The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits:

Transcription

1 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits: A Report on the Current Marketplace for PLUGINS March 2016 Sponsored by

2 Foreword Dear Reader, On behalf of ArcStone, I am pleased to present Idealware s The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits: A Report on the Current Marketplace for Plugins. I m excited to have had the opportunity to work with Idealware on this report. The WordPress plugin ecosystem is an amazing resource for nonprofits. With a little technical savvy you can create a rich, interactive website tailored to your organization s needs without writing a line of code or hiring a consultant. Even if you work with a consultant or development firm, being in the know about how plugins can extend and help you customize your website will save you time and money. The trick here is how to become savvy. Where should you look? How can you judge if a plugin is any good or whether it will be supported long-term? What steps should you take to secure your site and leverage the plugin ecosystem? You ve taken the first step by downloading this report. It helps to have a guide when you re going into new or complex territory. This report can be that guide. It highlights a vetted list of the best plugins in the most popular categories. More importantly, this guide will arm you with principles to use for testing and discovering plugins that will fit your needs. Since I started ArcStone in 1997, I ve always prided myself on giving my clients the advice I would give my mom if she wanted to build a website. My mom has a WordPress website, not only because it s one of the easiest systems to use, but also because of the plugins we ve been able to inexpensively and quickly put to work for her. I hope you find this report to be a useful guide for navigating the landscape of WordPress plugins. Please put our research to work, smartly leverage those plugins and make your website better than ever. Sincerely, David Carnes CEO / Founder ArcStone.com PAGE 2 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

3

4 Table of contents Introduction... 5 Should You Work With a Consultant or Go It Alone?... 6 Choosing a Consultant...7 Going it Alone...8 The DIY Checklist...8 Hosting Options for the DIY Site...9 The Landscape of WordPress Plugins...10 Backup Utilities...12 Content Creation Constituent Database Integration Events and Calendars...17 Improved Search Tools for Website Content Layout and Template Utilities Tools for Mobile-Friendly and Responsive Layout Tools for Related or Featured Content Tools for Sidebars and Widgets...21 Online Communications and Social Integration...22 Online Transaction Processing...24 Security...25 Site Performance...27 Webforms Website Analytics...29 Appendix A: Additional Resources...30 Appendix B: Authors and Contributors Appendix C: About This Report PAGE 4 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

5 Introduction Since its launch in 2003, WordPress.org has grown from a simple blogging platform to one of the best known and widely-used Content Management Systems (CMS) available. More than 16 million websites use the platform, encompassing nearly a quarter of the entire internet. 1 Some of its popularity can be attributed to the simplicity of the base system, but as a communitysupported open source CMS, its flexibility is also a big selling point. Public access to the underlying code and the expansive ecosystem of both free and paid plugins developed and contributed by users, consultants, and software companies makes it extremely customizable for a wide range of needs. But those benefits also bring challenges. With so many add-ons, how do you find the ones that best meet the needs of your organization? How do you customize it to fit? In this report we ll look at the benefits and drawbacks of working with a consultant over implementing your own WordPress site. We ll also look at the universe of plugins you can add on to the base WordPress platform, highlighting those recommended and vetted by almost a dozen experts to support 12 common areas of a nonprofit s website needs. In addition to plugins, WordPress also boasts an expansive selection of user-submitted themes, or pre-packaged graphic templates and website style layouts. We chose to specifically not include themes in the scope of this report, as many of the differences among available themes are either cosmetic or dependent on knowledge of the underlying code factors that are difficult to evaluate and because there are already theme-related resources to be found. In general, many of the same principles that you ll use to select plugins also apply to themes. Pay close attention to the number of users that have installed the theme, thoroughly check user reviews for common issues or strengths, and look for themes that are actively developed and supported by a reputable or well-rated provider. Whether your nonprofit is looking to expand the functionality of your existing WordPress site or implement one for the first time, we re confident you ll find this report useful. Ready to get started? 1 Source: PAGE 5 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

6 getting started with wordpress WordPress has a reputation as one of the easiest Content Management Systems to install. It s also a user-friendly tool to maintain and update. Setting up a new website is within reach of anyone with a sense of technical adventure. Many guides and books both online and in print walk first-time users through the process of installing, setting up, and launching their WordPress sites, and there s an active development community to be found (make.wordpress.org) But success often depends on tolerance for trial-anderror, and the ability to devote the time to learning the system which means, many nonprofits that do try to set up a WordPress site on their own will run into problems. As a result, there s also an active community of consultants and web developers who specialize in WordPress implementations. A consultant can help you customize the appearance and functionality of your site, provide expertise around organizing your site architecture, and potentially offer ongoing technical support often with a significantly lower demand on staff time than if you implement the site yourself. Deciding whether to spend staff time or money to implement any technology is often difficult, especially for smaller nonprofits. So how do you know whether to work with a consultant or go it alone? If your organization only needs a simple, straightforward website with only a dozen pages or so, and doesn t need a heavily-customized theme, you may very likely be able to set it up yourself. Many higher-quality themes provide a non-technical, What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) interface for tweaking or making small customizations (such as changing colors, headers, and fonts) with little-to-no knowledge of HTML or CSS, the code behind websites. Nonprofits we spoke to that had implemented their own WordPress sites recommended the use of an introductory text either a how-to book or an online guide for an easier setup process. For more specific considerations on if self-implementing a site would be appropriate for your organization, see The DIY Checklist on page 8. Working with a consultant will almost always make more sense for larger or more complicated websites. If your organization already has a very specific brand and needs a website to match your specific design, an off-the-rack theme will likely not be appropriate for you. An experienced designer or consultant with knowledge of HTML and CSS will be able to create a custom theme for your site. If you plan to use your website to display and organize a large volume of resources such as articles, photographs, or directories, a consultant can provide guidance on how to best structure the site around them as well as a strategy for organizing existing and future content. If you need to integrate your website with other software including online donation tools or constituent database systems, for example a consultant will know how to connect WordPress to those other systems. This is a difficult skill for the average user to learn, and you re probably better off working with an expert. In general, most organizations will be better-served by working with a consultant, at least for the more complicated steps of setting up the site on the host s server, adding custom integrations or functionality, and defining a plan or schedule for backups and updates. PAGE 6 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

