In this article, we’ll provide detail about these key questions:

  • What’s the best website builder for nonprofit fundraising?
  • Is WordPress or Squarespace better for donation tracking?
  • Can Squarespace handle recurring donations for nonprofits?
  • Which platform gives nonprofits more control over SEO and analytics?
  • How do nonprofits integrate CRMs like Salesforce with their website?

Introduction

Choosing the right website platform is one of the most important decisions a nonprofit can make. Your website is the front door to your organization, helping you tell your story, collect donations, share resources, and build trust with supporters. But with so many options available, it can be hard to know where to start.

Two of the most popular platforms nonprofits consider are WordPress and Squarespace. Both offer website-building tools that allow organizations to get online quickly, but they differ in important ways that can impact long-term success.

Nonprofit teams often weigh factors like ease of use, cost, customization options, and donation tools when making their choice. Some want an all-in-one solution they can manage without tech support. Others prioritize flexibility and growth potential.

This guide offers a side-by-side comparison of WordPress vs Squarespace for nonprofits, helping you decide which platform is the better fit for your organization’s goals, size, and budget.

Ease of Use

When it comes to managing a nonprofit website, ease of use is often one of the biggest deciding factors—especially for small teams with limited time or technical experience.

Squarespace is known for its drag-and-drop simplicity and all-in-one system. Everything from hosting to design to basic donation tools is built into the platform, which means you can launch a clean, professional-looking website without needing a developer. Its interface is intuitive, making it a good option for nonprofits that want to manage the site themselves without touching code.

WordPress, on the other hand, requires more setup and some technical know-how. It is a self-hosted platform, so you’ll need to choose a host, install WordPress, and manage themes and plugins yourself—or with the help of a developer. However, with the right support or a page builder like Elementor, WordPress becomes much easier to manage and offers more long-term flexibility.

Squarespace is ideal for small nonprofit teams that want a quick and simple way to get online. WordPress works best for organizations that have access to technical support or plan to grow and customize their website over time.

Customization and Flexibility

Customization plays a key role in how well your website can grow and adapt with your organization. The level of control you need depends on your goals, internal capacity, and the type of experience you want to offer your visitors.

WordPress is highly customizable. With thousands of themes and over 50,000 plugins available, you can build nearly any feature or layout imaginable—from advanced donation forms and event calendars to multilingual support and CRM integrations. You can adjust everything from design to functionality, giving you complete control over how your site looks and works.

Squarespace, in contrast, offers more limited flexibility. Its templates are clean, modern, and mobile-friendly, but you’re mostly working within a defined set of blocks and layouts. While this makes setup faster and more manageable, it can also limit your ability to scale or add advanced functionality later on.

This is the trade-off between control and convenience. WordPress gives you the freedom to customize every detail, but it requires more effort or support to manage. Squarespace offers a streamlined experience with beautiful templates, but at the cost of flexibility and long-term scalability.

Donation and Fundraising Tools

Fundraising is at the heart of most nonprofit websites, so it is essential to choose a platform that supports your donation goals and provides the right tools for tracking and growth.

WordPress offers a wide range of powerful fundraising tools through plugins and third-party integrations. Platforms like GiveWP, Donorbox, and Classy provide advanced features such as recurring donations, donor management, customizable donation forms, and integration with CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot. These tools also support Google Analytics tracking, allowing you to monitor donation funnel performance and campaign effectiveness.

Squarespace includes a built-in donation block that works with Stripe or PayPal, which is suitable for one-time gifts. However, it lacks native support for recurring donations, donor management, or integration with advanced analytics tools. Workarounds are possible, but they often require third-party services and added complexity.

When it comes to donation tracking and analytics, WordPress stands out. It allows nonprofits to fully integrate with Google Analytics 4, set up custom events, and track donation values and conversions in real time. Squarespace offers limited analytics by comparison and does not provide much flexibility when it comes to customizing data tracking.

For nonprofits that depend on online fundraising, want to track performance, or need recurring giving options, WordPress is the stronger platform.

Cost and Scalability

Cost is often a deciding factor for nonprofits, especially those with limited budgets. While both WordPress and Squarespace offer affordable starting points, the long-term value and scalability of each platform vary significantly.

WordPress is open-source and free to use, but there are associated costs. You will need to pay for hosting (typically $5–30 per month), a premium theme (optional, $50–100), and any plugins you add for donations, SEO, or page building. If you do not have in-house technical skills, you may also need a developer or designer to help with setup and maintenance. The upside is flexibility—you only pay for what you need, and you can scale at your own pace.

Squarespace uses a subscription model, with plans starting at around $16–27 per month for basic features and up to $36 or more for commerce functionality. It includes hosting, templates, SSL, and basic support. However, if you use donation features, transaction fees apply unless you upgrade to higher-tier plans. There are also limitations on how much you can customize without adding external tools.

In terms of long-term value, WordPress scales better for growing nonprofits. As your needs evolve—whether it is multilingual content, membership areas, or complex donation workflows—WordPress can grow with you. Squarespace may be more cost-effective in the short term, but it can become restrictive as your organization expands.

Integrations and CRM

As your nonprofit grows, the ability to connect your website with your CRM, email platform, and analytics tools becomes increasingly important. These integrations help streamline operations, personalize communication, and track fundraising performance across multiple channels.

