Cloud based

Another option that has become popular at the hack is to use a cloud based website builder. These services take care of handling most of the details like hosting, security, integrations, etc so you can focus just on designing and building your nonprofits website.

Is a cloud based solution right for your project?

Pros

Simplicity

A cloud based solution is going to almost always be the simplest option. You won’t have to worry about finding a hosting provider, handling security, or upgrading the site. Even billing is simplified since there is only one service you need to manage. This can be a great benefit for your nonprofit especially after they leave the hack and are all on their own.

Cons

Less Flexibility

The downside to all the simplicity you get with a cloud based solution is that you must sacrifice the amount of flexibility you have. Basically, if the site builder you are using doesn’t support the feature you want to add to your site then there will be very little you can do about it.
Proprietary

A potential risk of using a cloud based site builder is the fact that your entire site is essentially proprietary. If your nonprofit ever wants to move to another site builder or the current site builder goes out of business then their website would have to be rebuilt again from the ground up. Some of the site builders do allow you to create an export of your site but usually the code exported is not pretty so it really is only useful just to have a backup.

Wix

Wix has been one of the top leaders in the website builder space for several years now. It provides an easy to use drag and drop editor that requires no knowledge of code. This probably doesn’t sound great to all you hackers but from a nonprofit’s perspective this can be very desirable. The biggest challenge you will have if your team decided to use Wix will be with collaboration within the tool. Having multiple people editing at the same time is currently not supported so you will have to get creative with how you approach working together to build the site within Wix. This is usually only a problem during dsmHack since normally after the hack your nonprofit won’t have several people editing the site. So, just make sure you consider what is best for your nonprofit.

Past Projects

Shopify

Shopify is a commerce platform that allows anyone to build an online store and sell their products. While many other site builders can be used to build an online store with plugins, add-ons, or extensions, Shopify is first and foremost an online store builder so the experience for building an online store feels more streamlined. If your nonprofit needs an online store, Shopify is a solid solution to consider.

Past Projects

Iowa Public Radio Store - (2016)

Squarespace

Squarespace is another leader in the website builder space and it is often compared to Wix. We haven’t had any teams use Squarespace in previous years so we don’t have too much reason to give you to choose it over Wix but the fact that it is compared with Wix so often warrants it some consideration.

Weebly

Weebly is a site builder that was acquired by Square in 2018. Square is best known for its payment software and hardware. If your nonprofit is already using Square then Weebly might be a good option for an commerce site.

Webflow

Webflow is a very different site builder than the others listed here. It provides an advanced editor geared towards developers and designers that allows you to visualize not just the elements on the page but the HTML structure and CSS styles. This gives you a lot more power to customize your site as you want it. Like many other online editors, WebFlow only allows one user to make structural or CSS changes at a time. Going with an approach like this usually works well for smaller teams or individuals but can limit how much can be worked in parallel during the hack. Up to ten users can be editing separate page content at a time so we’d recommend building the site pages and structure first and then breaking up work page by page. Webflow does a great job of keeping all the CSS and HTML structure functionality separate from the content editing experience so your nonprofits should not feel overwhelmed. Webflow’s unique approach to an online site builder and the fact that it is free to use until you are ready to publish means it deserves some consideration.

Past Projects

Justice League of Food - (2020)

IM Creator

IM Creator is not as well known as the others in this list and we don’t have any experience with it. We include simply because it is completely free for nonprofits which means it could be a good money saving solution for your nonprofit.