Website Grant

Every nonprofit needs a professional website. The best websites have a clear communication strategy and are aligned with the organization’s brand and mission. The most sustainable and effective websites are built to match the technical capabilities of the organizations using them.

What we offer

Taproot Foundation offers a Website Service Grant designed to meet your needs.

The estimated value of this Service Grant is $50,000.

Results

A good and easy-to-maintain website can significantly improve your organization’s ability to raise money and serve your constituents.

How we get it done

The team starts by working to better understand:

  • Your organization, your needs
  • Key audiences, their needs
  • Your communications goals.

Then we define and deliver a website that meets most of your needs and reflects your organization’s level of technical expertise. The work will result in supporting materials and a live site with about:

  • 20 pages of content
  • 3-4 types of pages
  • 1-2 special features, but no custom coding

Does that sound right? In some cases, a Taproot Foundation program manager will discuss a different option—one in which the team spends more time architecting a larger site, but leaves it to the Client to take it live. In exchange for additional features and content, the nonprofit will have to take on significant additional responsibility.

Who’s the right fit?

Building a new website is a massive undertaking for everyone involved, please be sure that you have the organization capacity to take on such a project.

The following are a list of criteria we look for in Website Clients:

  • A clear sense of your audiences and strong key messages (If not, our Key Messages & Brand Strategy Service Grant may be a better place to start)
  • A stable brand identity (If not, our Visual Identity & Brand Strategy Service Grant may be a better place to start)
  • Existing technical staff or an ongoing web consulting relationship
  • Needs that can be met with the type of site outline above or demonstrated capacity to undertake a more challenging project.
  • Staff who can invest the necessary time to make the project succeed:
    • Executive Director: 10-15 hours total
    • Day-to-Day Contact: 5 hours each week
    • Content Expert*: 1-2 hours each week on average, but up to 10 during the middle of the project.
    • Technical Contact*: 1-2 hours each week, 8-10 during go-live and training

*The Technical Contact is the person at your organization who can inform the technical requirements of the site and maintain it going forward. This person can also be an external consultant. The Content Expert is the person at your  organization who can write copy for the site, audit your current site’s content and get necessary input and approval for staff at your organization.

The Taproot Foundation pro bono consultant team is staffed by professionals who have made a personal commitment to strengthening the nonprofit sector. Visit our pro bono consultant roles page for additional information about IT pro bono consultant roles.

Apply for this Service Grant

If this project appeals to your organization and you have the recommended items in place, please review our grantmaking process and criteria, and then apply. If you have questions about the grant or your eligibility, please contact us.

Apply Today