to put in the work upfront to find the right fit for your needs and goals.
And, shameless plug – if you’re looking for a website partner who understands branding and fundraising, let’s connect. We’d love to help you build a website that not only looks great but also supports your mission in a meaningful, strategic way.
Kelly is a passionate brand strategist and designer who loves supporting nonprofits on their mission to do more good work in this world. She’s seen firsthand the power of creating a consistent and cohesive brand – from building better connections with your audience to streamlining marketing and fundraising efforts.
