Who should keep a volunteer-run website up to date?

Name a content owner who confirms the facts and an editor who makes the changes; one volunteer can do both jobs. Give them a backup with appropriate access through their own account. Keep a page list showing who owns each subject and what should trigger its next review.

How often should our board check the website?

Choose a regular review the volunteers can maintain, and check affected pages whenever a venue, event detail, officer or contact route changes. Review event invitations after the event ends. Record the last check and next review trigger for each page; a fixed interval alone will not catch every change.

What should we send the volunteer who edits the website?

Send the page address, the exact place to change, current wording, complete replacement wording and any approved link or image. Name who confirmed the facts, who will check the result, when it is needed and what triggers the next review. Finish by opening the published page and recording any unresolved problem.

Do we need a tech person to run our non-profit's website?

The short answer

A secretary may know that the next meeting moved rooms without knowing how to change the website. A website volunteer may know the editor without knowing which room is confirmed. Bring those two pieces together: identify who supplies the facts, who makes the edit and who checks the result. Technical repairs may still need the website provider or a qualified helper; ordinary content changes need a clear route from the person who knows to the page visitors read.

Who keeps the website current?

PTO Today's summer planning guidance recommends appointing a communication lead for the website and social channels. Its midyear check-in also recommends bringing communication channels up to date. Those are seasonal articles for parent groups; the useful year-round principle is clear responsibility. For a club or association, we suggest the following small division of work.

Content owner: confirms the facts for a page or subject. The event coordinator might own event details; the secretary might own meeting information.
Website editor: makes the agreed change and checks its appearance. In a small group, this may be the content owner too.
Backup: knows where requests arrive and has the appropriate access through their own account. Include the page list and open changes in officer handovers.
Review trigger: write down when to check again, such as a confirmed venue change, an event ending, new officers taking office or the next agreed content review.

A quick website content checklist

Open the public website on a phone as someone arriving for the first time. Start with the homepage, next event, joining information and contact page. Use this original checklist to decide what needs attention; it is a suggested routine, not a required schedule.

Dates and places: is the next event still upcoming, and do its date, time and venue agree with the coordinator's confirmed details? Include the year where an old listing could be mistaken for a new one.
People and contact details: are the listed officers current, and is the public contact route still monitored? Ask the responsible person to confirm it.
The next step: can a visitor find how to attend, join or ask a question? Open each relevant link and check that it reaches the intended destination.
Old notices: does the homepage still promote something that has ended? Remove the expired invitation or label a retained recap clearly as a past event, following the organization's record policy.
Phone readability: can you read the essential details without pinching to zoom? Is important information available as text, rather than only inside a poster image?
Matching information: compare the website with the current newsletter and social notice. When details differ, ask the content owner which version is correct before editing.

A website change request you can copy

Keep requests in one agreed place, such as a shared document or the website editor's usual request inbox. Copy this original outline for each change. Exact replacement wording gives the editor something to act on without reconstructing a conversation.

Page and place: [public page address] and [heading, notice or link to change].
Current wording: [copy the part that is wrong or out of date].
Replace with: [complete, checked wording]. Link or image, if needed: [approved destination or file].
Facts confirmed by: [person or role] on [date]. Source: [confirmed event details or other agreed record].
Editor and checker: [who will make the edit] and [who will confirm the result]. Follow the board's usual approval process.
When needed: [agreed publication date or reason for urgency]. Review again: [event, change or agreed date that triggers the next check].
Completion: [published page checked, by whom and when, or the remaining question].

A worked example: the meeting room changes

This hypothetical example concerns an unnamed club. The secretary confirms that its next meeting will use the library meeting room instead of the community hall. The date and start time stay the same. The homepage notice and the meeting page both still name the old venue.

Request: replace Community hall with Library meeting room in the homepage's next-meeting notice and the meeting page. Add the confirmed address supplied by the secretary; leave the date and time unchanged.
Check: the secretary compares the draft with the venue confirmation. The editor checks both page links and their phone layout before publishing.
Completion: open both public pages and confirm that the new venue appears. The communications lead checks any current newsletter or social notice that repeats the old details.
Next review: when this meeting ends, replace the homepage invitation with the next confirmed information. Mark any retained meeting page as a past meeting.

How do we know the update is finished?

A saved draft is not a published change. Preview the edit, check the facts and links, complete the website's publishing step, then reopen the public page. If a change does not appear, check the draft and publication status before making it again. Record any unresolved problem and the person following it up.

For a regular review, choose a cadence the volunteers can keep, then also check when important information changes. There is no single interval that suits every page: an active event listing needs attention when arrangements change, while an introduction to the club may stay accurate much longer. Keep a simple page list with its content owner, last check and next review trigger.

Sources and further reading

PTO Today's Midyear Check-in: Assess, Reexamine, and Plan Ahead and Summer PTO To Do List are linked below and were checked October 4, 2026. They support the communication-review and named-lead principles. The checklist, responsibility split, change-request outline and hypothetical meeting-room example are original SorrelSites material for volunteer boards to adapt.