A website for a new Jersey charity: domain, pages and costs

Small Jersey charities and trusts often reach the website stage at the same time as they apply to register: there is a cause, a committee and a constitution, and now people need somewhere to find out about it. This guide sets out the order we would do things in, with the costs, checked against the Jersey Charity Commissioner (opens in a new tab) and the Channel Isles domain registry.

We are a web studio, not legal advisers. For anything about your charity’s status, the Charity Commissioner’s office is the place to ask.

Before the website: registering with the Charity Commissioner

Registration is governed by the Charities (Jersey) Law 2014. Any entity with a written constitution can apply. To pass the charity test it must have only charitable purposes and provide public benefit, in Jersey or elsewhere.

The application asks for your governing document, a declaration signed by all of your governors, and your latest accounts. Once registered, every charity submits an annual return and accounts to the Commissioner each year, and some of what you provide appears on the public register.

• While you are applying: describe yourselves as applying for charitable status, not as a registered charity. Only add the word “registered” and your registration number once the Commissioner has confirmed it.
• Once registered: show the registration number on the website, usually in the footer and on the About page, so supporters and funders can check it on the public register.

Your domain: a free .org.je

The Channel Isles registry gives .org.je names free to charities, community groups and other not-for-profit organisations serving the Channel Islands. For anyone else a .org.je is £10 a year direct. A plain .je is £49 a year and a .co.je £29.

An address like yourtrust.org.je tells islanders straight away that you are local and not-for-profit. Whichever you choose, register it in the charity’s own name, not a volunteer’s or a web designer’s, so it stays with the charity when people move on. Our .je domain guide covers the choice in more detail.

What a small charity website needs

• What you do and who you help, in a sentence a stranger understands, on the first screen.
• How to get support, if you help people directly or give grants: who can apply, what you fund, how to apply and when you decide.
• How to give: a donate button or bank details, and other ways to help such as volunteering or fundraising.
• Who runs it: your trustees or governors, and your registration number once you have one.
• News and events, so supporters can see the work happening.
• A privacy notice and a contact route: an email address or form, and how you use people’s details.

If your charity gives grants or awards

A grant-giving trust has one page that matters more than any other: how to apply. Set out who is eligible, what the money can and cannot be used for, how much you usually award, what to send and when applications are decided. Clear eligibility saves your trustees from unsuitable applications and saves families from applying when they do not qualify.

If applications include personal details, especially about children, keep the form short, ask only for what you need, and say in your privacy notice who sees it and how long you keep it. Every organisation that holds personal details in Jersey registers with the JOIC (opens in a new tab).

Taking donations online

You do not need a shop to take donations. Most small charities link to an existing donation platform or show their bank details for transfers. Either works; what matters is that the donate button is easy to find on a phone and says plainly where the money goes.

What it costs

• Domain: a .org.je is free for charities, community groups and not-for-profits serving the Channel Islands.
• Build: our builds are from £100. A one-page site is from £100 to £300, and a site with a few pages from £300 to £800, depending on the job.
• Hosting: from £20 a month, with security, updates and changes looked after for you.
• Charity discount: we offer a discount on our work for Jersey charities and not-for-profit groups. We confirm your price in writing before anything starts.

The short checklist

• Written constitution agreed, and your application to the Charity Commissioner under way.
• Free .org.je registered in the charity’s name.
• Home, About (with trustees), How to get support or How to apply, How to give, News, Contact and Privacy.
• “Applying for charitable status” until you are registered, then your registration number on every page.
• JOIC registration if you hold anyone’s details.