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For every business, organization, or company you have, you must build a website. Many platforms can help you create the website you want. If you do not have any experience with this, you might be looking for a tool that is easy to use and intuitive too. WordPress might be on your list. It is one of the best tools you can use for creating a website. And if you have a nonprofit, for sure you want a tool that is also free, so that you do not invest money in this. WordPress for nonprofits is completely free and there are many wordpress non profit templates you can use. But how to use wordpress for a non-profit? Here is a comprehensive guide that will help you get started.
Theme Selection
Well, you already know the name of your website, so you need to sign up for an account on WordPress and get started. There are many templates you can choose from. However, some of them are paid. You can start looking for education-focused themes. How should a theme be, when you have a nonprofit? Well, it should be visually appealing and user-friendly, but also responsive. Once you have found the theme that fits your mission and goals, then you could install and activate it. Just go to the WordPress dashboard in the “Appearance” menu and add a new theme. You probably have a general idea of how you want your website to look. Or, you might have some examples running in your mind. Knowing this will help you narrow your options. And this is the case when you are a student working on a research paper or essays. Looking for essay examples online will help you understand how to meet the requirements of your professor. For example, you might have to write a paper about the novel “How to Kill a Mockingbird”. You can read about “TKAM” in essay examples to understand more about this topic, and also about how a final draft should look. Surfing the internet and taking a look at how other nonprofits have created their website can offer you insight and inspiration, of course. The theme selection is essential as it will have the first impact on visitors.
Essential Plugins
You have chosen your theme, so now you need to install some essential plugins. You will post blog posts. You will promote the services you offer within your nonprofit. And you want your website to be discoverable and rank high in the searches on Google or other search engines. Well, you need to optimize it. For this, you should install the Yoast SEO plugin, which will analyze your content and point to the parts that need improvement.
Also, if you want to collect information through forms on your website, then you should install Contact Form 7 or WPForms. LearnPress or LifterLMS can help you create and manage educational content if you plan to offer online courses. And Akismet is a must-have. It protects your website from spam comments and form submissions. These are just some of the essential plugins you should install, but you can find on WordPress quite a large library to choose from.
Customization
Everything you will install from WordPress, like the theme, can be customized. Maybe you want to change the arrangement of the blocks. Maybe you want to change the titles, the menu, or other details. Well, you can do this easily from the Settings menu.
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Just choose what you want to change and replace it with a new logo, a new menu, or just add new pages. It is easy to add widgets to your sidebar or footer too. So, depending on how you want your website to look at the end, you can customize the entire theme.
Final Thoughts
Having a nonprofit means that you need to have a website too. You want to promote the activity of your organization, attract people that support your mission, or just take part in the activities you organize. Building a website might seem challenging, but it is easier than you think with WordPress. You need to select the theme you like, install some essential plugins, and customize it however you want by adding widgets or other elements. The website should be representative of your nonprofit, so make sure it conveys the message how you want.