7 Choosing a Consultant If you ve never worked with a consultant before, finding the right one can seem daunting. How do you know if they ll understand your organization s needs? How do you know if they ll complete your project on time and on budget? Fortunately, an abundance of consultants specialize in WordPress. The challenge comes in narrowing down your options. Start by asking yourself a few questions to help you focus on the kind of consultant you want. Should your consultant be local? It may be easier to work with someone face-to-face often someone local can more quickly learn about your organization, and collaborate more directly. But that might limit your options, especially if you re searching for a specific skill set or have a tight budget. Should you work with an individual or a consulting firm? A consulting firm is more likely to be available when you need them, and they often have project management support to help you work through the process. Their experience with a wide range of organizations and projects can mean you re less likely to encounter surprises. However, they re often more expensive. Working with an individual can significantly lower your costs and ensure that your project gets the focused attention it needs, but it s also somewhat risky. The best way to determine which consultants you can trust with your website is through referrals. Reach out to other nonprofits to find out about their experiences and ask who they ve worked with and how well they liked them. Once you have a list of consultants you re interested in, get in touch with them and send a onepage description of your project that includes goals, needed skills, your budget range, and if applicable your openness to work with multiple consultants. Next, schedule interviews to learn more about the candidates backgrounds and skill sets. Make sure that the consultant explains the work in a way that is clear and easy for you to understand. This will help avoid miscommunications in the future and is a good test of how knowledgeable he or she is on the topic. Don t forget to ask for references and follow up with them. PAGE 7 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

8 Going it Alone If you decide to go it alone, keep in mind that you might run into challenges. Many consultants we spoke to described projects where they had to take over a site that an organization had attempted to implement on its own. Don t let this discourage you, but let it be a warning that you will need to prepare and plan ahead before attempting such a project. In case you run into an issue or roadblock that you cannot overcome, define at what time it would make sense to throw in the towel and call in a consultant. The DIY Checklist Through conversations with WordPress consultants and with nonprofit professionals who successfully implemented WordPress sites by themselves, we ve identified this checklist of what your organization will need to set up your website on your own. These are guidelines, not hard requirements. Staffing You re likely to need someone on staff who Is comfortable with learning new technology. Has the capacity to devote the time to this project (possibly on weekends). Has at least a basic understanding of HTML. Has the ability and capacity to write or create content for the site likely multiple people. Content To plan your site, you ll need to identify A clear definition of what content you want on your website. How the website content should be organized. A generous timeline for implementing and testing the site before launch. A checklist and schedule for testing and installing updates. You ll also need less tangible things, like patience, a sense of adventure, and tolerance for mistakes. Remember, this is not a definitive list of the skills or preparations needed for a successful DIY WordPress implementation, nor is this checklist a guarantee of a successful implementation. Our experts recommend starting with any of the numerous instructional guides available in print or online. The user forums at can also be a valuable resource for answering questions or troubleshooting problems. PAGE 8 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

9 Hosting Options for the DIY Site In addition to the WordPress software itself, which you download from WordPress.org, you ll need a place to host your site. For the uninitiated, a host stores the files that make up your Web site and reliably connects them to the Internet to make it visible to the world. Look for a provider that specializes in web hosting rather than treating it as an added feature or part of a site development package. A dedicated host will maintain reliable infrastructure, including dozens or hundreds of servers protected by carefully designed security, climate, power, and backup systems to ensure that your site stays up and running. Shared Hosting The cheapest and easiest way to host your site is through shared hosting provider. Under this system, your site s files are stored on a server that also hosts a number of other people s sites you can only see or access your own files. This method provides you with server space to install your site, and little more. You re responsible for ongoing site maintenance, including regular automated backups (see Backup Utilities, page 12) and testing and installing updates to WordPress as well as your plugins and themes. Additionally, because shared hosting plans include a fixed amount of storage space and bandwidth per month, you ll need to pay close attention to the amount of plugins you install as well as how much space they use. Several experts warned of plugins that have a tendency to hog resources when left unchecked, leading to poor site performance, longer loading times, and backup issues. WordPress.Com Finally, if you don t have the budget for a consultant and only need a very simple site with a few pages and a blog, you could consider instead building your site on WordPress.com, the fully-managed-and-hosted version of WordPress provided by Automattic. Because of its reputation as a blogging platform, WordPress.com boasts a user-friendly, nontechnical interface, and over 200 prepackaged graphic themes most of which are free. However, while some popular plugins are available, WordPress.com users are not able to access the full library of plugins, limiting your ability to add new functionality. And though you can get started with a free account, you ll need to pay for upgrades and additional features, such as removing ads, adding your own custom domain, or the ability to add custom CSS stylesheets. Paid accounts, called bundles, start at $99 per year for the premium plan and up to $299 per year for the Business plan, which includes all upgrades, premium themes, and unlimited storage. Managed Hosting If you re not confident in your organization s ability to deal with back-end site maintenance, or you re not sure if someone on staff will have the capacity to take ownership of maintenance, you could also consider managed WordPress hosting essentially, turnkey installations maintained by the hosting provider. Managed hosting especially makes sense for nonprofits without dedicated IT staff, or those looking to set up their site on their own, as there is no installation needed and the host takes on automated backups and system updates in addition to server maintenance. PAGE 9 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

