The Complete Guide to Using Squarespace for Your Nonprofit

Apr 17

Your website is your first handshake with the world.

Before anyone donates, volunteers, or gets behind your mission, they’ll likely visit your site. And what they find there—clarity or confusion, friction or flow—can quietly determine whether they take that next step.

For nonprofits juggling a thousand priorities, creating a beautiful, functional website shouldn’t be one of them. That’s where Squarespace quietly shines.

Why Squarespace Works So Well for Nonprofits

Let’s be honest: many nonprofit websites feel like they’re held together with duct tape and goodwill. Outdated pages. Donation buttons that take three clicks too many. Confusing navigation that buries your impact under event flyers from 2019.

Squarespace helps with that. It’s not just a website builder—it’s an operational upgrade.

With Squarespace, you get:

Clean, modern templates designed for storytelling and action
A simple backend (no dev team required)
Integrated tools for fundraising, scheduling, and brand consistency
A platform that grows with you—from grassroots to global

And thanks to recent updates, it’s more nonprofit-friendly than ever.

What’s New: Features Nonprofits Should Know About

1. More Ways to Accept Donations (Finally)
You can now accept donations via Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, or Squarespace Payments—directly from your site. No third-party widgets, no donor drop-off. Just a clean, branded experience from intent to impact.

2. Recurring Donations Are Now Live
If you're building long-term sustainability, recurring donations are your holy grail. Now donors can opt-in to give weekly or monthly, and you can forecast with a little more confidence.

3. Assign Donations to Specific Funds
Transparency builds trust. Donors can now designate where their money goes—whether it's “Emergency Relief” or “Scholarship Fund”—and that choice builds connection. Here’s how it works →

4. Squarespace AI for Brand Consistency
New foundational AI tools help you write on-brand content across your site. Set your tone, and AI suggestions will reflect it—whether you’re writing homepage copy or event blurbs. Think of it as an invisible content strategist, helping keep things “you.”

Tools That Make the Day-to-Day Easier

Nonprofit teams wear a lot of hats. Squarespace helps take a few off.

Team Collaboration
With Individual Contributors, you can invite teammates, set permissions, and delegate without micromanaging. Your programs lead can update event pages. Your fundraising intern can tweak donor copy. And you? You can stay focused.

Scheduling and Event Management
Squarespace’s Scheduling Integration turns your site into a self-service portal. People can sign up for events, book one-on-ones, and get automatic reminders. It syncs with Google Calendar, iCal, and Outlook so your team doesn’t get double-booked. (Or triple.)

Impact Reporting with Visuals
Data is good. Visualized data is better. Use Chart Blocks to create simple graphs—showing funds raised, meals delivered, volunteer hours logged. Let your results speak for themselves (and be a little more shareable on social media, too).

The Magic of Good Design (Without a Design Degree)

Squarespace templates don’t just look good—they’re designed to convert. You’ll find built-in calls-to-action, mobile responsiveness, and accessibility features right out of the box. The best part? You can get started fast.

Here are some favourite templates for nonprofits:

Roseti – Great for showcasing events and programs
Lusaka – Built with donations and CTAs front and centre
Bailard – Clean, minimal, impact-forward
Clarkson – Preformatted for nonprofits, easy to customise
Fidelity – Professional polish with all the nonprofit basics
Reach (by Current 120) – Made for nonprofits, period

Tip: Don’t overthink the template. Pick the one that feels closest to your vibe, then start adding your own magic. The real story is in your content.

One Platform, Many Possibilities

If you’ve ever thought “We just need a better system,” Squarespace might be that system.

It’s not perfect, and it’s not free. But it’s clean, reliable, and thoughtfully evolving to meet the real needs of modern nonprofits—from flexible fundraising to better storytelling.

And when the tech gets out of your way, the mission moves faster.

Want Help Choosing a Template or Getting Set Up?

I’ve worked with plenty of purpose-driven teams navigating this transition—and I’d love to help. Reach out if you want a second set of eyes on your structure, strategy, or template pick.

You’ve got enough to juggle. Let’s make your digital presence one less thing to worry about.