🎯 The business: you build and look after simple websites for student clubs, local hobby clubs, alumni groups and youth sports leagues: the kind of organization whose site was made by an officer who graduated, and now shows last year’s schedule or nothing at all. You build it on a platform the next officers can run, hand it over properly, and keep it updated for a small monthly fee. It fits around classes and builds a real portfolio.
At a glance
| Money to start | ≈ $0 to $480 |
| Time to the first paid site | 2 to 6 weeks |
| Hours a week | 4 to 10, in blocks you choose |
| Skills that matter most | One website builder learned well, clear writing, accessibility basics, a careful handover |
| What it can pay | About $945 a month before tax with two new sites and six care plans (worked below) |
Is this for you?
It suits a student who likes tidy, useful design and does not mind small clients. Computer science, information science, communications and design students do well, and every finished site goes in your portfolio. You do not need to code; a builder such as WordPress.com, Squarespace or Wix covers nearly every job.
It is a poor fit if you want large projects or high rates. Clubs and leagues have small budgets and volunteer leaders who reply slowly. The value is steady small income and a portfolio, not a big paycheck.
Who pays, and what
Youth sports leagues, local running, chess, garden and hobby clubs, alumni chapters, small faith and community groups, and student organizations with their own budget. They need a schedule, a sign-up or registration link, contact details, photos and a few pages that stay current. Typical small-site budgets run about $200 to $800 to build and $25 to $50 a month to keep updated (our estimate).
Be honest about what is now free or nearly free. AI site builders make a decent-looking page in minutes, and many universities give recognized student organizations a free page on a campus platform. Building a page is not the hard part any more. What these groups lack is continuity: a site that survives when the president graduates, with logins in the organization’s own name, current dates, accessible pages, and someone who updates it every month. That is what you sell.
What it takes to start
| A laptop you already own | $0 |
| One website builder plan for your own portfolio site (WordPress.com Personal about $4 a month billed yearly; Squarespace and Wix entry plans about $16 to $17) | $0 to $204 a year |
| Domain for your portfolio | $0 to $20 a year |
| One paid AI account for drafting text and alt text (optional) | $0 to $240 a year |
| Screen reader and accessibility checkers (NVDA, VoiceOver and WAVE are free) | $0 |
| Business license, if your city requires one | $0 to $16 |
| All-in | ≈ $0 to $480 |
Each client pays for its own plan and domain, in its own name. Never put a client’s site on your personal account.
Start to finish: the steps
1. Check that you may be paid. If you are an international student on an F-1 visa, building sites for leagues and outside clubs is off-campus work that generally needs authorization, and being paid by a student organization may not count as on-campus employment unless it runs through the university payroll. Talk to your international student office first. Everyone else: this is self-employment, covered under Rules to check below.
2. Build your own club’s site first. Do it free or at cost, do it well, and write the handover guide. It becomes your case study.
3. Learn one builder properly. WordPress.com is cheapest and most flexible; Squarespace and Wix are easier for non-technical officers to update. Pick the one your future clients can run without you.
4. Learn accessibility basics. Headings in order, alt text on photos, readable color contrast, captions on videos, and forms that work with a keyboard. Test with a free screen reader. Public colleges and town recreation departments face federal web accessibility deadlines (see Rules to check), so this is a selling point.
5. Write a one-page offer. What the site includes (five to seven pages, schedule, sign-up link, contact form), the price, the care plan, and the handover. See Pricing AI and IT services.
6. Set up accounts in the organization’s name. Use a shared organization email that passes from officer to officer, not anyone’s personal email, for the builder, the domain and any forms. Record every login in the handover guide.
7. Follow the school’s or league’s rules. Check the university’s rules on names and logos for student groups, and the league’s rules on photos of children (see Rules to check).
8. Build, then hand over in person. Walk two officers through updating the schedule and adding a post. Give them the guide. Ask them to make one change while you watch.
9. Sell the care plan. Monthly updates from their emails, a check that forms and links work, a reminder before the domain renews, and a new-officer handover each spring.
10. Grow by season. Youth leagues need sites before registration opens; student groups before fall recruiting. Plan outreach two months ahead of each.
Pricing
| Rescue and refresh of an existing site | $150 to $400 |
| New five to seven page site with handover guide | $300 to $800 |
| Monthly care plan (updates, checks, renewal reminders) | $25 to $50 |
| New-officer training session each year | $50 to $100 |
These are example prices for a student builder. The client pays its own platform and domain costs on top, usually about $50 to $250 a year depending on the builder. Ask for half up front.
The math
Take a busy month in late summer: two new sites at $400 each bring in $800, and six care plans at $30 add $180. Revenue is $980. Your own costs are about $15 for your builder plan and portfolio domain and $20 for an AI account, $35 in all. That leaves about $945 before tax. The two sites take about 12 hours each and the care plans about an hour each, roughly 30 hours in the month.
