Create & Launch!

Free

Create & Launch!

23 Lessons

You know you should have a website for your nonprofit but you're not sure where to start...and you don't have the budget to hire a website developer.

Does this sound like you?

The good news is that you can create a professional-looking website for FREE in just a few hours using a website builder. In this course, we'll show you how.

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Description

PLAN, CREATE, & PUBLISH

Join us on a three-part journey to create and publish a website you'll be proud of that will effectively communicate information to your supporters and community.

In this course, you will learn about:

What to look for in a website builder
The basic content your website should include (and some bonus features you may want to consider)
How to add content to your site and create a navigation menu
How to customize a website to match an organization's branding
When a website should include a blog
What's involved in maintaining a website

We will also discuss how you can create a private, "members only" section of your website to communicate with staff and volunteers, as well as the benefits of having an online store.

For this course, we use GoDaddy's website builder. We chose GoDaddy's free plan because it offers a nice selection of features. In addition, we've found GoDaddy to be one of the easiest website builders to use.

While we demonstrate how to work with GoDaddy's website builder in this course, much of the content applies to creating a website in general.

Plan

What do you need your website to do? Who is your target audience? Who is going to be involved in creating your website? In this first section, we'll explore some of the basic questions you will need to answer as part of the planning process.

1.1 Identify Why You Want a Website

Preview

1.2 Outline the Content for Your Website

1.3 Assemble Your Team

1.4 Find Inspiration

Preview

1.5 Collect the Content for Your Website

1.6 Choose a Website Builder

1.7 Summary: Planning Your Website

Design

Now comes the fun part! You've defined the purpose and main audience for the site, you have a rough outline of the content you want to include, and you've collected and written the text that will be incorporated into your site. In the design phase, you'll start building your website. Among other things, this is where you will finalize decisions around colors, fonts, images, and the layout of individual pages.

2.1: Creating an Account and Choosing a Theme

2.2 Setting Up Your Site's Navigation

2.3 Adding Content to Your Site

2.4 Changing Colors and Fonts

2.5 Customizing Buttons, Content Blocks, and Logos

2.6 Refining Your Content

2.7 Summary: Designing Your Website

Publish

The format has been decided, the layout has been perfected, and all the content has been vetted. It's time to publish! Making your website go "live" is an easy step. Maintaining your site and publicizing your website is much harder. In this final section, we provide tips for keeping your website up to date and running smoothly.

3.1 Pilot Your Site

3.2 Final Check

3.3. Publish Your Site

3.4 Maintenance

Preview

3.5 Summary: Publishing Your Site

Bonus Material

In this course, we've walked you through how to create a basic website using GoDaddy's free website builder. However, a website can do a lot more than share information about your programs and your contact information. In our bonus section, we cover a few add-ons that you might eventually want to add to your website, including a blog, an online store, and a membership area.

4.1 Incorporating a Blog

4.2 Including a Membership Area

4.3 Adding a Store

4.4 Summary: Bonus Material

FAQs

How long do I have to complete the course?

You have as much time as you need! Your access to the course does not expire.

Will I receive a certificate once I complete the course?

Yes! You will receive a completion certificate at the end of the course.

Are there any assignments I need to complete and submit?

No, there are no formal assignments. We have included suggested tasks as part of this course, but it's up to you whether you want to complete these activities.

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