Part of the reason WordPress is such a powerful way to manage your site is thanks to the vast array of plugins to extend your nonprofit site’s functionality. However, it can be difficult to wade through all the plug ins out there. There are interchangeable plugins with minimal differences out there, but this list has all quality plugins. Start with the essentials (or similar plugins) and build from there.
Essential Nonprofit Plugins:
Back up your site
There are a number of other quality options, but you need a way to back up to your site in case something goes down. Using Updraft plus allows you to schedule back ups plus you can send the back up to dropbox or another external storage site. Before making major changes (including updates), always back up your site.
Secure your site
Again, there are other options but this is an easy one to have the settings preconfigured and there are a lot of customizable options as well. There is a premium version which you should consider paying.
Collect donations
This is a simple plug in with a widget and shortcode that will let you link to paypal quickly and easily. As you build out the site, you may want to consider 14 other plugins for donations that Softduit writes about.
Build a mailing list
Sooner or later, you need a mailing list (sooner please). If you use Mail Chimp, Mail Chimp for WP is a great choice. To get opt-ins, you might want to also consider these 7 free plugins.
Use caching
Caching can really speed up your website’s load times if set up correctly. Many first time visitors will leave if it is not up in a few seconds. Read the instructions for this one and set it up right to improve user experience.
Strategize for SEO
SEO is more and more about quality content; however, if you do want an easy to manage SEO plan with keywords, this plug in will help you do that fairly simply. You can authenticate your webmaster tools and generate XML site maps.
Build social media
Social media needs to be a part of every non-profit who is online. There are again an eclectic array of options, but Social Media Feather should do the trick if you are having difficulty choosing.
Nonprofit Plugins to Consider:
A powerful plugin, but you should only have this if you plan to update it often. An empty event page is just depressing.
This plugin can be pesky so we do not recommend keeping it on your site for long. But if you are not using google webmaster tools (or a similar off-site tool), it is a great way to see what links are broken, fix them, then delete (not just deactivate) afterward.
You need a contact form, but you can generally build a contact form with your theme. But if you are not able to do this, this plugin helps generate an easy to use a shortcode.
If you are selling any type of swag to raise money (or just selling in general), this is an excellent plugin that can take care of a lot of the e-commerce functions you need for free.
Conclusion:
Again, there are plenty of plugins out there that have similar functionalities and perhaps do things out of the scope of this list. However, if you choose plugins off of this list and aren’t sure about them: it is safer to make sure they are in the word press directory. Check what rating they have (and how many downloads), when they were last updated and the support logs to ensure it is a quality plugin.
Pro tip – The more plugins you have, the greater the risk plugins are not compatible with each other and they can potentially slow down your site. Think about deleting plugins your nonprofit is not using.