Donations
Non profit websites should be the first place people visit to make donations. A website that makes it easy to donate is advantageous for new donors and convenient for existing ones, so your donations page should be clearly linked from your home page (with banners or buttons), shouldn't require people to set up an account to give money, and should only ask for information required to process the transaction.
Publicity
Publicity and media attention is essential for raising your organisation's profile and increasing donations. To make it easy for the media to find out information about your organisation, include profiles of important people such as founders, directors and key personnel. Alongside these profiles, provide a downloadable PDF or media kit so this information can be taken away and distributed amongst networks. It's also a good idea to offer downloadable images and press-ready quotes on your site, and make it clear that media can use them without prior permission to promote your organisation.
Volunteering
Always dedicate a page on your site to volunteering. For those who are willing and able to help, a variety of contact methods (office phone, mobile phone, email) or simple contact form makes it easy for them to get involved. Including some information about volunteering in general before your contact details will make new volunteers value your site as a point of knowledge and not just somewhere to get in touch.
Purpose and Values
If it isn't clear what your organisation is about by looking at your name, make sure the homepage of your website makes it clear who you are and what you do. Don't take it for granted that visitors will already know what your organisation does, and don't confuse them with cold, corporate jargon.
Content
Content is always the priority on non profit websites, as your visitor is more interested in what you have to say rather than how good your site looks. Whilst it doesn't hurt to have an eye-catching, professional website, it should always take a back seat to your content. If you're using multi-media elements such as photos and videos, consider restricting them to just one page such as a gallery or special multi-media section. Bear in mind that too much multi-media will result in slower load times, so make sure they always support what your organisation is about.
Brand-awareness
Although you aren't selling anything, all your promotional materials should be consistent. Choosing the right logo and having it prominently placed on all your documents and pages is the key to building a recognisable image in your particular sector. You don't need to make your digital and print designs the same, but ensure they have the same kind of feel.
News and Blogs
Providing a news section or blog gives people a reason to come back to your website. Making people invest some of their time in keeping up to date with your organisation's activity can only result in increased awareness and increased donations. Constantly updating your news and blog also results in significant search engine visibility, and submitting your news and blog links to related websites can improve web traffic flow to your website aswell.
http://www.design-logix.co.uk/blog/blog-entry/things_to_remember_for_non_profit_websites
