Industry · Organisations & startups
Websites and digital tools for NGOs and international organisations
NGOs, foundations and international organisations use their websites to explain their mission, report on programmes, publish research, recruit participants and staff, and account to donors. Their sites often have many authors, content in several languages and strict requirements from donors on transparency, accessibility and procurement. The technology must be simple to maintain after the project that funded it has ended.
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In short
In short
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Programme and project pages with goals, activities, partners and results form the core.
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Reports, publications and data should be easy to find, cite and download.
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Content in Azerbaijani, English and often Russian is typical; each version should be complete for its audience.
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Accessibility is both a value and often a donor requirement.
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The site must be maintainable by staff without a developer, and its hosting and domain owned by the organisation.
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Overview
Structure
- Mission and organisation: who you are, governance, team, partners and donors.
- Programmes and projects: goals, target groups, activities, locations, partners, timeline and results — updated as projects progress.
- Publications and resources: reports, research, policy papers, toolkits — with filters by topic, year and type, and downloadable files.
- News and events, with registration where needed.
- Opportunities: jobs, calls for applications, grants, procurement notices.
- Transparency: annual reports, financial information as appropriate.
Multilingual content
Audiences differ by language: local communities and government partners in Azerbaijani, international donors and partners in English, some regional audiences in Russian. Each language version should cover what its audience needs, with its own URLs. See multilingual websites.
Accessibility
A website that works with screen readers, keyboard navigation, sufficient contrast and readable text serves people with disabilities — often part of the organisation's target group — and meets donor requirements that increasingly reference accessibility standards. Accessibility is built into design and templates, not added later.
Maintainability
Projects are often funded for a fixed period. After that, staff must maintain the site themselves. This favours a well-documented content management system, templates that keep pages consistent, training for editors, and hosting and domain registered in the organisation's name with access held by the organisation. See website maintenance.
Procurement
Many organisations select contractors through formal procurement with terms of reference. A clear brief — goals, audiences, content types, languages, integrations, accessibility and hosting requirements, maintenance expectations — produces comparable proposals. See website brief template.
Security
Organisations working on sensitive topics can be targets of attacks, phishing and attempts to take sites offline. Protection includes secure hosting, updates, backups, DDoS protection, two-factor authentication for editors and email domain protection. See security audit.
Donations and participation
Where the organisation accepts donations or registrations online, payment and data handling must follow local law and donors' rules. Forms for participants should collect only necessary data with clear consent. See personal data law.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can we update the website ourselves?
That should be a requirement. The content management system, templates and training should allow staff to publish news, reports and pages without a developer.
Which content management system should an NGO use?
A widely used, well-supported system that your staff can manage and future contractors can maintain. Rare or custom systems make the organisation dependent on one supplier.
Do we need separate sites for each project?
Usually not. Project sections within the main site keep the organisation's identity and search visibility together. Separate sites make sense for large, long-term programmes with their own brand.