WordPress excels in this area. It integrates seamlessly with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Google Analytics 4 (how to setup GA4), and more. You can use plugins or API connections to sync donor data, automate email campaigns, and track the full supporter journey. This level of integration is especially useful for larger nonprofits or those looking to scale their digital operations.

Squarespace, while user-friendly, has limited CRM integration. It connects natively to Mailchimp and Google Analytics, but anything beyond that often requires manual exports, third-party tools like Zapier, or workarounds. This can create friction for nonprofits that rely on CRMs like Salesforce or want to build a more automated and data-driven workflow.

For organizations planning to grow, track campaign performance, and build lasting donor relationships, WordPress provides a more scalable and flexible integration ecosystem. It allows your website to function as a central hub for both communication and data management.

Security and Maintenance

Security and ongoing maintenance are often overlooked when choosing a website platform, but they play a crucial role in keeping your nonprofit’s site reliable and secure—especially when handling donor information.

WordPress gives you full control, but that also means you are responsible for managing updates, installing security plugins, and setting up regular backups. You will need to stay on top of WordPress core updates, theme and plugin versions, and potential vulnerabilities. Many nonprofits choose to work with a developer or website care service to handle this.

Squarespace, by contrast, is a fully hosted platform. It takes care of security, SSL certificates, software updates, and uptime monitoring behind the scenes. This hands-off approach means your team can focus more on content and fundraising without worrying about technical maintenance.

The key difference comes down to who is responsible for what. On WordPress, you manage security and maintenance either in-house or with a partner. On Squarespace, those tasks are handled for you, which may be ideal for smaller teams or those without dedicated technical support.

For nonprofits that prioritize convenience and minimal upkeep, Squarespace is the easier option. For those that want full control and are prepared to manage or outsource maintenance, WordPress offers more flexibility and power.

SEO and Analytics

Search engine optimization (SEO) and data tracking are essential for driving traffic to your site and understanding how supporters engage with your content and donation forms. The right platform should not only make it easy to appear in search results but also allow you to track key user actions like donations, form starts, and conversions.

WordPress is generally stronger when it comes to SEO. It supports advanced tools like Yoast SEO or Rank Math, gives you access to structured data, custom meta tags, and full control over URLs, redirects, and page indexing. You can also easily implement Google Tag Manager, GA4, and even custom event tracking for things like donation_form_submit or purchase events. This level of customization is ideal for nonprofits that want to deeply understand their traffic sources and optimize performance.

Squarespace is SEO-friendly out of the box, with clean code, mobile-friendly templates, and basic tools for setting titles, descriptions, and alt text. However, it is more limited in customization. You cannot install advanced SEO plugins, and modifying structured data or GA4 tracking requires more workarounds.

When it comes to GA4 and donation event tracking, WordPress is the more flexible option. It allows for detailed event tagging and integration with platforms like Donorbox or GiveWP. Squarespace offers basic GA4 integration but lacks support for tracking donation values or creating custom conversion events without outside tools.

For nonprofits that rely on data to improve campaigns and report outcomes, WordPress provides a more powerful and scalable solution.

Example of Nonprofit Use Case for District C

SChoosing the right website platform can directly impact a nonprofit’s ability to reach new audiences, raise funds, and manage day-to-day operations. A great example of this is the work Vizionality did with District C, a nonprofit focused on preparing students for modern collaborative work.

District C: From Platform Limitations to Long-Term Growth

District C originally built their website on Squarespace, drawn to its all-in-one setup and easy-to-use design tools. While it served their needs early on, the organization began running into limitations as they grew. The Chief Strategic Officer reached out to Vizionality to conduct a full audit of their website and online fundraising systems.

The audit revealed two major issues:

  • SEO performance was underwhelming, making it difficult for new users to discover their programs and mission organically.
  • Their donation platform lacked flexibility, particularly when it came to recurring giving, integrated tracking, and user experience.

Vizionality helped District C migrate from Squarespace to WordPress, building a custom site that aligned with their goals for growth and usability. The results were significant:

  • A 32% increase in SEO visibility, helping more visitors find them through search
  • Full Donorbox integration for seamless one-time and recurring donations
  • A new eCommerce shop to sell branded t-shirts and generate additional support
  • An easy-to-manage backend, enabling non-technical staff to confidently update content and pages without ongoing developer support

This move to WordPress gave District C the control, flexibility, and performance they needed—while still keeping the editing experience simple enough for their internal team to manage.

This case highlights how a platform switch can unlock growth for a nonprofit and remove the limitations that come with outgrowing an all-in-one website builder. Read the entire case study here.

Conclusion: Which One Should Your Nonprofit Choose?

Both WordPress and Squarespace can serve nonprofits well, but the best choice depends on your team’s size, budget, and long-term goals.

  • Choose Squarespace if your nonprofit is just getting started, has a limited budget, and wants an all-in-one platform that is easy to manage without technical help. It is ideal for smaller organizations that need a clean, professional site without a steep learning curve.
  • Choose WordPress if your organization is growing, wants full control over design and functionality, or plans to scale its digital efforts. With advanced integrations, better SEO tools, and more powerful donation options, WordPress is a better long-term solution for nonprofits that rely on their website as a core part of their outreach and fundraising.

If you’re unsure which platform is right for your nonprofit, we’re here to help.
Book a free consultation or website audit and get expert guidance based on your organization’s goals, team, and budget.