Your Website, Always Yours
Why This Exists
A website outlives most of the people who touch it.
Staff change. Board members rotate off. Developers move on, firms close, and priorities change.
When that happens, many organizations discover they can't log in to their own website. The domain renews to someone else's card. The only person who knew how the site works is gone.
The cost isn't just a new developer. It's months of staff time recovering what should have been yours from the start.
So before any project begins, it's fair to ask: what happens if your website partner becomes unavailable? We design every website so the answer doesn't depend on us.
What We Commit To
The Four Safeguards
You Own Everything
Your organization is the owner of record for your domain, your hosting, and every account your website uses. We work as a user you add, not as the account holder.
Why this matters: Whoever controls the domain and hosting controls your website. If those sit in a partner's name, your site can go offline when that relationship ends.
What you receive:
- Domain and hosting in your organization's name and billed to you
- Primary administrator login held by your staff
- Paid licenses in your name, or transferred at launch
- Design files, content, and custom code delivered at launch
Built to Be Handed Over
We build on WordPress, the most widely used website platform, with established tools rather than a proprietary system only we understand.
Why this matters: If you ever work with someone else, they should be able to recognize how your site is built on the first day, not spend weeks working it out.
What you receive:
- A site built on standard, widely supported tools
- Custom code kept to a minimum and commented
Your Team Can Run It
Everyday updates stay with your staff, not with a developer.
Why this matters: Staff who can't update their own site often spend 10 to 20 hours a month on workarounds. That's staff capacity taken from your mission.
What you receive:
- A written website manual for the tools on your site
- A live training session for the staff who will maintain it
- An access inventory listing every account and service the site depends on
A Clear Handover
If our work together ends for any reason, you won't have to rebuild what you know about your own website.
Why this matters: Transitions are when organizations lose the most: logins, history, and months of momentum.
What you receive:
- A complete export of your site
- An updated access inventory with our accounts removed
- Your current manual and any custom code
- A list of open issues and recommended next steps
- A transition call with your next developer or staff
How It Works
Before launch
At launch
Any time after
Who This Protects
- Executive directors who will be accountable for the website long after launch
- Boards and funders who want confidence that a major investment won't depend on one vendor
- Staff who need to keep the site current without waiting on a developer
- Organizations that have been locked out of a site before and don't want it to happen again
Want to know what to ask any website partner? Read Who Owns Your Website? What to Settle Before You Sign.
What This Is Not
Ownership isn't the same as needing no help. A website still needs care: security updates, backups, and someone watching how it performs. These safeguards make sure that care can come from anyone you choose, including your own team, rather than from one partner by default. If you'd like ongoing care from us, that's what the Sunlight Monthly Retainer is for.
Included in Every Project
Every Website Masterpiece Journey project includes all four safeguards at no additional cost. Single Page Masterpiece projects include full ownership of every account and file, plus a simple manual for everyday updates. Handover support, including training new staff, is included during an active project or Sunlight Monthly Retainer; outside of those, it's scoped and billed separately.
Why This Step Matters
The San Diego History Center Museum website we built in partnership with BPOC in 2017 is still running today, maintained by the museum's own staff.
Nine years. No rebuild. No dependency on us. That independence has avoided an estimated $9,000 to $21,600 a year in developer costs.
That is the standard we hold every project to: a website that keeps serving your organization long after the people who built it have moved on.
Frequently asked questions
Your site keeps running, and you keep full control. You own every account, the site uses standard tools any qualified WordPress developer can work with, and your staff are trained to handle everyday updates.
Yes, at any time. Removing our accounts never affects how your website runs.
Yes. Design files, content, and custom code belong to your organization and are delivered at launch.
Yes. Every Website Masterpiece Journey project includes a written manual and a live training session for the people who will maintain the site. Single Page Masterpiece projects include a simple manual for everyday updates.
A complete site export, an updated access inventory, your manual and custom code, a list of open issues, and a transition call with your next developer or staff. This is included during an active project or Sunlight Monthly Retainer. After that, you still own everything, and training new staff is scoped separately.
No. The Sunlight Monthly Retainer is available if you want it, but your site is built so your own team, or any developer you choose, can care for it.
Usually, yes. If your former developer can be reached, the transfer is often simple, and we’ll guide you through it. If they can’t be reached, your organization may need to prove ownership directly to the domain registrar, hosting company, or license provider, and we’ll help you prepare that request. If an account can’t be recovered, we’ll help you set up new accounts in your organization’s name and move your website to them.
