What does a brand strategy engagement include?

A brand strategy engagement includes a positioning audit, competitive landscape review, messaging framework, brand voice guidelines, and visual identity direction. You receive a complete brand system — not just a logo — with clear guidance on how to apply it across every channel.

How long does a website design and build project take?

A typical website design and build project takes 6–10 weeks from kickoff to launch. This includes discovery, wireframes, visual design, content integration, and QA. Timeline depends on content readiness and revision rounds.

Do you work with international clients?

Yes. Noran Design works globally — we have supported 130+ organisations across 15 countries including the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, and Europe. All engagements are fully remote.

Can you design and build the website as well?

Yes. We offer end-to-end website design and build as a single engagement — strategy, UX, visual design, and CMS development. We build primarily in Framer and can integrate with your existing tools and content systems.

How is Noran Design different from a traditional agency?

Noran Design is a studio, not an agency. You work directly with Nicole Fung and a small senior team throughout your engagement — not a junior account manager. We operate as a strategic partner embedded in your organisation, not a vendor delivering to a brief.

Does my organisation qualify for a Google Ad Grant?

Most registered charities and nonprofits in the UK and internationally are eligible for Google Ad Grants — up to $10,000 per month in free Google Search advertising. The main requirement is that you hold valid charitable status in your country and have an active website that meets Google's quality criteria. We manage the eligibility check, application, and ongoing campaign management as part of our nonprofit packages.

What does EAA compliance mean for nonprofits?

The European Accessibility Act (EAA), now in force, requires digital products and services to meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards. For nonprofits — particularly those receiving public or government funding, or serving vulnerable populations — this is both a legal obligation and an audience expectation. In practical terms, it means your website and digital tools must be navigable by screen readers, operable by keyboard, and perceivable without colour dependency. We audit what you have, tell you what needs fixing, and can implement the changes directly.

Can you help us prepare for National Lottery or other grant applications?

Yes. We've worked with organisations on projects funded by Arts Council England, The National Lottery Community Fund, and various UK and international grant bodies. We understand what funders expect in terms of digital presence, impact reporting, and design standards — and we can design your website and materials to meet those expectations from the start, rather than retrofitting them later.

We're a small team with limited bandwidth. How much of our time does this take?

We build our working process around small teams with limited capacity. After an initial onboarding session, most of our nonprofit clients spend fewer than two hours per month in active collaboration with us — the rest is handled autonomously, with sign-off at defined milestones. We use async-first communication so you're not pulled into frequent meetings, and we document everything so nothing depends on your institutional memory.

What does a nonprofit retainer cost?

Our nonprofit retainer starts at £1,800 per month — a reduced rate available to registered charities and nonprofits. This gives you dedicated design, content, and operations support across a four-person team. We also offer flexible payment arrangements for organisations that operate on grant cycles rather than standard billing schedules.

Can we pay monthly rather than committing to a long contract?

Our retainers are monthly rolling after an initial 90-day period, which lets us build enough context to do good work before either side decides how to proceed. There's no long-term lock-in after that — you can scale up, scale down, or end with standard notice.

We're a very small charity — are we too small for a retainer?

Not necessarily. We work with organisations at various stages, including small charities doing important work. If a retainer isn't the right fit for your budget or needs, we'll tell you honestly — and we may be able to start with a one-off project to build the foundations before moving to ongoing support.

Can you help with donation pages and fundraising operations?

Yes. We design and optimise donation flows, integrate with fundraising platforms, and build the digital infrastructure around your development operations — including campaign landing pages, email capture, and donor journey design. We've worked across Enthuse, Donorbox, and similar platforms.

What happens after the initial 90 days?

After the initial 90-day period, the retainer continues on a monthly rolling basis. You can adjust scope, pause, or end with standard notice. We'll usually have a review at the 90-day mark to assess what's been built, what's working, and how to prioritise the next phase.

Your mission deserves the same digital infrastructure as any serious business.

We help charities and nonprofits unlock free advertising budget, meet compliance requirements, build sustainable income operations, and run their digital presence without burning out the team.

Trusted by 130+ brands across 15 countries

Trusted by 130+ brands across 15 countries

Philosophy

The things that make a charity sustainable, not just visible.

Most agencies will build you a website. We look at the whole operation: how you attract supporters, process donations, report to funders, and keep your team from drowning in manual work.

Google Ad Grant management

Application, setup, ongoing compliance, and campaign management. We ensure you meet Google's requirements and that the budget drives real traffic — not wasted impressions.

Accessibility and EAA compliance

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) comes into full effect June 2025. We audit, remediate, and build to WCAG 2.1 AA as standard — protecting you from legal risk and ensuring your services reach everyone.

Donation and income operations

Donation flows, Gift Aid processing, recurring giving setup, and CRM integration. We spot the gaps in your income operations and build systems that convert supporters into long-term donors.

Funding and grant positioning

National Lottery, UKRI, Esmée Fairbairn, and sector-specific funds. We help you build the digital evidence base — impact data, reach metrics, and accessible digital services — that grant panels look for.

Operational automation

Volunteer coordination, beneficiary communications, reporting workflows, and internal tools — automated so your team spends less time on admin and more time on delivery.

Trading and social enterprise ops

For charities with trading arms: online shops, events, training programmes. We build the sales infrastructure, CRM flows, and reporting that makes earned income actually sustainable.

Compliance We Cover

Built to the standards funders and regulators expect.

WCAG 2.1 AA
Web accessibility standard. Required for EAA compliance from June 2025.

