15 best WordPress plug-ins for nonprofits

Compared to most organizations, nonprofits often have less capital and staff and fewer resources. They also have less time to learn new technologies, especially if they require extensive coding experience. So it’s imperative that nonprofits take advantage of the resources available to them.

Fortunately, thanks to user-friendly website builders like WordPress, nonprofits don’t have to compromise design for functionality. They can create stunning websites that work for their staff, donors, and communities and take advantage of plug-ins, or software additions, to enhance everyday operations and the donor experience.

Here are 15 WordPress plug-ins to consider to optimize your nonprofit website — whether you recently launched your nonprofit or have been running one for years.

1. GiveWP

As one of the highest-rated WordPress plug-ins for nonprofits, GiveWP helps users create custom forms, accept online donations, and view fundraising reports. GiveWP’s donor dashboard also provides donors constant access to their donation history and tax-deductible receipts.

2. OptinMonster

Looking to find new donors and nurture existing relationships? With popup builder OptinMonster, you can build compelling popup campaigns and email subscription forms to turn prospects into donors and boost overall engagement.

3. Yoast SEO

If you’re trying to improve your search engine rankings, try adding Yoast SEO to your shortlist of WordPress plug-ins for nonprofits. With features like title and meta description templating and advanced XML sitemaps, Yoast SEO makes it easier for search engines to better understand your content and site structure in no time — boosting your organization in search results and helping donors find your organization quickly.

4. Charitable

Since Charitable aims to make online donation collection easy and affordable, it’s the only WordPress donation plug-in on this list that doesn’t charge transaction fees. It also help you create unlimited fundraising campaigns, accept PayPal donations, and manage donors directly in WordPress.

5. WP Simple Pay

When it comes to accepting and processing donations, nonprofits need an online payment system they can trust. WP Simple Pay easily connects popular payment platform Stripe with WordPress, allowing nonprofits to accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay payments and donations safely and securely. (Plus, WP Simple Pay is PCI DSS-compliant.)

6. Smush

Does your website take a long time to load? The problem may be the images on your site. But if you download Smush, the award-winning WordPress image optimization plug-in, you’ll be able to optimize and compress your website images (up to 50 images with just one click!) without jeopardizing their quality. Smush is especially helpful for nonprofits that can’t afford professionals to photograph galas and other fundraising events.

7. Event Tickets

Since nonprofits often host events throughout the year, it’s important to have a streamlined system to keep them all organized. Using Event Tickets, one of the best WordPress plug-ins for nonprofits, you can sell tickets, collect RSVPs, and manage attendees — regardless of whether your event is in person or virtual.

8. Real Testimonials

One of the easiest ways your organization can prove legitimacy is by providing social proof — whether that’s including reviews, quotes, or testimonials from customers. Using responsive layouts, the Real Testimonials plug-in helps users showcase customizable, meaningful testimonials on any WordPress website post or page.

9. Donorbox

Like many organizations and industries, nonprofits are all about customer, or donor, convenience. So, what better way to accept donor donations than through a safe, secure donation management plug-in like Donorbox? This plug-in lets you either embed your Donorbox donation forms directly in your WordPress website or within a popup.

10. Accept Donations with PayPal

Similar to WP Simple Pay, Accept Donations with PayPal enables you to collect and process donations easily and effectively. The only difference is that this plug-in works specifically with PayPal, which is the most popular mobile payment app in the United States.

11. The Events Calendar

What better way to let people know when and where you’re holding events than with a calendar plug-in like The Events Calendar? This fully customizable plug-in allows you to create and manage events, save venues, embed Google Maps, and even improve your SEO.

12. Fuse Social Floating Sidebar

Brand awareness helps people learn about your organization. Luckily, one of the most effective ways to spread the word about your mission is through social media. With Fuse Social Floating Sidebar, you can insert floating social media links on your website to engage donors and enable social sharing. The floating icons will stay on the site visitor’s screen as they scroll up and down your page.

13. Revive Old Posts

Whether you’re looking to boost website traffic or keep your donors engaged with consistent, relevant social media content, Revive Old Posts is one plug-in you need to consider for your WordPress site. This plug-in lets you automatically post content from your website to social media, keeping all your channels up-to-date for prospective and existing donors. Revive Old Posts’s analytics feature even helps you identify which social networks your traffic is coming from, so you can prioritize posting and spending ad dollars on the ones with the most traffic.

14. Rank Math SEO

To rank high on search engines, you need a powerful SEO strategy, which can be a costly, time-consuming, and labor-intensive undertaking. Rank Math SEO, one of the most popular WordPress plug-ins for nonprofits, does the legwork for you, using artificial intelligence to help you write valuable SEO-optimized content. It provides dynamic keyword and link suggestions and can even perform an SEO audit of your website.

15. Jotform Online Forms

Jotform Online Forms lets users embed forms and tables directly into their websites — including event registration forms, donor surveys, and volunteer applications. Simply build a form from scratch or use one of its premade templates and then customize it using Jotform’s drag-and-drop functionality. Then, once you’re ready to publish the form, just embed it in your website, turn it into an app, or email it via link to your donor mailing list. 

Best of all, Jotform provides a 50 percent discount to all nonprofits — helping you collect donations, hire staff and volunteers, and manage your organization for half the price.

With any of these WordPress plug-ins for nonprofits, your organization can further its mission by finding, converting, and engaging donors more effectively than ever before.