10 the landscape of wordpress plugins

11 The Landscape of WordPress Plugins More than 40,000 plugins are listed in the plugin directory on WordPress.org (wordpress.org/plugins), where they are categorized complete with user reviews and ratings. Though this is the primary marketplace for plugins, it s not the only one. Multiple third-party sites like Themeforest (themeforest.net) and CodeCanyon (codecanyon.net) also offer their own directories, but several experts warned that not all third-party sites implement as rigorous a vetting process as the official one. The risk is lower-quality plugins with sloppy code that may interfere with other plugins or themes, or worse, infrequent or sporadic updates that leave your site open to security vulnerabilities. As a rule when selecting plugins, you should look at the number of active installs (the more, the better), the number of support topics or user questions still unresolved (the fewer, the better), and the frequency of past updates. Many consultants pointed out that implementing too many plugins can clutter your server, taking up valuable memory and making your site load much slower. While there are site performance and cache plugins available to speed up load times, it s often easier to and more effective to instead limit the plugins you install to just the essentials. Just because a plugin is available doesn t mean you need it even if it s free. We ve broken them down by category, into 12 common nonprofit website needs. Backup Utilities Content Creation Constituent Database Integration Events and Calendars Improved Search Tools for Website Content Layout and Template Utilities Online Communications and Social Integration Online Transaction Processing Security Site Performance Webforms Website Analytics We ve limited this report to the plugins mostrecommended by the experts we talked to that were also in wide use and well-reviewed. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of plugins, rather an effort to catalog a manageable list of recommended plugins to get nonprofits started. One more thing before we get started. Nearly every expert we talked to suggested Jetpack, a free plugin from Automattic, as an all-in-one solution for organizations looking to set up a site without the help of a consultant. Jetpack is a tightly integrated suite of more than two dozen popular, widely-used plugins encompassing most of your basic needs, including backup, website analytics, and social media integration. Some experts suggested that many nonprofits may not need to add any additional plugins beyond what Jetpack provides, and suggested that small organizations on a tight schedule for implementing their site without the budget for a consultant start here. Jetpack is available at jetpack.me. PAGE 11 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

12 backup utilities Unless you re installing your website on a managed WordPress installation (where the hosting provider is responsible for backups and updates), setting up automated backups of your site should be your top priority after installation. Regular backups ensure that you always have a save point to return to in the event a plugin or update corrupts the site. In addition to regularly scheduled backups, it s also a good idea to backup your site prior to installing a new plugin or an update in case it doesn t work correctly with your theme or another plugin especially if you don t have a development version of the site for testing out updates. BackupBuddy ithemes.com/purchase/backupbuddy/ One of the backup tools most mentioned by our experts, BackupBuddy from ithemes offers complete database and file backup starting at $80 per year for up to two websites, a year of updates and ticketed support, and 1GB of storage space. BackWPup wordpress.org/plugins/backwpup/ With over 400,000 active installations, BackWPup Free from MarketPress is a popular and fairly wellreviewed backup plugin, backward-compatible to WordPress 3.4. It allows you to choose multiple different storage services, including Dropbox, Amazon S3 services, and Microsoft Azure, among others. The paid version, BackWPup Pro (marketpress.com/ product/backwpup-pro/), adds support for backing up to Amazon Glacier or Google Drive as well as a wizard to guide users through scheduled backup, system tests, and import settings. The Pro version also includes premium user support and automatic updates. Pricing for BackWPup Pro starts at $75 for a single domain, and one year of updates and access to the support forum; support and updates are $45 per year after the first year. Duplicator wordpress.org/plugins/duplicator/ While not mentioned as frequently by our experts as others, the free version of Duplicator, by Snap Creek, boasts over 500,000 active installations and is very highly reviewed, with 4.9 out of five stars on the WordPress plugin directory. The paid version ( snapcreek.com/duplicator/) adds premium user support, and starts at $49 per year for up to three sites and a year of updates and support. UpdraftPlus updraftplus.com/ Another tool mentioned by several experts and very well-reviewed on the WordPress plugin directory, UpdraftPlus Free version has over 500,000 active installations, is translated into 16 languages, and allows you to backup to multiple different storage services, including Dropbox, Google Drive, and Amazon S3 services. The UpDraftPlus Premium version adds support for Microsoft OneDrive, advanced reporting, database encryption, personal user support, and 1GB of storage. Pricing for the premium version starts at $70 for up to two websites and a year of upgrades and support, with a 40 percent discount on renewals for upgrades and support after the first year. PAGE 12 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

13 VaultPress Also recommended by several experts, VaultPress is a paid backup plugin, starting at $55 per year for the Lite version, with daily backups, a 30-day backup archive, and support for one site. Additional plans provide real-time backups, a full backup archive, and bundles with Akismet, a popular spam protection plugin. Other backup utility plugins mentioned less frequently by our experts include WP-DB-Backup (wordpress. org/plugins/wp-db-backup/), a free plugin with over 500,000 active installs, and WP Super Cache (wordpress.org/plugins/wp-super-cache/), also free. PAGE 13 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

14 content creation When it comes to updating text and images on a website, simplicity is of paramount importance for many organizations. Can your non-technical staff members find and edit pages quickly? How hard is it to add a new page to your site, or even a new section? How easy is it to add a link to a document, a video, or an image and format it how you want? Can you paste text in from Microsoft Word, or does that result in a big mess? The default text editor for WordPress is user-friendly and straightforward to use, and handles pasting in text from Microsoft Word reasonably well, but a number of plugins can add functionality, including moreadvanced editing and formatting options and greater control over sidebars and widgets. The following plugins from entire WYSIWYG text editors, to specialized tools to supplement the existing WordPress text editor are designed to improve content creation and management. Advanced Custom Fields wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-custom-fields/ This free plugin, recommended by several of our experts, provides a visual, nontechnical interface for adding a wide variety of custom fields to your Word- Press posts. It boasts over 1 million active installs. Custom Post Widget wordpress.org/plugins/custom-post-widget/ This well-reviewed free plugin gives users the ability to edit widget and sidebar content using the WYSIWYG text editor or use the featured image functionality to display images as a widget. It has over 30,000 active installs. Duplicate Post This free plugin adds the ability to clone and edit an existing page or post on your WordPress site. Duplicate Post has over 800,000 active installs, and is highly-rated with 4.9 out of 5 stars on the WordPress plugin directory. Paste as Plain Text wordpress.org/plugins/paste-as-plain-text/ While the default WordPress text editor handles pasting text from Microsoft Word reasonably well, a couple experts we interviewed suggested this free plugin, which forces the editor to paste all text as plain text, avoiding the formatting issues that typically come with pasting in text to a WYSIWYG editor. TinyMCE Advanced wordpress.org/plugins/tinymce-advanced/ Several experts recommended this widely-used (over 1 million active installs), highly-rated free plugin, which adds functionality to the WYSIWYG text editor, including support for creating and editing tables, the ability to search and replace text, and the ability to set the Font Family and size of text. The WordPress Multilingual Plugin Strongly recommended by several of our experts, The WordPress Multilingual Plugin (WPML) provides support for translating site content and menus into 40 different languages. Pricing starts at $29 per year PAGE 14 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

