What you’ll get from this post: Discover the exact five pages your nonprofit website needs to guide donors to give, and learn what content belongs on each.
- Consolidate your sitemap into Home, About, Impact, Give, and Stories.
- Assign a single specific job to every page.
- Design for the donor’s journey instead of mirroring your organizational chart.
Your website has 47 pages.
Donors visit 1.2 of them.
That is a clarity problem.
Most nonprofit websites grow the same way: someone adds a page for the new program, someone else adds a page for the board portal, the intern builds a resources library, and suddenly you have a sitemap that looks like a corporate org chart from 2009.
Meanwhile, a donor who found you through Instagram lands on your homepage, clicks around for 11 seconds, cannot figure out how to give or why they should, and leaves.
More pages mean less information communicated. Every extra page is another decision point. Another chance for someone to wander off in the wrong direction. Another exit ramp before the ask.
The 5 pages every nonprofit website actually needs ensure donors give instead of just visiting.
The Problem with Your Website
A donor hears about your organization from a friend. They Google you. They land on your homepage and see:
- A rotating banner with three different headlines and zero consistent message.
- A navigation bar with 11 items, two of which have dropdown menus.
- A news section with a press release from February 2023.
- A programs page that leads to six sub-pages.
- Somewhere, buried, a donate button.
They are confused because you gave them a library card when they needed a map.
The donor journey requires specific milestones:
- Understand
Know what you do in under 10 seconds.
- Believe
See proof that your work succeeds.
- Navigate
Find a clear, confident path to give.
- Feel
Know their gift will actually matter.
A five-page website built around the donor journey solves this confusion.
Five Pages, One Journey
Think of your website as a conversation. A good conversation has a natural flow: you introduce yourself, build trust, make an ask, and show impact. Every extra page you add outside that flow acts as a detour.
The five essential pages each have a specific job.
Page 1: Home (The “What Do You Do?” Page)
Donor Question: “Should I keep reading or close this tab?”
Your homepage has one job: make a stranger want to know more. Make them curious enough to scroll or click.
What to put here: a headline that says what you do in plain English, one sentence on who you serve, one compelling image or video of real people, a single clear call to action like “Learn More” or “See the Impact,” and three to five proof points.
What to cut: the rotating banner, every program description, staff bios, news and press releases, and anything that requires a donor to already understand your work.
“Advancing equitable access to holistic wellness solutions for underserved community members through collaborative, trauma-informed interventions.”
“We help kids in foster care find permanent homes. We’ve done it 2,400 times.”
Page 2: About (The “Why Should I Trust You?” Page)
Donor Question: “Who are you, and do you actually know what you’re doing?”
Most About pages are organizational Wikipedia entries. Founding year, leadership team headshots, a vision statement written by committee. Donors need a reason to believe.
Your About page is where your Origin Story lives. What broke your heart enough to start this? What did the world look like before you existed, and what does it look like now because you do?
What to put here: your Origin Story detailing the human “why,” a short note on your approach, two to three team bios that feel like real people, and one or two credibility markers.
What to cut: the exhaustive board list, the organizational chart, jargon-heavy descriptions of your programmatic model, and any sentence that starts with “We strive to” or “Our vision is to.”
“Founded in 2004, Bright Path Inc. is a 501(c)(3) dedicated to facilitating positive outcomes for youth aging out of the foster care system through evidence-based transitional support services.”
“In 2004, our founder Maria sat across from a 19-year-old named DeShawn who had just aged out of foster care. He had a garbage bag with everything he owned and nowhere to go. She thought: this can’t be the system. So she built a better one.”
Page 3: Impact (The “Does This Actually Work?” Page)
Donor Question: “Okay, I believe in the mission. But is the money going somewhere real?”
This is your Educate page. Your job here is to build trust through proof.
What to put here: two to three specific measurable outcomes with real numbers, one or two client stories that make the data feel human, a short explanation of your model, and an annual report link.
What to cut: vague aspirational language, statistics without context, and testimonials that only say nice things about you without showing real outcomes.
“We are proud to have impacted thousands of lives through our innovative programming.”
“Of the 312 young adults who completed our housing program in 2024, 89% were still housed 18 months later. The national average for youth aging out of foster care? 36%.”
Page 4: Give (The “How Do I Help?” Page)
Donor Question: “I’m ready. What happens when I give, and will it matter?”
Most donation pages are transactional and cold. A form, a credit card field, a submit button. That’s a checkout cart.
Your Give page should do three things: make the ask confidently, connect the gift to a real outcome, and make the transaction feel like a moment.
What to put here: one clear, confident headline like “House a young adult this month,” impact-per-dollar framing, one short story or image that connects the gift to a person, a simple donation form, and a brief note on what happens next.
What to cut: long explanations of your programs before the form, multiple competing asks on the same page, guilt language, and a form with 12 or more fields.
“Your generous donation supports our programs and makes a difference in the lives of vulnerable youth.”
“$75 gives one young adult three weeks of housing support. Pick your amount.”
Page 5: Stories (The “Show Me the People” Page)
Donor Question: “Can I see this in real life?”
This is the page most nonprofits skip, and it’s the one that does the most quiet, sustained work over time.
A Stories page is a curated collection of the moments that prove your mission is real. Short pieces, video embeds, photo essays, client journeys. It’s the page donors return to. It’s the page they share.
What to put here: three to six story features updated seasonally, a mix of formats, real names and faces with consent, and a clear connection between each story and your mission.
What to cut: press releases, staff announcements, award notices, and anything written in third-person institutional voice.
