<\/div>{"id":40540,"date":"2022-05-10T10:57:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T15:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/?p=40540"},"modified":"2024-10-06T21:48:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-07T02:48:48","slug":"nonprofit-cms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crowdspring.com\/blog\/nonprofit-cms\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Choose a CMS for your Nonprofit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Running a nonprofit successfully without building up and maintaining a solid online presence is nearly impossible. One of the essential tools for doing so is a well-designed, easy-to-navigate website<\/a> that keeps supporters engaged on your website<\/a>. Thus, they can learn about your mission and take action.<\/p>\n But for most nonprofit professionals, building or revamping their organization’s website is challenging. After all, you’re likely not a coding expert or an experienced webmaster. As you browse lists of great nonprofit websites<\/a>, you may wonder how to create one that is up to par.<\/p>\n Luckily, a beautifully designed and functional nonprofit website isn’t out of reach, even if you’ve never dabbled in web design. You’ll need the right tools to get started, the most essential of which is a content management system (CMS).<\/p>\n However, picking a CMS often presents challenges for nonprofits. While several familiar options, such as WordPress or Squarespace, are available, nonprofit-specific CMS platforms are also available.<\/p>\n In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about choosing (and using) a CMS to build your nonprofit website:<\/p>\n Choosing a CMS is the first step toward creating a website with great functionality and a beautiful aesthetic, so it’s a step to be taken seriously. Let’s begin by establishing what a CMS is.<\/p>\n A content management system (CMS), a website builder, is a software platform that helps you create and manage a website without building it from scratch with code. Website copy and images are all stored on this system.<\/p>\n <\/div> Often, a CMS will provide website themes and templates you can customize with your organization’s brand, giving you a leg up in the design process.<\/p>\n There are two types of\u00a0CMS: hosted and SaaS<\/a>.<\/p>\n A hosted CMS is installed on a server you control. Hosted CMS is more flexible but requires more technical skills to install and maintain. For example, you can launch on a WordPress CMS as a hosted or SaaS solution.<\/p>\n A third party maintains a SaaS (“software as a service”) CMS. Squarespace and Wix are examples of SaaS CMSs. These systems simplify launching and managing a nonprofit site, typically requiring a monthly or annual subscription.<\/p>\n Choosing a CMS comes down to deciding between a generic CMS and a nonprofit CMS. Let’s look at each so you know your options.<\/p>\n Several generic CMS platforms include WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix. Here are three perks of using a generic CMS like one of these:<\/p>\n There are some drawbacks to using a generic CMS to create your nonprofit website. For example, some CMS platforms like Weebly don’t offer convenient, built-in donation forms. More often than not, generic CMS platforms will be catered to individuals and small businesses and have a steeper learning curve than a CMS built for nonprofits.<\/p>\n\n
What is a CMS?<\/h2>
<\/div>\nPerks of using a generic CMS<\/h3>\n
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