What to look for in a Web Designer

Whether paid or volunteer, you want a designer/developer who

• provides you with references of satisfied clients (or a reference from their coding instructor/s) 
  

• provides you with examples of online work (even a volunteer who is not a professional web designer should have web pages to show you)

• speaks in as non-technical terms as possible, terms you can understand, and answers your questions when you don't understand something

• is committed to creating a site that someone in-house or a volunteer can make regular changes to without needing assistance of the designer

• is willing to work with staff and volunteers in the Web site development, listening to their wants and needs for the site

• turns over ownership of all graphics created for the site to your organization

• has a history of working with nonprofits, NGOs, grass roots organizations, schools, and other mission-based organizations, understanding such organization's limited resources, unique needs and community focus

• understands how to make a site accessible at least somewhat accessible to people with disabilities, and how to make the site mobile-ready (viewable on a smart phone) - you can give them this list and ask them, "Can you do all of the things asked for on this list?" 
  

• will commit to meeting deadlines and knows how much it will hurt your organization if they don't.

 
How to Find a Web Designer

• Look at Web sites of mission-based groups and small businesses in your geographic area, particularly groups that are similar to you in focus or budget size. Note which web sites you like and why. Then call or email those organizations and ask them who developed their site, and if this person might be willing to contract or volunteer with your organization to do the same.
  

• Contact your local Internet society, Web designers group, computer user group, or user experience (UX) group. A search of a Web directory like Google, Bing or MeetUp can help you find these groups - type in something like web designers association and the name of your city, or the nearest big city. Email these groups with a description of of the web design assignment, noting if you are looking for a contractor or volunteer.

• Tell all of your staff and current volunteers that you are looking for a web designer and where anyone interested should send their expressions of interest in the post. Note if you are looking for a paid consultant or a volunteer.

• Post a request for a web design volunteer to your city's version of Craigslist. Note if you are looking for a paid consultant or a volunteer.

• Contact the marketing departments, career centers, volunteer centers and design departments of all nearby universities and colleges. Note if you are looking for a paid consultant or a volunteer.

• Post to any subReddit that is focused on your geographic area, noting clearly if this is a paid or volunteer gig. If it's a volunteer gig, you can post your need on the subReddit for volunteering.

• If you are looking for a volunteer web designer, post a request for a web design volunteer to your local volunteer center (if your community has such).

• If you are looking for a volunteer web designer and you are in the USA, post a request for a web design volunteer to VolunteerMatch. Here is a large list of volunteer matching sites for several countries (not just the USA)

• If you are looking for a volunteer web designer, post a request to your local volunteer center, if your community has such.

• Post to your organization's social media channels (Your org's Facebook page, shared by staff and volunteers as well, Twitter, the subReddit for your city, etc.), and ask your staff and volunteers to do the same.

Interview candidates, even if this is an unpaid position and you are recruiting a volunteer, or a group of volunteers, for it. Just because a person isn't going to be paid to design a web site doesn't mean you shouldn't be selective - you absolutely should interview volunteers and NOT take just whomever says "I'll do it!." See this page for what to look for an interview.

Also: old versions of your web site will be available at The Internet Wayback Machine / archive.org. You will be able to achieve at least one iteration of your web site from each year that it's been available on this resource. This is very helpful in retrieving information someone deletes off of the web site and didn't back up. It also helps you create a record of your organization's history. Do NOT let any web designer put coding into your pages so that they will NOT be archived by this resource!

You can also look into the Accessibility Internet Rally (AIR), a (mostly) annual web design competition by the nonprofit Knowbility. This event gives nonprofits expert-designed web sites that are fully accessible for people with disabilities - you pay a small fee (like maybe $100 or so). Note that if you follow all of my advice regarding Web Site Construction & Content Suggestions for Nonprofits, NGOs and small government offices and have a basic web site already published, with all of your content on the site and ready for a redesign by experts, you will very likely be accepted as an AIR client and the group of expert volunteers that redesign your site will LOVE you. In addition, you can tell all your funders once the rally is over about how your organization now welcomes EVERYONE online, including people with disabilities.  

Also see Taking control of your web site when you aren’t the web master, a blog of advice for those nonprofits that find themselves at the mercy of an all-controlling, intimidating and uncooperative web master (it's shocking how often this happens).