“Bright Path Receives 2024 Community Impact Award from the Greater Metro Chamber of Commerce”
“Marcus was 19 with a grocery bag and a court date. A year later, he has an apartment, a job, and a daughter on the way. Here’s what happened in between.”
A Real Donor Journey
Watch the five-page framework in action with a fictional donor named Priya.
- Tuesday, 7:00 PMHome
Priya sees a Facebook post from a friend who shared a short video from Bright Path. She clicks through to the website. The homepage headline says: “We help young adults aging out of foster care find stable housing. We’ve done it 2,400 times.” She scrolls. She sees a face. She sees a number. She clicks “Learn More.”
- Tuesday, 7:03 PMAbout
Priya reads the Origin Story. She learns that the founder started this after sitting across from a 19-year-old with a garbage bag. She thinks: “This is real. This is someone who actually cares.” She clicks “See the Impact.”
- Tuesday, 7:06 PMImpact
Priya reads the outcome data. 89% housing retention at 18 months, compared to a 36% national average. She watches a 90-second video of a young woman named Kezia talking about her apartment, her job, her kid’s birthday party. Priya thinks: “This works.” She clicks “Give.”
- Tuesday, 7:09 PMGive
The headline says: “$75 gives one young adult three weeks of housing support.” Priya gives $150. Two weeks. She thinks: “That’s something I can picture.”
- Two weeks laterStories
Priya gets an email with a link to a new story on the Stories page. She reads it. She shares it with her sister.
- Next NovemberEngage again
When the year-end appeal arrives, Priya gives $300. She is a champion.
How to Map Your Current Website
You need to know what you currently have before rebuilding.
Open the Website Story Map and follow these steps:
- List every page on your current site
Use your navigation menu and sitemap. Write down every page title, including sub-pages and anything buried in dropdowns.
- Assign each page to a job
Ask: is this Introducing, Educating, Engaging, or Reminding? If you cannot answer in one sentence what a visitor is supposed to do or feel on that page, mark it “unclear.”
- Flag core pages
Look for content scattered across multiple pages that could be consolidated.
- Archive the rest
Anything that does not serve the five core pages can live somewhere donors rarely need to find it: a board portal, a resources library, a staff intranet. Clear it off the main navigation.
Most organizations discover:
- They have plenty of Educate content, scattered across too many pages to be effective.
- They have a Donate button, but their Give page is doing none of the persuasion work.
- They lack a true Homepage headline.
- Their About page is an org chart dressed up as a story.
The Five-Page Content Distribution Guide
A balanced five-page site operates with clear intention:
- Home: Introduce (100%). One message, one audience, one call to action. No Educate content. No Engage content. Just the handshake.
- About: Introduce (80%) + Educate (20%). Origin Story first, credibility second.
- Impact: Educate (90%) + light Remind (10%). Proof, data, stories, and a quiet nod to what donors have already made possible.
- Give: Engage (100%). One ask, one form, one outcome-per-dollar. Nothing else.
- Stories: Educate (60%) + Remind (40%). The ongoing human proof that cycles through all four seasons over time.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Treating the homepage like an annual report
Your homepage tries to explain every program, introduce every staff member, and showcase every award. Donors leave before they finish the first paragraph.
Fix: Cut your homepage to five elements: a clear headline, one sentence on who you serve, one image, one stat, and one CTA.
Mistake 2: Putting the donation form on a page that hasn’t done any persuasion work
You linked to the Give page from your homepage header before the donor knows what you do or whether it’s working.
Fix: Earn the ask. Every click to your Give page should come after at least one stop at About or Impact.
Mistake 3: Updating the blog but never updating the Stories page
Your news section has 40 posts. Your Stories page has three features from 2021.
Fix: Commit to one new story per quarter on the Stories page. A 300-word piece with one real photo beats a polished video you produce once every three years.
Mistake 4: Burying the Give page
Your donation page is two clicks deep inside a “Get Involved” dropdown.
Fix: “Give” belongs in your main navigation, visible on every page, every screen size, every scroll depth. It should take one click to get there.
Mistake 5: Writing web copy that sounds like a grant application
Your impact page uses language your program officer would recognize but your donors wouldn’t.
Fix: Read every page out loud. If you wouldn’t say it at a dinner party, rewrite it. Plain language converts. Jargon doesn’t.
Your Action Plan This Week
Follow these steps immediately:
- Today, 15 minutesTake Inventory
Download the Website Story Map and list your current site pages. Just the inventory. No decisions yet.
- This Week, 1 hourAssign Jobs
Assign every page a job. Flag anything unclear. Identify which of your five core pages needs the most work.
- This Month, 2 hoursRewrite Headlines
Rewrite your homepage headline and Give page headline using the frameworks above. These two changes will have more impact than any other single fix on your site.
Download the Website Story Map, complete your page audit, and drop your homepage URL in the WellTold Community. We will tell you exactly what is working and what needs adjustment. Bonus: The first 10 homepages shared will get a free 3-minute video audit from the Tellwell team.
The Bottom Line
Your website needs a clearer path.
Donors require a complete picture over time. They need:
- A clear first impression (Home)
- A reason to trust you (About)
- Proof it’s working (Impact)
- A confident, specific ask (Give)
- Human stories to return to (Stories)
When your website is built around the donor journey, you get donors who stay, give, and come back.
Download the Website Story Map spreadsheet. It includes a page inventory tracker, job assignment guide, gap analysis column, and a five-page rebuild checklist.
- What’s Next?
Next week, we are getting into the copy itself with “Write Web Copy That Converts: The Donor Journey Framework.” You will learn why “Support Our Mission” hurts your donation button, the structure for every page, and see before-and-after rewrites from five real nonprofit websites.