Getting customers
Who to approach first. Groups you belong to or know: your own club, your younger sibling’s soccer league, your parents’ running club, your high school’s alumni group. Then the student activities office, which often knows which recognized organizations have dead or missing websites. Leaders who know you will forgive a slow first build and will tell other leaders.
The first ten customers. Make a list of 40 local groups and check each website: dead, out of date, or missing. Email the 20 worst with one specific fix you noticed. Ask the student activities office if you can leave a one-page offer at an officer training. Expect four to six replies and two or three paid sites from the emails, one or two from officer training, and the rest from referrals by the first leaders within a season.
Hi Coach Alvarez, I play in the Tuesday league and I build websites for clubs and youth leagues. Your site still shows the 2024 spring schedule and the registration link goes to an old form. I can rebuild it on an account in the league’s name, with a schedule page volunteers can update in two minutes, for $400, and keep it current for $30 a month. Could I show you a site I did for another league this week?
Channels, best to worst for this customer.
1. Groups you belong to: you already know the leaders and the problem.
2. Student activities and recreation offices: they see which groups need help.
3. Referrals between leaders: league coordinators and club presidents talk to each other.
4. Local community groups online and library bulletin boards: one post with before-and-after screenshots.
5. Google Business Profile: useful once you have a few reviews.
6. Upwork or Fiverr: possible, but you compete with low global prices and lose the local advantage.
7. Paid ads: last; these clients do not search for website builders.
Case studies and referrals. Keep before-and-after screenshots of every site, with permission, and a one-line quote from the leader. Ask each happy client to introduce you to one other group, and give a free month of care for each referral that signs up. More in the launch and marketing playbook.
Running it week to week
Set one fixed block a week for care-plan updates. Collect update requests by email so nothing gets lost. Once a month, click every link and test every form on every site. Keep a sheet of clients, logins (in a password manager, shared with the organization), renewal dates and payments. Each spring, schedule handover sessions for the new officers.
Rules to check
No license is needed to build websites. As a student, check five things. Visa: F-1 students may generally work only on campus, up to 20 hours a week in term, unless they have off-campus authorization; building sites for outside groups is off-campus work, so ask your international student office. Taxes: if your net self-employment earnings for the year are $400 or more you must file and pay self-employment tax, even if no one sends you a 1099 (for 2026, clients only have to send a 1099-NEC once they pay you $2,000). Financial aid: self-employment profit counts as student income on a later FAFSA, so keep receipts. Campus rules: universities often limit how student groups use the school’s name and logo; some ban logos on group websites, others require approval and a disclaimer. Check the brand office’s rules, and do not advertise your business in residence halls without permission. Accessibility: the Justice Department’s ADA Title II rule requires state and local governments, including public colleges and town recreation departments, to meet WCAG 2.1 AA; after a 2026 delay, larger entities must comply by April 26, 2027 and smaller ones by April 26, 2028. Children: get the league’s written permission before posting photos of players, avoid full names with photos, and if a site collects information directly from children under 13, the federal COPPA rule applies. Use the league’s own registration and payment platform rather than collecting payments yourself.
What goes wrong
The officer who hired you graduates and nobody pays the invoice; put the contract and invoices in the organization’s name and email. A volunteer breaks the layout; give them editing rights only for the pages they need. The domain lapses because the card on file expired; send reminders 30 days ahead. A parent objects to a photo of their child; take it down the same day and follow the league’s photo policy. And everyone wants their site the week before registration opens; take bookings two months ahead.
Questions people ask
How much should I charge to build a website for a club?
As an estimate for a student builder, $300 to $800 for a new small site with a handover guide, and $25 to $50 a month to keep it updated. The club pays its own platform and domain costs.
What is the best website builder for a youth sports league?
The one the volunteers can update without you. Squarespace and Wix are easiest to edit; WordPress.com is cheapest and most flexible. Many leagues also need their registration platform’s link or embed, so check that it works with the builder.
Can a student organization use the university logo on its website?
It depends on the school. Some ban it for student groups, others allow it with approval and a disclaimer. Check your university’s brand or trademark office before you build.
Does a club website need to be accessible?
Public colleges and local governments must meet WCAG 2.1 AA under the ADA Title II rule, now due in 2027 or 2028 depending on size. Private clubs are not covered by that rule, but accessible sites work better for everyone and protect against complaints.
Can a college student do this part time?
Yes. Sites are built in blocks you choose, and care plans take an hour a month each. International students on F-1 visas generally cannot freelance for outside clients without work authorization; check with your international student office first. More in For students: visas, taxes, campus rules.
Free help
Your student activities office can tell you the rules for student-group sites and which groups need help. The university brand office publishes logo rules. WebAIM publishes free accessibility guides and the WAVE checker. Your campus career center can review your portfolio, and SCORE offers free mentoring if this grows into a business. More in Small business taxes.
Builder prices, university logo rules and the ADA Title II deadlines were checked in November 2026; the builder prices came from review sites, not the vendors’ pages. Re-check prices and your school’s rules before you quote, and visa rules with your school every year.