15 for the Multilingual Blog version. More expensive tiers add the ability to translate custom fields, widgets, or e-commerce, the ability to manage multilingual versions of attachments or uploaded files, and a service to connect your organization with professional translation services. PAGE 15 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

16 constituent database integration Many organizations want to integrate their websites with their constituent management systems to allow people to submit data online, pull information from donation forms into their database, or even tailor web content based on visitor information. While WordPress does not provide a native ability to collect constituent data or payments from your site and import that information automatically into your constituent database, the community has stepped in with a number of plugins to fill this need, from connections with popular donor management or constituent relationship management (CRM) systems like Salsa or Salesforce, to an entire CRM built onto WordPress. Gravity Forms Salesforce Add-on wordpress.org/plugins/gravity-forms-salesforce/ A couple of experts suggested the free Salesforce add-on from Gravity Forms for nonprofits looking to automatically import forms on their WordPress site with Salesforce. User reviews for the plugin are mostly positive, with a lack of user support as a commonlycited drawback. Presspoint CRM presspointcrm.com/ For organizations that don t currently have a constituent database, and for whom a solution like Salesforce would be impractical or overkill, some experts recommended Presspoint CRM, a lightweight CRM system built onto WordPress. Pricing starts at $550 per year for the Core CRM package, which includes constituent profile, webform, and e-commerce functionality for unlimited records and users, and online customer support. Additional modules add opportunity management for tracking donation campaigns or grant applications, and events management for ticketed events, each at an additional $100 per year. SalsaPress wordpress.org/plugins/salsa-press/ For nonprofits that use Salsa by Salsa Labs (www. salsalabs.com/) as their constituent database, our experts mentioned this free plugin to connect Salsa with their WordPress sites. It supports Salsa s events registration, supporter sign-up, and petition functionality. Our experts voiced some concern about the support and development of this plugin, however as of this report, WordPress is up to version while SalsaPress is compatible up to WordPress WordPress-to-Lead for Salesforce CRM wordpress.org/plugins/salesforce-wordpress-tolead/ Several of our experts mentioned this highly-rated free plugin for organizations that want to collect constituent data through their WordPress sites and convert that data into leads in their Salesforce implementations. In addition to connecting constituent data with your website, our experts also mentioned several plugins for syncing data between multiple WordPress installations development, staging, and live, for example or for cleaning and maintaining website data. Tools to consider in this category include Clean Up Optimizer (wordpress.org/plugins/wp-clean-upoptimizer/) and Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions (wordpress.org/plugins/rvg-optimizedatabase/), both available for free. If you need to safely sync website data across multiple WordPress installations, the experts also recommended Database Sync (wordpress.org/plugins/database-sync/), a free plugin for advanced users. PAGE 16 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

17 events and calendars For organizations with online or in-person public events, the primary goal of their websites may be allowing visitors to easily find and register for upcoming seminars, meetings, or other events. Plugins can help add this functionality to your WordPress site. All-in-One Events Calendar time.ly While not mentioned as frequently by experts, the All-in-One Events Calendar by Timely boasts over 100,000 active downloads. Reviews for the plugin are mixed. Many users report issues with versions of WordPress prior to 4.3.1, as well as complaints about the pricing model. The free Core version of the plugin provides standard calendar view options (Month, Week, Day, etc.), support for recurring events, categories, and tags for events, and the ability to customize appearance, with support for unlimited total events. The Core+ plan adds the ability to import events from other calendars and an add-on to allow site visitors to submit events through a front-end form, for $94 a year. The Events Calendar theeventscalendar.com/product/wordpressevents-calendar/ The Events Calendar by Modern Tribe was the most recommended plugin for events and calendars by the experts we spoke to. This tool provides responsive calendar views and registration forms, the ability to reuse venue or organizer information for future events, and multiple style options for calendars, with basic support provided through the WordPress.org support forums. The Pro version, starting at $89 for a single site, adds the ability to create recurring events as well as access to the vendor s premium support forums. The vendor also offers a free license to any of their plugins to qualified 501(c)3 or 501(c)19 nonprofits however, this free license does not include premium support. Simple Calendar wordpress.org/plugins/google-calendar-events/ Simple Calendar, formerly Google Calendar Events, is a well-reviewed plugin with both free and paid versions and over 60,000 active installs. The free version lets you display events from any public Google Calendar on your WordPress site, while the paid version adds the ability to display events from private calendars and display guest information for events. Pricing for the pro version starts at $39 for one site and a year of support and updates, with a 30 percent discount on renewals for upgrades and support after the first year. Other events and calendar plugins mentioned less frequently by our experts include WooEvents Pro (ignitewoo.com/woocommerce-extensions-pluginsthemes/wordpress-event-calendar-wooevents-profor-woocommerce/) and the EventBrite API plugin (wordpress.org/plugins/eventbrite-api/), which would be of interest to organizations already using Eventbrite to manage their events and tickets. PAGE 17 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

18 improved search tools for website content Visitors usually have no problem finding what they need on small, simple websites consisting of just a few pages and a blog. But they often have a harder time navigating larger sites with many resources and a complex structure. If your site contains many articles or pages, a robust search function can make finding resources easier and quicker. Plugins are a good way to provide that functionality. Relevanssi wordpress.org/plugins/relevanssi/ The plugin most-frequently mentioned by our experts for improving your site s search capability, Relevanssi replaces the standard WordPress search function and lets site visitors sort search results by relevance, search for phrases using quotes, and choose between AND or OR search logic when searching on multiple terms. The free version also provides fuzzy matching and partial word matching, as well as did you mean? suggestions based on past successful searches. The paid Premium version starts at $49.95, a one-time fee, and adds support for multiple sites and assign weights to post types, taxonomies, or recent posts to make them show higher in search results. Search & Filter wordpress.org/plugins/search-filter/ While not mentioned as often by our experts as Relevanssi, this plugin is highly-rated on the Word- Press.org plugin directory and boasts over 10,000 active installations. The free version allows site visitors to search your pages and posts by category, tag, date, type, or by your custom taxonomy. The paid Pro version adds the ability to search custom fields, metadata, and authors, starting at $20 for a single site license. Another paid tool mentioned by our experts for improving your site s search functionality is SearchWP (searchwp.com/), starting at $49 for a single site license and one year of support and updates. PAGE 18 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

