A charity website needs to help very different people find the information and next step that matters to them. That usually means making it easy to understand who you help, what services you provide, how to access support, the difference your work makes, ways to support you and how to get in touch. The strongest starting point is the people using the website. What they need to understand, what they have come to find and what they need to do next.
A good charity website is organised around the people using it, with the information and routes they need made easy to find.
Start with the people using the website
The same charity website might be used by someone looking for urgent support, a professional making a referral, a funder checking the organisation, a potential volunteer and someone considering a donation. Those visitors arrive with different priorities and different levels of knowledge.
This is a real challenge across the sector. The 2026 Charity Digital Skills Report found that 42% of small charities struggle with conducting and acting on user research, while 38% see revamping their website as a priority. Before deciding which pages the website needs, identify the audiences that matter most and ask what each one needs to understand or accomplish.
A visitor should not need to understand your departments, programme names or funding structures before they can find what they need.
Make the essentials easy to find
Every charity is different, so there is no single page structure that works for everyone. However, people should usually be able to find:
The emphasis will depend on the charity. A service charity may need eligibility and referral information to be immediately visible. A community organisation might prioritise activities and ways to get involved. A fundraising charity may give greater prominence to impact and ways to support the work.
The structure should follow what people actually come to the website to do.
Give different audiences clear routes
Several audiences can use the same website without needing the same information in the same order. Someone seeking support may be asking: ‘Can you help me?’ ‘Am I eligible?’ ‘What happens next?’ A funder or partner may want to understand: ‘What do you do?’ ‘Why is it needed?’ ‘What evidence do you have?’ A potential supporter may be asking: ‘What difference could my time or money help make?’
The organisation remains the same, but the route through the information changes. Clear navigation, page structure and calls to action should help each audience move towards the information that matters to them.
Make important actions easy to recognise
Finding information is only part of the job. Once somebody understands what you offer, the website should make the relevant next step clear. Depending on the organisation, that could mean:
These actions do not all need equal prominence everywhere. Give priority to the action that makes sense at that point in the visitor’s journey.
A service page might lead clearly towards eligibility or referral information. An impact story may naturally lead towards supporting the work. The website should help people move forward without making them search for what to do next.
Give people reasons to feel confident
People may be making important decisions based on what they find on your website. Clear service information, current evidence, real examples, visible people and transparent contact details can all help them understand the organisation behind the claims.
Accessibility belongs in this thinking from the beginning too. People need to be able to access, navigate and understand the information regardless of how they use the website.
The site also needs to be realistic for your team to maintain. Outdated services, old staff information or abandoned news sections can gradually weaken confidence. A smaller website that stays accurate is often more useful than a larger one your organisation cannot keep up to date.
Four questions to ask
Look at your current website and ask:
If those questions are difficult to answer, adding more pages may simply add more complexity. The stronger starting point is to look again at who is using the website, what they need and how easily the site helps them get there.
Build around the people who need it
A good charity website contains the information people need and gives that information a clear purpose, order and route to action.
If your website has grown around programmes, projects and internal structures, Grinning Graphics can help reshape it around your audiences, their needs and the actions that matter most.