Nonprofit website design in Palm Beach CountyMake the Mission Easy to Fund
Epic Wolf is a West Palm Beach agency that designs and builds websites for foundations, charities and gala committees in Palm Beach County. A nonprofit site has to explain the mission in one screen, make giving simple, sell tables and tickets for events and carry the disclosure Florida requires wherever donations are taken online. We write, design and build it, and your counsel or auditor approves the compliance wording.
Nonprofit websites
Palm Beach County's charitable season runs on a few crowded months, and donors here are asked constantly. An organization's website is where a new supporter checks it out after an invitation arrives. They look for what the charity does, where the money goes and who is behind it. A site with a vague mission statement and a donate button that opens a third-party page with a different name loses them.
Most nonprofit sites are built by a volunteer on a template and patched every year for the gala. The result is three ticketing links, an outdated board list and a donation form that asks twelve questions. Fixing that is not expensive design. It is deciding what a donor needs and removing the rest.
Fundraising is regulated. Florida requires most charities to register before soliciting and to print a specific disclosure wherever contributions are requested, including web pages. The IRS has rules on receipts and on making the Form 990 available. The Town of Palm Beach requires its own permit for charitable events on the island. We build those requirements into the pages, and your attorney or auditor confirms each one.
What it includes
A mission page
What the organization does, for whom and what a gift accomplishes, stated in the first screen without jargon.
Donation pages
A short giving form with one-time and recurring options and the Florida disclosure placed where the statute requires.
Event and gala pages
Tables, tickets and sponsorships with the fair market value shown, so the deductible portion is clear before purchase.
Receipts and acknowledgments
Automatic emails carrying the wording your auditor approves, with records your development staff can search.
A financials page
Recent Forms 990, the annual report and registration details in one place a donor or grant officer can find.
Board and leadership
A current list with roles, kept in an editing setup simple enough that it actually stays current.
Sponsor recognition
A consistent way to credit sponsors and underwriters across the site, the invitation and the event pages.
Donor data connections
Gifts and registrations flowing into the donor database the organization already uses, without retyping.
Send us your site and the date of your next event.
We will walk through your donation and ticket pages as a donor would and send back where they stall and which disclosures we could not find.
What to know
The rules behind nonprofit websites
- Register before asking
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says the Solicitation of Contributions Act requires anyone who solicits donations in or from Florida to register with the department and renew annually. That includes charitable organizations, sponsors, professional solicitors and professional fundraising consultants.
- The disclosure on donation pages
Florida Statutes 496.411 requires a registered organization to conspicuously display a set disclosure statement, with the division's toll-free number and website, on any web page that identifies a mailing address for contributions, gives a telephone number to process them or provides for online processing of contributions.
Source: Florida Statutes 496.411
- Gala tickets and deductions
The IRS says a charity must give a written disclosure for any quid pro quo contribution over 75 dollars, stating that the deductible amount is limited to the payment minus the fair market value of what the donor received, with a good faith estimate of that value. It may be furnished with the solicitation or the receipt.
Source: IRS: Quid pro quo contributions
- Receipts for larger gifts
The IRS says a written acknowledgment for a contribution of 250 dollars or more must include the organization's name, the amount of cash given and a statement of whether goods or services were provided in return, with a description and good faith estimate if they were.
Source: IRS: Charitable contributions written acknowledgments
- Posting the Form 990
The IRS says an exempt organization does not have to fulfill individual requests for copies of its returns if it makes them widely available, which it can do by posting them on a website in a format that exactly reproduces the original and can be downloaded and printed without a fee. Public inspection is still required.
Source: IRS: Exemption where organization makes documents widely available
- Events on the island
The Town of Palm Beach issues a charitable solicitation permit for fundraising events. Its FAQ lists what the application needs: the 501(c)(3) determination letter, the current state solicitation registration, a board resolution stating the event's location and date and trained crowd control managers scaled to attendance.
How the work runs
Say the mission in one screen
We interview staff, board and a few donors, then write the plain version of what the organization does and what a gift pays for. If a donor cannot repeat it after one visit the page is not finished.
Build the giving path
We design the donation and event flows first, with disclosures and receipt language supplied or approved by your counsel and auditor, and test each one on a phone the way a guest at a luncheon would use it.
Hand it to the staff
We launch well ahead of the season, train the people who will update events and board lists and stay on for the gala rush. Afterward we review what donors used and simplify again.
Questions
Nonprofit websites questions answered
A registered charity must display the statement set out in Florida Statutes 496.411. It says a copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services, and that registration does not imply endorsement by the state, with the division's toll-free number and website. It belongs on any web page that takes or directs contributions. Your attorney should confirm the exact text.
In most cases, yes. FDACS says anyone who solicits donations in or from Florida must register with the department and renew every year, and the agency's consumer guidance notes exclusions for religious, educational, political and governmental organizations. Whether an exemption fits your organization is a question for counsel. We ask for the registration number at kickoff because the donation page disclosure depends on it.
Yes, it is good practice and it reduces work. The IRS says an organization that makes its returns widely available online, in a format that reproduces the original and downloads free, does not have to answer individual requests for copies. Donors and grant officers look for it. We add a financials page with recent returns and the annual report, and your finance lead supplies the files.
It should show the fair market value of what the guest receives. The IRS requires a written disclosure for a quid pro quo contribution over 75 dollars, telling the donor the deductible amount is the payment minus the value of the dinner or other benefits, with a good faith estimate. That statement can be given with the solicitation, so we print it on the ticket page and the receipt.
Yes, the Town has a charitable solicitation permit for fundraising events. Its published FAQ lists the application materials: the IRS determination letter, the current state solicitation registration, a board resolution naming the event's location and date and a plan for trained crowd control managers. The Town Clerk's Office handles questions. We time event pages and invitations so nothing is announced before the committee has filed.
Keep reading
Go deeper before you decide
- How to Get Press in Palm Beach CountyWhere local stories run in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Palm Beach, and how each outlet takes pitches, from Palm Beach Illustrated to WPTV and Stet News.
- What Does a Website Cost in Palm Beach CountyPublished market ranges for a business website plus what drives the price: page types, content, ecommerce, integrations, software and ongoing costs.
- Website Redesign Checklist That Protects Your RankingsA website redesign checklist built on Google's own site move documentation: content inventory, URL mapping, redirects, analytics, accessibility and launch.
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