19 layout and template utilities Once you have site content, you need to present it in a way that s easy to navigate and helpful to your visitors. That s where your site template, or layout, comes in. From navigation menus to sidebar widgets, responsive layouts, and more, your site template controls how you present your resources to your audience and whether they re visiting from a desktop computer or a smartphone. However, it hasn t always been easy for non-technical users to modify the template. Fortunately, our experts identified many different plugins to make layout easier for nonprofits. We ve broken them down into three categories: Tools for Mobile-Friendly and Responsive Layout; Tools for Sidebars and Widgets; and Tools for Related or Featured Content. Tools for Mobile-Friendly and Responsive Layout Increasingly, users are viewing websites on smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices. It s more important than ever that your site be just as easy to read on a small screen and to navigate by touch as it is on a desktop or laptop. Our experts identified several plugins specifically for supporting a mobile-friendly layout and template. Beaver Builder wpbeaverbuilder.com/ A couple experts suggested Beaver Builder as a tool to let nontechnical users create responsive layouts without code, as well as slideshows and contact or mailing list signup forms. Pricing starts at $99 for unlimited sites, access to premium modules, as well as user support for creating custom modules. More expensive plans include the Beaver Builder theme and the ability to deploy the plugin on multiple websites. Go Portfolio codecanyon.net/item/go-portfolio-wordpressresponsive-portfolio/ Several experts mentioned Go Portfolio for organizations looking to create mobile-friendly portfolios or image galleries for their site. This is a paid app. Pricing starts at $23 for a single site, including updates and six months of support. Page Builder wordpress.org/plugins/siteorigin-panels With over 600,000 active installs and an almost perfect user rating, Page Builder is a free plugin that provides a nontechnical drag-and-drop interface for creating responsive site layouts, letting you drop rows, columns, and sidebars onto the page to create your template. User reviews on the plugin directory describe the interface as easy and convenient to use, but some users have mentioned that Page Builder has trouble with complex widgets and described it as a memory hog. Responsive Menu wordpress.org/plugins/responsive-menu/ Our experts also mentioned this widely-used free plugin for creating mobile-friendly slide-out menus. Responsive Menu has a near-perfect rating in the plugin directory, and boasts over 60,000 active installations. Tabby Responsive Tabs wordpress.org/plugins/tabby-responsive-tabs/ With over 30,000 active installations and a nearperfect rating on the WordPress.org plugin directory, Tabby Responsive Tabs was mentioned frequently PAGE 19 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

20 by experts as a free tool for adding responsive tabs to posts, pages, and custom content. Several paid add-ons to this plugin are available to add functionality, including an admin panel for customizing tabs. Pricing for the add-ons starts at under $30 for a single site. WPtouch Mobile wordpress.org/plugins/wptouch/ A couple experts also suggested WPtouch Mobile as a quick, nontechnical solution for adding a mobilefriendly theme to your WordPress site. The developer promises that WPtouch instantly delivers a mobile version of your site that will pass the Google Mobile test. The plugin boasts over 400,000 installs, but user reviews are middling. A paid version, WPtouch Pro (wptouch.com/), adds features, customer support, and support for multiple sites starting at $25, as well as an a la carte selection of themes and extensions. Tools for Related or Featured Content If your site has a lot of content news stories, blog posts, how-to articles, etc. the ability to display related content in the sidebar helps your visitors get the resources they need and helps you get more posts in front of more eyes. Royal Slider dimsemenov.com/plugins/royal-slider/wordpress/ For organizations that want to display galleries of photos or videos on their WordPress sites, a few of our experts recommended Royal Slider, which provides responsive and touchscreen-friendly image galleries and content sliders. The WordPress version costs $23 for a regular license, and is available on CodeCanyon. Yet Another Related Posts Plugin wordpress.org/plugins/yet-another-relatedposts-plugin The most mentioned tool for this need, Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP) boasts over 300,000 active installs and is highly-rated on the official WordPress.org plugin directory. The Basic version lets you choose between thumbnail or list views for related items, gives you template control for how to display results, and lets you tweak or customize the algorithm used to select the related items. YARPP Pro, adds the ability to customize the layout of your thumbnails, lets you pull in related content from other websites, and provides detailed reporting. Both YARPP Basic and YARPP Pro are free. Feature a Page Widget wordpress.org/plugins/feature-a-page-widget Feature a Page Widget is a free plugin that lets you feature images or excerpts of pages and posts in the sidebar, with three widget layouts. Tools for Sidebars and Widgets Sidebars called widgets in WordPress can be great addition to your website layout, and a good way to put important information or actions in front of your site visitors (like contact information or donation or sign-up forms, for example). Since WordPress only includes a few basic widgets by default, the community has stepped in with a number of plugins for improving your sidebar widgets. Custom Menu Wizard wordpress.org/plugins/custom-menu-wizard This highly-rated free plugin lets non-technical users arrange and modify navigation menus through a non-technical wizard interface. While user reviews are very positive, some experts found Custom Menu Wizard a little difficult to work with. PAGE 20 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

21 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle wordpress.org/plugins/so-widgets-bundle/ This free plugin, mentioned by several of our experts, boasts over 300,000 active installations and a nearperfect rating on the official plugin directory. It provides a broad collection of widgets from buttons and maps to sliders and carousels for images and a call-to-action widget, and more. Widget Context wordpress.org/plugins/widget-context/ Another free plugin, Widget Context gives you the ability to define which widgets to show or hide by section of your site making it possible to display different sidebar content on your front page than on the rest of your site, or to display different widgets on pages versus posts, for example. PAGE 21 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

22 online communications and social integration The internet is a social place. Your website is quite likely the primary way your constituents interact with your organization online. The easiest and most obvious ways to support those interactions are to let visitors post public comments on your blog posts or articles, and to provide a way for them to easily like or share your posts on such social media sites as Facebook or Twitter. But WordPress plugins can also add true social networking capabilities to your site, giving your organization new ways to interact with supporters, donors, or members. bbpress wordpress.org/plugins/bbpress/ If you want to add a no-frills user forum to your organization s site, several experts suggested bbpress. This free plugin boasts over 200,000 active installations and is fairly well-reviewed. Many users cite the ease of setting up a forum with bbpress as a positive, but a few users reported that it does not handle larger communities well and is not compatible with plugins that allow you to create members-only content on your site. If you are a membership organization and want to provide both special content and a forum, this tool likely won t be able to meet your needs. BuddyPress wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress/ If forums aren t social enough for your organization s site, BuddyPress lets you add an entire social network to your WordPress site. Let your supporters create their own profiles, friend and message each other, and form groups. This plugin is free. Disqus wordpress.org/plugins/disqus-comment-system Several experts recommended Disqus, which provides more features than the existing WordPress comment system. This free plugin boasts over 200,000 active installations, and mostly positive reviews, but as of this report has not been updated in a year, and is currently only compatible up to WordPress Membership 2 wordpress.org/plugins/membership If your organization wants to provide exclusive web content to recurring donors or members, or you want to put some content behind a pay wall, several of our experts recommended the free plugin Membership 2 or the paid version, Membership 2 Pro (premium. wpmudev.org/project/membership). The free version provides four membership types and lets you grant member access to posts, pages, comments, specific categories or tags, or any uploaded files. There are over 10,000 active installations, but reviews are middling. The paid Pro version adds support for coupons, custom content, and multiple sites, starting at $228 per year. Rotating Tweets wordpress.org/plugins/rotatingtweets If your organization wants to display your Twitter feed on your WordPress site, a few experts suggested Rotating Tweets. This free plugin adds a widget that rotates through your recent tweets one at a time, as opposed to the standard Twitter embedded display, which shows tweets as a list. The plugin boasts over 30,000 active installations, and a near-perfect rating on the official WordPress.org plugin directory. PAGE 22 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

23 Ultimate Member wordpress.org/plugins/ultimate-member Our experts suggested Ultimate Member as a free solution for supporting an online community on your WordPress site. The plugin lets visitors register and create their own profiles, with support for mobile devices and a drag-and-drop form builder. Ultimate Member boasts over 20,000 active installations and is highly rated on the plugin directory. A number of paid extensions are also available to let users follow each other, create public wall posts and send private messages, or login using their Facebook, Twitter, or other social accounts, starting at $25 each for a single site or all current and future extensions as part of the Core Extensions Bundle at $199. Additionally, there are many free plugins available to allow your visitors to share your posts or other content on Facebook, Twitter, or other social networks of their choice, including Smart Layers by AddThis (wordpress.org/plugins/addthis-smart-layers), ShareThis (wordpress.org/plugins/share-this), and WP Social Sharing (wordpress.org/plugins/wp-social-sharing). Other online communities and social integration plugins mentioned less frequently by our experts include Discourse (discourse.org), a forum and commenting tool that provides a free WordPress plugin, and WP Comment Humility (wordpress. org/plugins/wp-comment-humility), a free plugin that simply relocates the comments menu beneath the posts menu a small-but-useful cosmetic change. If your organization wants to allow visitors to submit their own content for your site or blog, a few experts suggested using Gravity Forms ( com), discussed in detail in the Webforms section, to accept those submissions. PAGE 23 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

24 online transaction processing For most nonprofits, fundraising is an essential part of everything they do. If your organization has a website, you should be collecting donations online. Ideally, the online donation forms on your website should be forms created by your donor management system and overwhelmingly that s what our experts recommended. However, if you re just starting out or your donor management system doesn t provide online giving forms or if you want to sell merchandise through an online store it s possible to do so with plugins. WooCommerce wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce The online payment tool most recommended by our experts, WooCommerce boasts over one million active installations, and very positive reviews. This free plugin adds an online store to your WordPress site for physical or digital goods, with support for calculating shipping costs and widely-used payment processors including PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, and Amazon Payments. Premium extensions to the plugin add support for bookings, memberships, and recurring subscriptions, starting at $149 for a single site. Additionally, if you use Gravity Forms (gravityforms. com) for building your site s webforms, our experts suggested using that tool s Stripe add-on to let you collect one-time or recurring credit card payments on your site through the payment processor Stripe. This add-on is included in Gravity Form s Developer License, with an annual recurring fee of $199. Formstack (formstack.com), which offers a free plugin for WordPress, also integrates with a number of payment processors, including Stripe. PAGE 24 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

25 security As multinational companies, government agencies, and many nonprofits have learned the hard way, the internet can be a dangerous place. Security should be top of mind when setting up your website. Fortunately, our experts identified several good plugins to help keep your site safe, from blocking unsightly and unwanted spam comments to blocking or blacklisting potentially malicious IP addresses from logging into your site. Of course, good security starts at home you ll find several plugins that let you create additional levels of user access and permissions for your site or allow you to set stricter requirements for user passwords. Akismet wordpress.org/plugins/akismet Widely-used (over one million active installations) and mentioned by most of our experts, Akismet checks each comment on your WordPress site to flag and catch any possible spam comments, letting you review quarantined comments before approving or deleting them. The plugin has an almost perfect rating on the WordPress.org plugin directory, with some complaints about the process required for purchasing the license key. Our experts were also mostly positive about Akismet, but warned that the plugin does not flush your database s cache as part of the backup process, which can lead to the plugin taking up excessive space on your server, potentially slowing down your site. While free for personal blogs, nonprofits and businesses must pay for a license, starting at $60 per year for a single site, 75,000 spam checks per month, and priority and chat support. More expensive pricing tiers add daily backups, automated restores, support for multiple sites, and additional monthly checks. Bad Behavior wordpress.org/plugins/bad-behavior Another plugin for blocking incoming spam on your website comments, Bad Behavior was not mentioned as often by our experts as Akismet, but is a free, open source tool with mixed but mostly positive user reviews. Sucuri Security wordpress.org/plugins/sucuri-scanner While not mentioned as often as Wordfence Security, a few of our experts suggested Sucuri Security, a free plugin with over 200,000 active installs and mostly positive user reviews. This plugin provides the ability to monitor all login attempts and other security activity, scan for malware, and check popular blacklist engines to make sure your site isn t blocked. Additional features include a post-hack security checklist in the event that your site is compromised; notifications; and an optional firewall (at additional cost). The paid, premium version starts at $199 per year, adding the website firewall and customer support. Wordfence Security wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence Another frequently-recommended security plugin, Wordfence Security boasts over one million active installations and a near-perfect rating on the plugin directory. The free version provides a wide range of security features, including a server-level vulnerability scan, real-time blocking of known threats (including a blacklist of malicious IP addresses), strict parameters for secure passwords, two-factor authentication for site admins, and a firewall. The paid premium version adds scheduled security scans, audits and security checks for existing passwords, and premium user support. Pricing for Wordfence Premium starts at $39 for a one-year license key, with bulk discounts for multiple keys or multiple years. PAGE 25 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

