IT support for nonprofits on a tight budget

A nonprofit needs IT as reliable and secure as any business, on a fraction of the budget. Donors watch overhead, and funders want money spent on programs. Good IT is still possible, and here is how.

Why nonprofit IT is different

• Turnover and a mixed workforce. Staff, volunteers, part-timers, AmeriCorps members and interns all need different access. People join and leave constantly, and each change can open a security gap.
• Sensitive data. Case files, shelter locations, immigration records and health information need strong protection on a small budget.
• Grant compliance. Federal, state and foundation grants set rules for data, reporting and financial controls. Missing them risks audit findings and funding.
• Many sites. Headquarters, satellite offices and program sites differ in connectivity and IT maturity.
• Board oversight. Boards often oversee technology spending directly, so you must explain it in plain terms.

Donated and discounted software

Using these programs well saves tens of thousands of dollars a year.

TechSoup first

Every nonprofit should register at techsoup.org, even with no need today. Through it you can get these.

• Microsoft Windows, Office and Server licences for $2 to $50 each.
• Donated and discounted Dell, Lenovo and HP hardware.
• Security software from Norton, Bitdefender and others.
• Adobe Creative Cloud at a large discount.
• QuickBooks at donated prices.
• Cisco Meraki network equipment at deep discounts.

TechSoup sets yearly limits per organisation, and orders take 2 to 4 weeks. Some products need yearly revalidation, and not all are offered everywhere.

Other programs

Program	What nonprofits get
Google for Nonprofits	Free Business Starter, $10,000 a month in Ad Grants and YouTube Nonprofit features
Microsoft 365 for Nonprofits	Free Business Basic for up to 300 users and discounted Business Premium
Salesforce Power of Us	10 free Enterprise licences, with more at steep discounts
Cloud credits	AWS $2,000, Azure $2,000 and Google Cloud $2,000 a year
Canva for Nonprofits	Free Canva Pro for up to 50 users
Slack for Nonprofits	Slack Pro at 85% off

See our guides to Google Workspace for nonprofits and to free and discounted technology.

Volunteer IT or professional IT

Many nonprofits rely on a tech-savvy board member, a staff member’s spouse or a rotating cast of volunteers. Volunteers cost nothing, may be expert and care about the mission.

The risks show only when something breaks.

• Unpredictable time. A volunteer with a full-time job cannot fix email on a Tuesday morning.
• No accountability. There is no SLA and no escalation path, and interest can fade.
• Knowledge leaves. Undocumented systems stay behind when the volunteer moves on.
• Security. Well-meaning volunteers may skip good security practice.
• Liability. If a volunteer’s mistake leads to a breach, liability gets complicated.

The best model for most is professional IT with volunteer help. A professional, on staff or a managed IT provider, runs the network, security, email, backups and compliance. Volunteers take bounded projects, such as a website or staff training, and a board IT committee gives oversight.

Grant-compliant infrastructure

Many nonprofits find compliance gaps only in an audit. Grants commonly ask for the following.

Area	What funders ask for
Data security	Encryption at rest and in transit, access controls, incident response and regular assessments
Financial controls	Segregated duties, audit trails, secure document retention and separate grant expense tracking
Reporting	Time tracking for funded roles, outcome measures, aligned financial reports and data exports

QuickBooks Nonprofit or Sage Intacct track grants, and Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud or Bloomerang track outcomes. Google Shared Drives or SharePoint control document access, and Harvest or Toggl track time against payroll.

Backups must meet each grant’s retention terms.

Donor databases

Size	Options
Under 50 staff	Bloomerang from $99 a month, Little Green Light from $45 a month, Network for Good or Bonterra
Larger	Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud, with 10 free licences but setup needed, or Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT

• Name one data steward who owns data quality.
• Write down how names, addresses and gifts are entered.
• Clean the data quarterly, removing duplicates, old addresses and deceased donors.
• Keep the CRM in sync with Mailchimp or Constant Contact.
• Export your own backups, even from a cloud platform.

Reporting to your board

Talk in risk, program impact and cost, not technology.

Instead of	Say
”We need MFA across all systems."	"A gap leaves us open to a breach like one that hit a peer. Closing it costs $X and takes Y weeks."
"We upgraded the servers."	"Case workers now open a record in 2 seconds instead of 30, so they spend more time with clients."
"IT support costs $3,000 a month."	"Professional support costs $3,000 a month, against $8,000 or more for one IT hire, with 24/7 cover.”

Each year, give the board a short report. Cover the state of IT and compliance, the incidents and what you spent and saved. Add the biggest risks and next year’s plan.

Budget benchmarks

NTEN and others suggest these shares of the operating budget for IT.

Level	Share	On a $2 million budget
Minimum	3%	$60,000 a year
Adequate	5%	$100,000 a year
Well resourced	7% to 8%	$140,000 to $160,000 a year

A midsize nonprofit might split the IT budget this way.

• Support and management, in house or an MSP, 40% to 50%.
• Software and cloud, 20% to 25%, much reduced by donations.
• Hardware, 15% to 20%.
• Security, 10% to 15%.
• Training, 5%.

Making each dollar count

1. Use every donation program. A well-informed nonprofit can save $20,000 to $50,000 a year.
2. Pick an IT firm that sells no products, so its advice has no sales incentive.
3. Prevent rather than react. A cyber incident can cost a small nonprofit $50,000 to $200,000 and donor trust.
4. Standardise laptops, email and CRM. Five laptop models and two CRMs cost far more to support.
5. Put technology in grant proposals as essential to programs. Many funders will pay for it.

Where to start

1. Register with TechSoup.
2. Audit what you have, what you spend and what is at risk.
3. Activate Google for Nonprofits or Microsoft 365 donations.
4. Close the critical security gaps, starting with MFA, backups and endpoint protection.
5. Compare professional IT support options that fit your budget.

SBK’s nonprofit IT practice helps NYC-area nonprofits build reliable IT on realistic budgets.

Questions people ask

How much should we spend on support?

Benchmarks put total IT at 3% to 8% of the operating budget, with support taking 40% to 50% of that. On a $1 million budget, that is about $15,000 to $40,000 a year for support.

Hire an IT person or outsource?

Under 75 staff, outsourcing is almost always cheaper. One IT hire costs $70,000 to $120,000 with benefits, covers business hours only and is a single point of failure. A managed provider brings wider skills, 24/7 monitoring and backup staff for a fraction of that.

What certifications should a provider have?

Look for Microsoft, Google Cloud or CompTIA Security+ credentials. Nonprofit experience matters more: grants, TechSoup, donor databases and board reports. Ask for nonprofit references and call them.

How do we justify IT spending?

Compare the cost of a breach or long outage with the cost of prevention. Show how technology improves programs and staff time, and set your spending against benchmarks. Put technology costs in grant proposals.

What should we buy first?

Security. Turn on MFA, put endpoint protection on every device, automate backups and publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Then move to Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 and a proper donor CRM.