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:

Our Core Stack - email, website, newsletter, etc
Live Event Recording setup - How we figured out how to record all in-person/town hall events for less than $500 total. This is key to ensuring we reach as much of our community who cannot attend the events.
Event Ticketing Sales - We assembled the simplest ticketing setup using the best tech with the lowest price per ticket fees. We detail this below and compare to other platforms.

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

Secure way to store and share passwords.
- With turnover among volunteers, it can get messy and dangerous to use weak passwords, or lose them
- Ensure that at least 2 volunteers/trustees can access every system
- All services should be setup with multi-factor authentication
- Minimal effort to ensure security among all services
Every service should be easy to operate by non-technical volunteers
Donation flows should offer as few clicks as possible, preferably one-click, like Apple Pay.
Updating the website should be as easy as editing a Google Doc
- Allow multiple editors
- Ability to undo editing mistakes by volunteers (version history)
Easy to import/export data to avoid being "captive" to any service
- At some point, you will likely need to move from one service to another
- It's important to be able to easily migrate your data from one service to another

Each software/service should offer all of the following:

- Robust - stable, reliable, low maintenance
- Secure: Support passkeys or software multi-factor/one-time password login authentication (MFA)
- Easy to use: most volunteers are non-tech - therefore it's crucial that all of the services should be operable by volunteers with minimal technical skill.
- Low cost: It should either be free or offer a discount for non-profits.
- Portable: Each service should be easy to switch from and into newer or better services with minimal hassle. Before we signup for a new service, we look at how easy their import/export of data migration is.

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

Domain name via Squarespace: $12/yr
Google Workspace for Nonprofits (free)
- Email via Gmail
- Website via Google Sites
- Google Docs & Spreadsheets
- File storage via Google Drive
  - 100 TB shared across all users
- Video meetings (Google Meet) -
  - 100 participant video meetings
Email Newsletter (Mailchimp) $23/month nonprofit rate
Donations via Stripe Payment Links (nonprofit rate of 2.2% + 0.30¢/transaction)
Password Storage (1Password) $45/yr@ 5 users / nonprofit rate
Banking (Mercury) no fees, free wires & online/paper bill pay
Discounted software for nonprofits via TechSoup

=$331/year total

Website (Google Sites)

Newsletter

Password Storage

Donations (Stripe Payment Links)

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:

Audio is the most important
- Perfect video with crappy audio is almost useless. But a subpar image with clear audio is much more valuable.
The key is a PA with built-in recording and mic inputs
- one-button to record onto SD memory card
- easy upload to youtube or similar
Minimum is 2 microphones: speaker and audience Q&A.
Wired microphones are less expensive and eliminate wireless/battery/technical issues
- cables are inexpensive
- backup cables & mics insure against any cable issues
All of this can be purchased on Amazon
- easy to replace

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)

Pyle PPHP1537UB PA 2 mic input $212
- one-button record onto SD card mp3 file
- easy upload to youtube or similar
2 XLR mics $30
- Wired, to avoid battery and signal issues. No power switch - one less thing to get wrong when live.
2 XLR cables 25-fo0t ($30 each) $60
- 2 backup XLR cables $60
- Always have backup cables
XLR adapter ($5 each) $10
- This is because Pyle Pro only has one XLR input and one 1/4” input
32 Gb SD cards - backup $10 each
- Multiple in case of failure or loss
Wall mount stand $25 each
- Allows for fixed mounting - but easy removal for mobile events
Mic stand $31

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:

simple, one-click online sales with Stripe Payment Links
ApplePay/Google Pay support
Minimum friction.
Easy setup and operation
Simple ticket method
Best rate compared to other options
Works offline
Works without credit card read (Tap to pay)

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:

No domain name
Linktree page of links (example: linktr.ee/bvca)
- easy to edit, mobile app for editing too.
- Free
- Links to your newletter, google doc, whatsapp group/community
Mailchimp free plan (up to 500 email subscribers)
Google Doc as basic web page
WhatsApp private Group or Signal Group
- Shareable private link ( WhatsApp or Signal) - this allows you to share a private link in email or google doc - and anyone who has the link can join the group. This is a nice balance between private and open.