26 Press Permit wordpress.org/plugins/press-permit-core Depending on the size of your staff, you may want to create different levels of user types or permissions to prevent less tech-savvy coworkers from changing more advanced settings, for example, or to prevent an intern from accidentally deleting a page. A few of our experts suggested Press Permit, a plugin with mixed but mostly positive user reviews. The free version lets you create new user roles and assign read/write access to specific categories or to custom post types. The paid Pro version adds extensions to support custom post statuses, multi-step moderation and workflow for editing, and restricted access to uploaded files, starting at $55 for a single site, with a yearly renewal fee starting at $25. Additionally, a few of our experts recommended Really Simple CAPTCHA (wordpress.org/plugins/ really-simple-captcha), which boasts very positive user reviews, but is intended for plugin developers to add to their own tools as a result, it is not intended to work on its own. PAGE 26 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

27 site performance As your site takes up more space on the server, or as you install more plugins, it will take longer and longer to load each page. It may only take a few seconds longer than before, but the internet has a short attention span the more time visitors have to wait to access your site, the more likely they are to move on to somewhere else. The easiest solution, and the one strongly recommended by our experts, is to be very conservative in the plugins you install. Most sites shouldn t need much more than five or six plugins, and anything beyond that may start to affect your site s performance. However, if you re planning on maintaining a large library of resources or high-resolution images, or you need multiple resource-intensive plugins to meet your site requirements, we ve identified several plugins that can help. EWWW Image Optimizer wordpress.org/plugins/ewww-image-optimizer High-resolution images like photos, maps, or infographics take up a lot of space, and can drastically affect your loading times (as well as eat up your limited server space). Several of our experts suggested this free, widely-used plugin to optimize and convert your uploaded.jpg,.png, and other image files to space-saving versions. This plugin boasts over 200,000 active installations, and user reviews are overwhelmingly positive. This is a free plugin. P3 Performance Profiler wordpress.org/plugins/p3-profiler When your site is taking an unusually long time to load, it s not always easy to tell which plugins are contributing most to the problem. Several of our experts suggested P3 (Plugin Performance Profiler) to measure how much of an impact each of your plugins has on your loading times, helping you narrow down which ones may have to go. This free plugin has over 100,000 active installations, and mostly positive user reviews, but, as of this report, has not been updated for 10 months, and is only compatible up to Word- Press Another way to improve load times on your site is caching saving temporary copies of your pages to quickly retrieve the page for visitors without loading the full site each time. Our experts identified two widely-used and highly-rated plugins to speed up your WordPress site through caching, both free: WP Super Cache (wordpress.org/plugins/wp-super-cache), and W3 Total Cache (wordpress.org/plugins/w3-totalcache). PAGE 27 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

28 webforms Webforms are a versatile tool in your website s arsenal for gathering information from your site visitors, giving people a way to subscribe to your mailing list, collect donations or other payments, distribute surveys, or even tailor web content based on information about the visitor. But if you want to add this functionality to your WordPress site, you re going to need a plugin. Our experts identified three strong options, both free and paid, for adding webforms to your site. Contact Form 7 wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7 A few of our experts suggested this free plugin, which boasts over one million active installations and very positive user reviews, for managing and customizing contact forms for your WordPress site. Contact Form 7 supports Akismet spam filtering and CAPTCHA for form submission, and many user reviews mention the ease of setup, but felt that documentation was lacking. This plugin is free, but supported by user donations. Gravity Forms gravityforms.com Several of our experts recommended Gravity Forms for organizations that need additional functionality out of their webforms, including order forms or the ability for site visitors to submit their own content to your site. A wide selection of basic and premium addons also provide integration with payment processors like Authorize.net, PayPal, or Stripe, tools like Emma or MailChimp, or the ability to create surveys or polls. Pricing starts at $39 per year for unlimited forms and entries on a single site, with updates and support. More expensive plans include support for additional sites, priority support, and all the basic or premium add-ons. Formstack Online Forms wordpress.org/plugins/formstack Our experts also suggested the free plugin for Word- Press offered by the online form builder Formstack, which lets you display a form in the sidebar as a widget, or embed a form into the body of a post or page through the text editor. Integrations with a number of payment processors including Authorize.net, PayPal, and Stripe allow you to collect donations or other payments through your forms. This plugin requires a Formstack account; plans start at $390 per year for up to 20 forms and 1,000 submissions, along with support. PAGE 28 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

29 website analytics Your website can t do much good in the world if the people who need your resources can t find them. While there s no magic bullet for showing up higher in Google search results, our experts identified multiple plugins to help you keep an eye on your website traffic and help you identify what people are searching for when they find your site. However, unless you expect to have staff members regularly checking and tweaking the site to improve your standing in search results, most of our experts recommended simply adding the free code from Google to enable Google Analytics on your site rather than potentially slowing down your site with an additional plugin. All in One SEO Pack wordpress.org/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack A couple of our experts suggested this widely-used free plugin, which adds support for XML sitemaps (making it easier for search engines to index your site, improving your standing in search results), automatically-generated meta data tags, and Google Analytics to your WordPress site. User reviews are mostly positive, but commonly-mentioned drawbacks include obtrusive ads to upgrade to the paid Pro version and the lack of support for the free version. The paid Pro version adds support for video XML sitemaps, advanced options for custom post types, control over categories, and premium user support, starting at $39 with a $49 annual recurring fee for support and updates. A subscription for just support and updates is also available for $49 per year. Google Analyticator wordpress.org/plugins/google-analyticator While not mentioned as often by our experts as Yoast SEO, Google Analyticator is a free plugin with over 400,000 active installations. This tool supports both Universal Analytics and traditional Google Analytics, and includes widgets for both the admin dashboard and the front-end website to display stats. Reviews are mixed, but mostly positive, and while many users complained about obtrusive banner ads, the developer removed the ads in Quick Page/Post Redirect wordpress.org/plugins/quick-pagepost-redirectplugin This highly-rated plugin boasts over 200,000 active installations, and adds support for quickly creating 301 redirects, as well as the ability to specify redirect location and type on existing pages or posts on an individual basis. This is a free plugin. Yoast SEO wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo Widely-used (over one million active installations) and highly-rated, Yoast SEO is the tool our consultants mentioned most often for monitoring your website traffic and guiding you through how to tweak your site to improve your standing in search engine results. Our experts did express concern about this plugin, describing it as bloated and citing the pop-up notifications to upgrade to the Premium version as a major annoyance. The paid Premium version adds tutorials, a redirect manager for redirecting old URLS to new ones, and premium support, starting at $89 for a single site. Unless you expect to be devoting staff time into optimizing your site for search engines and regularly tweaking the site, your organization may be better served with the free Google Analytics plugin also offered by Yoast (wordpress.org/plugins/googleanalytics-for-wordpress). PAGE 29 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

