Introducing the ProDesigning Giving Back Program: Free Websites for Central Florida Nonprofits

Central Florida has a lot of small nonprofits doing real work — food pantries, youth programs, animal rescues, mentorship groups, community health advocates — and most of them are running websites that embarrass them. Not because they don't care, but because a good custom website costs real money, and every dollar that goes to a web designer is a dollar that didn't go to their mission.

So we're doing something about it.

What the Giving Back Program is

Each calendar year, ProDesigning Creative builds a full custom website for up to three Central Florida 501(c)(3) nonprofits — completely free. Design, build, launch, the whole thing. The only thing the nonprofit pays is $39/month for managed hosting, which covers the server, SSL, daily backups, security monitoring, small content tweaks, and support.

That's the entire deal. No gotchas, no upsells later, no "starter" plan that gets expensive when you need anything real.

Who qualifies

This program is built for small and mid-sized nonprofits that are actually going to use it. To keep it focused on the organizations that need it most, there are four qualifiers:

• Registered 501(c)(3) in good standing with the IRS
• Headquartered in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, or Lake County, Florida
• Annual revenue under $500,000 (we're looking for grassroots organizations, not well-funded operations with a marketing budget)
• Actively serving the community — we'll verify via your most recent Form 990 on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer

Why $500K?

Because a nonprofit with a $3M budget can afford a web designer. A food pantry running on $180K a year can't, and that's the one I want to help. Drawing the line at $500K keeps this focused on the organizations where a professional website actually moves the needle.

Why only three per year?

Because I do this alongside the paying work that keeps the lights on, and I'd rather build three great websites a year for nonprofits than promise five and ship them slow or half-finished. Three is the number where the quality stays exactly where it should be.

What's included

Every Giving Back website is a fully custom design built around your mission — no templates, no drag-and-drop starter themes. Same approach I use for paying clients, just donated instead of invoiced. Every site includes:

• Up to 8 pages of custom design (home, about, programs/services, events, donate, contact, plus two others you pick)
• Mobile-responsive, accessible, fast (Core Web Vitals passing)
• Donate button integration (Stripe, PayPal, or your existing donation platform)
• Basic SEO setup — titles, descriptions, schema markup, Google Search Console, sitemap
• Google Business Profile optimization if you have one
• Contact forms routed to your email
• One year of small content updates included in hosting (logos, photos, event info, staff changes — not full redesigns)

It's the same quality work I do for paying clients.

What's not included

• Custom web applications, portals, or memberships
• E-commerce storefronts (beyond donation buttons)
• Logo or brand design (if you need one, I can refer you)
• Paid ad management or ongoing SEO campaigns
• Content writing (you provide the words — I'll help you edit and structure them)

The fine print

Two small commitments in return:

1. 24-month hosting commitment at $39/month. After that, you can stay or cancel — no contract extension.
2. Footer credit — a small "Website by ProDesigning Creative" link in your site footer for as long as we host it. That's how other Central Florida nonprofits find out about the program.

How to apply

Head over to the Giving Back Program page and fill out the qualification form. Tell me about your organization, what you do, and why a new website would help. I review applications as they come in, and I'll get back to you within a week.

If there are slots open for the year and you meet the criteria, we'll set up a 30-minute call to talk through your goals and kick off the project. From there, most sites launch within 4–6 weeks.

Why I'm doing this

Twenty-four years of web design has been good to me. I've built a business, put my kids through things, and gotten to work with some incredible clients. Meanwhile, I drive past a community food pantry in my neighborhood that's been running on a free template site for seven years, and their donation button hasn't worked in three. That's the gap this program fills.

If you run a small nonprofit in Orange, Seminole, Osceola, or Lake County — or you know someone who does — apply here or forward this along. Three spots a year, first qualified applicants get them.

Let's put a good website behind the work you're already doing.