The Best NonProfit Tech Stack

Our entire annual cost for email, newsletter, password storage, website, & 100 TB of file storage is $331.
Total. For the entire year. 

I volunteered for my community nonprofit - so of course, I got sucked into tech support for them. When I showed up in 2016, there was no hosted email. No one knew how to update the website - and updating it was a pain in the ass. It was unreadable on mobile. Online donations were only through PayPal which sucked too. I set out to find the best services at the lowest cost and easiest to operate. I'm publishing this for small nonprofits that are just getting started, those who might want to look at better options, and experts who think they can improve on this list.

Our setup has been running so smoothly for over 2 years, I'm ready to throw down a challenge: This is the best tech stack for most small nonprofits. I wrote this up so you can compare, copy our setup, or help improve it. The best way to improve the design of any system is to post about it on the internet, so here goes:

This post is organized into 3 key setups with details on what and how we do it: 

None of these setups requires any advanced expertise in technology.

Part 1: Our Core Stack (click to expand)

Most nonprofits need the following from their tech stack


Each software/service should offer all of the following:

Here's a breakdown of our tech stack : (click to expand)

=$331/year total

Part 2: Live Event Recording (click to expand)

Most of your community cannot attend your in-person events, so recording them allows you to offer anyone to listen in at their leisure. The problem is that the average cost to record just the audio of an event is around $2000. I figured there had to be a better way. But when I contacted several AV experts - they are so used to using audio mixers and wireless mics - that the cost also gets into the thousands for the gear whether you rent or buy.

Another issue is that who is going to operate the gear at the event? Most of us do not have anyone available for this role, let alone an expert on this gear. This setup allows for unattended operation.

What is the "minimum viable setup" for recording a townhall or presentation?

Here is the criteria I recommend:

I called a few small, local AV services and asked for a quote to hire someone to come and record 2 mics and deliver a raw audio file that can be uploaded online after. The average local quote is about $2000!

Gear (click to expand)


Total: $490

The entire cost of this gear is just under $500

Part 3: Live Event Ticketing

Every June, since 1873, we have hosted a BBQ at the oldest Grange Hall in continuous use in America. This setup is specificaly for paid, ticketed events. This is not the recommended solution for a free event where you want to track RSVPs. 

We sell up to 100 tickets at $25 each. We use Stripe Payment Links to facilitate payments. On the event day, we print a few paper copies of the paid list showing name and number of tickets purchased. Guests check in at the table, and we cross the names off the list. We also have mpbile phones with the PAyment app which works offline requiring no internet to process credit card payments.


This system is easy, quick, and not complex. It also offers the lowest rate we can find anywhere: 2.2% plus $0.30 per transaction . This is at least half of the next best priced option.


The simplest setup:



This setup relies on the simplest tech to allow purchases for tickets for a paid event. To keep things simple, it also relies on a printed guest list to simplify ticketing. no scanning required, smaller events.  It is the lowest cost possible.


note: often when you see pricing- the price often does bot incude the fees of your payment provider - which is in addition to the ticket pltform fees.


Our setup here runs solely on our payment platform: Stripe Payment links - so we pay only 2.2% + 0.30 per transaction total. That is just about the lowest nonprofit rate possible.

Comparison of platforms: Fees to sell 2 tickets in a single transaction:

ticket platform fees

Even more stripped down: The ultralight "minimum viable" stack

One other possibility: you might not yet be registered as a 501(3)(c). nonprofit.  You might have raised no funds yet. You might not even have a name or a domain name. The following is also a decent, workable solution if you are jut getting started. This stripped down setup is essentially zero cost, fast and easy to setup, and requires no expertise. 

Here's the ultra-lightweight "mininum viable" tech stack: