Most nonprofit website audits turn up more issues than the organization can address at once. That's normal. The goal isn't to fix everything simultaneously it's to fix the right things in the right order so that every hour and dollar spent produces the most meaningful improvement.
The prioritization framework below is based on a simple principle: fix what's actively costing you first, then address what's holding you back, then tackle what would be nice to have.
Tier 1: Fix what's actively breaking the user experience
These are the issues that are costing you donors, volunteers, or credibility right now. They should be addressed before anything else:
- Broken donation flow. If your donate button goes nowhere, points to a broken page, or the form doesn't submit correctly, stop everything else and fix this immediately.
- Site not loading or extremely slow. A site that takes more than eight seconds to load on mobile is effectively broken for a large portion of visitors.
- SSL/HTTPS not active. If your site is still on HTTP, browsers are warning visitors that it's unsafe. This kills trust and donations instantly.
- Broken links on high-traffic pages. Links that lead nowhere on your homepage, About page, or donation page erode confidence immediately.
- Forms that don't work. Contact forms, volunteer signup forms, and newsletter signups that fail silently (appear to submit but don't) are causing you to miss people who are trying to engage.
Tier 2: Fix what's undermining trust and conversions
These issues may not be visibly "broken" but are actively suppressing your results:
- Missing trust signals on your homepage and donation page. No contact information, no privacy policy, no staff page, no third-party credibility markers.
- Confusing donation page. Unexpected redirects, ambiguous recurring gift options, too many required fields.
- Poor mobile experience on key pages. If the donation form or homepage don't work well on a phone, you're losing the majority of your mobile traffic.
- Missing or poor alt text on key images. This affects both accessibility and search rankings.
- No clear call to action above the fold. Visitors who don't know what to do within seconds often leave without doing anything.
Fixing Tier 1 and Tier 2 issues typically produces the highest return on invested time and money. These aren't polish they're the foundation your fundraising and outreach efforts are standing on.
Tier 3: Fix what's limiting your growth
Once critical and trust issues are addressed, turn to improvements that will expand your reach over time:
- Page titles and meta descriptions. Every page that's missing these is leaving search visibility on the table.
- Site speed optimization. Image compression, caching, and script deferral improve both SEO rankings and user experience.
- Content gaps. Program pages with thin content, an outdated About page, or missing staff bios all reduce credibility and search visibility.
- Accessibility improvements. Color contrast, heading structure, form labels these fix both compliance gaps and usability for all visitors.
Tier 4: What can wait
Some things feel urgent but aren't especially when you're resource-constrained:
- Visual redesign (unless Tier 1/2 issues can't be fixed without one)
- New features or sections that don't exist yet
- Social media integrations
- Minor cosmetic adjustments
These aren't unimportant they're just not where limited time and budget produce the most impact.
How to actually create your list
Start by walking through your site as if you're a first-time visitor with no prior knowledge of your organization. Try to donate. Try to find contact information. Try to understand what you do within ten seconds of landing on the homepage. Note every friction point.
Then, if you haven't already, get a formal website audit. A good audit will give you a prioritized list of issues across multiple categories broken links, accessibility, SEO, performance, trust so you're not starting from scratch. The most useful audits rank findings by severity (critical, serious, moderate) and give you enough context to act without needing a developer to interpret the results.
With that list in hand, map issues to the four tiers above. Start at Tier 1, work down, and check things off. You don't have to fix everything at once you just have to fix the right thing next.