Google Ad Grant
Ongoing compliance management to protect your $10k/mo eligibility.

GDPR / UK GDPR
Privacy-safe donor data handling, consent flows, and cookie compliance.

Simple pricing for serious results.

Trusted by 130+ brands across 15 countries

Trusted by 130+ brands across 15 countries

Studio Retainer

£2,400/mo

Advisor Retainer

£4,400/mo

FAQ

What is the Google Ad Grant and does my charity qualify?

The Google Ad Grant is a programme that gives eligible nonprofits up to $10,000 USD per month in free Google Search advertising. It's available to registered charities in the UK, US, and most major markets — but not all organisations know it exists, and even fewer successfully maintain compliance to keep the budget active.

To qualify, your organisation must hold valid charity status (such as Charity Commission registration in the UK), have a functioning website, and agree to Google's programme policies. Political, governmental, and hospital organisations are typically excluded.

We handle the eligibility check, application, account setup, and ongoing compliance management so the budget actually converts into meaningful traffic — not wasted impressions on irrelevant searches.

What is the European Accessibility Act and does it affect us?

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) came into force in June 2025 and requires that digital products and services — including websites, apps, and online platforms — meet accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 AA). Organisations that are not compliant are exposed to legal risk, including complaints and enforcement action.

If your charity operates in or serves users in EU member states, the EAA applies to you. In the UK, the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations already require most public-sector and publicly-funded organisations to meet the same standard.

Beyond compliance, accessible design reaches more people — including the beneficiaries you're trying to serve. We audit, remediate, and build to WCAG 2.1 AA as standard across all our work.

How can working with Noran Design help us secure National Lottery or grant funding?

Grant panels — including The National Lottery Community Fund, Arts Council England, and Esmée Fairbairn — increasingly assess organisations on their digital presence, reach data, and ability to demonstrate impact. A poorly designed website, inaccessible digital services, or absence of measurable online engagement can weaken an otherwise strong application.

We help you build the digital evidence base that funding bodies look for: accessible services, audience reach metrics, impact reporting, and a clear online presence that reflects the quality of your work. We also design the impact reports and annual reviews that support your reporting obligations once funding is secured.

We're a small team with limited bandwidth. How involved do we need to be?

That's exactly why the retainer model exists. On the Studio Retainer, our team of four leads the day-to-day work — you're not project managing us, chasing deliverables, or spending hours in briefing sessions. We build systems that run without constant input from your side.

We typically ask for a focused onboarding session at the start, then work to a rhythm that suits your capacity. Most of our nonprofit clients spend less than two hours a month in direct communication with us once we're set up.

What's included in the nonprofit rate, and how do we apply?

The nonprofit rate is available to registered charities, social enterprises, community interest companies, and mission-driven organisations operating on constrained budgets. The Studio Retainer is priced at £1,800/month (from £2,400), with a 90-day minimum commitment.

To apply, use the "Apply for nonprofit rate" button on this page. We'll ask for basic information about your organisation and a brief description of what you need. Eligible organisations are onboarded within one week of approval.

Project work is also available at reduced rates — see the project pricing section above for details. All project fees are agreed in full before any work begins.

Can we pay monthly rather than three months upfront?

Yes. The default is three months upfront, which is how most clients choose to engage, it keeps billing simple and means we can start immediately without administrative overhead. However, we understand that grant cycles and restricted funding don't always align with upfront payment schedules.

For nonprofits, we offer monthly payment on a signed 90-day contract. Get in touch and we'll find an arrangement that works for your funding structure.

Do you work with very small charities or grassroots organisations?

Yes, some of our most impactful work has been with organisations of five people or fewer. Size doesn't determine fit; mission and ambition do.

If your budget doesn't currently stretch to a retainer, a scoped project is often the right starting point. A website or brand identity project gives you a strong foundation and doesn't require an ongoing commitment. You can always move to a retainer once the groundwork is in place.

What does "donation and income operations" actually mean in practice?

It means looking at the end-to-end journey from someone discovering your charity to becoming a recurring donor, and fixing the parts that lose people along the way. That could be a donation page that doesn't work on mobile, a Gift Aid process that's manually managed on a spreadsheet, a CRM that doesn't talk to your website, or a recurring giving flow that was never properly set up.

We audit what's there, identify where income is being left on the table, and build or integrate the systems that fix it — donation platform configuration, Gift Aid automation, CRM integration, and conversion-optimised giving pages.

We already have a website. Can you work with what we have?

In most cases, yes. We start with an audit of your existing site: performance, accessibility, SEO, and conversion. Then give you an honest assessment of whether it's worth improving or whether rebuilding on a better foundation would serve you better long-term.

We work across Framer, Webflow, WordPress, Squarespace, and most major CMS platforms. If your site is on a platform we don't support, we'll tell you upfront.

What happens after the 90-day minimum?

After the initial 90 days, the retainer moves to a rolling monthly arrangement with 30 days' notice to cancel. No automatic lock-in, no penalty for leaving, we'd rather earn your continued engagement than trap you in a contract.

In practice, most clients continue well beyond the minimum because the systems we build keep delivering value. At the 90-day mark we do a formal review: what's been built, what's working, and what the next phase looks like.

Your mission deserves the same digital infrastructure as any serious business.

The things that make a charity sustainable, not just visible.

Built to the standards funders and regulators expect.

Simple pricing for serious results.

Let's find out what your digital is costing you.

Let's find out what your digital is costing you.

Let's find out what your digital is costing you.

FAQ