30 Appendix A: Additional Resources The Consumers Guide to Content Management Systems for Nonprofits idealware.org/reports/consumers-guide-contentmanagement-systems-nonprofits This report is targeted at nonprofits looking to replace an existing Content Management System, or implementing one for the first time. We ve done our best to use language that s relatively easy for someone with a non-technical background to understand, but not so basic that it won t be of value for the technically savvy. And we ve tried to provide details about the important features and useful differences between the systems. If you re a small- to mid-sized organization, this report can provide you with a good overview whether your needs are simple or sophisticated and your technical knowledge is shallow or deep. Taking the time to read through it carefully can save you a lot of work and money. Do You Need a New Website? idealware.org/reports/do-you-need-new-website Your website is often the first impression you make. Beyond initial contact, it s a central place for current and potential clients, donors, funders, and volunteers to learn more about you and your mission, the population you serve, the programs and services you provide, and the myriad ways for them to get involved with your organization. But just having a website is no longer enough. All your content must be up-to-date and accurate, including your address, contact information, and staff bios. Visitors must be able to find what they re looking for. And the visual design must look professional and modern rather than amateurish and outdated. Through 10 easy-tofollow worksheets, we ll walk you through deciding whether your website needs a few minor updates, or a more-thorough overhaul. Implementing a New Website: Planning Your Approach idealware.org/reports/implementing-new-websiteplanning-your-approach Whether you re updating an existing website or building a new one from scratch, you re looking at a major project with a lot of moving pieces to consider. What content stays, and what goes? How can your website address the needs of the people who matter constituents, donors, funders, clients and still be easy-to-use? Who will be responsible for making sure everything happens on time? We created this workbook to guide your organization through the website redesign process, better prepare you to work with the web developer you ve chosen, and help you plan your web content for launch. Land Here: When to Choose a Landing Page Over A Microsite, and Vice Versa idealware.org/articles/land-here-when-chooselanding-page-over-microsite-and-vice-versa When advertising or launching a fundraising campaign, you need a place to send your audience to take action or to learn more about your organization. Your website s homepage might seem like a logical choice, but the size and breadth of the content there can lose or distract viewers. You need a webpage that communicates only what s important and gives your audience exactly what it needs. Let s look at why you might choose to create a landing page or a microsite and a few examples from other nonprofit organizations that have created one or the other. How to Pick a WordPress Plugin mrwweb.com/how-to-pick-a-wordpress-plugin This brief but useful blog post from MRW Web Design highlights practical tips for selecting a WordPress plugin for your site. PAGE 30 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

31 Appendix B: Authors and Contributors Authors Kyle Andrei, Senior Researcher As Senior Researcher, Kyle is responsible for researching software through demos, interviews, and surveys, and using that information to create Idealware s reports and articles. Outside of Idealware, Kyle has volunteered with the Maine League of Young Voters as chair of the Civic Guide Committee, providing nonpartisan guides to the civic process in Portland. Kyle is a graduate of Indiana State University, where he studied broadcasting, managed the student radio station, and volunteered on local election campaigns. Chris Bernard, Research and Editorial Director Chris is a career writer and journalist with two decades of experience in newspapers, magazines, advertising, corporate and nonprofit marketing and communications, and freelance writing. Prior to Idealware, he was managing editor of a newspaper and a senior copywriter at an ad agency. For the past seven years, he s overseen Idealware s editorial and communications efforts, driving the creation and publication of more than a hundred articles, reports, and other resources and managing the communications calendar. Outside of his work at Idealware, he s an award-winning author and a frequent speaker and lecturer at literary conferences and festivals around the country. Contributors Our thanks to the individuals who contributed to Idealware s research through interviews or online: Marcy Rye, Wire Media Heather Gardner-Madras, Gardner-Madras Strategic Creative Jenn Johnson, Forum One Daniel Flanigan, YAI Network Mark Root-Wiley, MRW Web Design Poppy Lochridge, NetCorps Kathleen Pequeño, kathleenpequeno.com Renee Dunn, Firefly Partners Mickie Chapman, DisAbility Law Center of Virginia Dan Bollinger, Intact America PAGE 31 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

32 Appendix C: About This Report Methodology: How Was This Report Researched? Idealware researched this report in late 2015 by conducting phone interviews with six experts, including consultants specializing in developing WordPress sites for nonprofits and nonprofit professionals or volunteers who have implemented two or more sites by themselves without the aid of a consultant. All those interviewed volunteered their time. Additionally, Idealware issued a public request for input and recommendations to the NTEN Discuss (community.nten.org) and Progressive Exchange (progressiveexchange.org) listserves in October All those who submitted recommendations volunteered their time. How This Report Was Funded This report was funded entirely through the visible ads and product sponsorships purchased by our lead sponsor, ArcStone, a digital agency that helps visionary businesses and nonprofits tell their stories, enhance their brands, and achieve their goals both on- and offline. ArcStone has been providing design, marketing, programming, and strategic advisory services to local and national organizations since Additional sponsorship was provided by Cornershop Creative. Idealware is committed to unbiased, impartial research all advertisers committed to payment before the report was distributed for review and none had any control over its text or contents. For more information, see Idealware s Editorial Integrity policy at Reprinting and Quoting For information about reprinting, quoting, or repurposing this workbook, please read Idealware s policy online at PAGE 32 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016

33 PAGE 33 The Landscape of WordPress for Nonprofits March 2016