Web design · Web development
Bundles of Hope — A Free Charity Website That Makes Donating Simple
A community charity in Long Eaton needed a website that explained its work to every age group and made donating obvious. We built it on WordPress, free of charge.
- Web design
- Web development
- Graphic design
- Photography
- WordPress
The brief
Why a small charity needed a proper website
Vimana Digital designed and built a free WordPress website for Bundles of Hope, a community charity in Long Eaton, Nottingham, that gives families of preschool children clothing, shoes, nappies and wipes at no cost. The microsite explains the charity's work for all ages, makes donating clear, and works fully on mobile.
Bundles of Hope is a community-based initiative. It gives families of preschool children access to clothing, shoes, nappies and wipes free of charge, and it relies on the goodwill of the community for donations.
That dependence is the whole brief. If a visitor cannot work out within seconds what the charity does and how to help, the website has failed. The front end had to suit all ages, feel fun and engaging rather than corporate, and put donation options where nobody could miss them.
Bundles of Hope sits in the same local community as our office at The Long Eaton Hub, so we reached out to them. We build websites free of charge for small registered charities, and we offered one to Bundles of Hope with no strings attached. It is not a secret, though it often seems to be one.
How we did it
How we approached a free charity build
01
Consolidate the content first
Before designing anything, we gathered as much existing material as possible. Bundles of Hope kindly supplied the written content and we worked it into the structure, adding graphic-design features where words alone were not enough.
02
Shoot our own photographs
We went to Bundles of Hope and took a few of our own pictures. Real images of a real place build more trust than stock photos, and for a microsite a small set is plenty.
03
Make donations the obvious next step
The charity relies on goodwill, so donation routes were designed to be clear and easy to understand rather than buried in a menu.
04
Design to age well
The aesthetic is clear and friendly, and the layout is built to age well without many changes. It is fully mobile responsive.
What we built
What the Bundles of Hope website includes
The site is more educational than visual. Because it is a microsite, a handful of our own photographs and some illustration work gave it warmth without padding it out.
- A WordPress microsite
- Clear donation options that are easy to understand
- A mix of photography and graphic-design illustrations, including photos we took on a visit to Bundles of Hope
- A clear, trustworthy and friendly visual style suitable for all ages
- A fully mobile-responsive layout
Responsive experience
Clear on every screen
Website design at it's best, Amit provided a comprehensive service, he is a great website designer and provided our charity with a fabulous new website. He made putting the site together a simple process for us, was knowledgeable and helpful throughout the whole process, he was quick to respond to any questions and came up with many great ideas that have enhanced our website and internet presence." Bundles of Hope, Google review
The outcome
Results
What we can say: Bundles of Hope has a website that explains its work clearly, makes donating simple and works on every device. If you would like to support them, visit bundlesofhope.co.uk. The work they do is amazing, and they would massively appreciate any support.
Related services
Questionsabout thisproject
Not covered here? Call and ask. We reply within 24 hours.
Does Vimana Digital really build websites for charities for free?
Yes, for small registered charities . We built the Bundles of Hope site free of charge with no strings attached because they serve the same community we work in. Get in touch with your charity registration details and what you need the site to do, and we will tell you honestly whether it fits.
What should a small charity website include?
At minimum: a plain explanation of who you help and how, a donation route that works on a phone, contact details, and a way to publish news or appeals. Bundles of Hope needed exactly that, so we built a microsite rather than a sprawling one. Fewer pages means less to maintain and fewer places for information to go stale.
Can our volunteers update the website themselves?
Usually, yes. Bundles of Hope runs on WordPress, which lets non-technical people edit pages, add news and change appeal details without writing code. Ask us to walk you through it . If you would rather not touch it, our website management service starts from £50 a month, paid annually, with hosting from £120 a year. Prices exclude VAT.
How long does a charity website take to build?
Straightforward websites typically take one to three weeks once content is agreed. The content stage is usually the slow part for charities because volunteers are busy, so we help by consolidating what you already have, taking photographs ourselves and adding graphic design where text alone is not enough.
Start your project
Are you a small registered charity?
Tell us what your charity does and what the website needs to achieve. If it fits our free charity website offer, we will say so; if not, we will quote plainly.