Nonprofit WordPress sites look like small-business sites with different stakes: donations, events, volunteers, trust. The hosting requirements are still PHP, MySQL, HTTPS, and someone who will click Update. WPHost runs that stack on PHP 8.4. We do not offer a nonprofit coupon or special charity SKU. Pricing is the public plans — Starter $9, Pro $30, Scale $65, Business $130. That sentence disappoints some RFPs. It also avoids bait-and-switch “nonprofit pricing” that expires into list rate.
What nonprofit sites usually need
- A credible HTTPS site on the organization’s domain
- Editable pages for programs and staff
- Donation flows (plugin + processor) or external donate buttons
- Event pages or calendars
- Email that actually arrives to donors (not hosted here)
- Backups before the big campaign
WordPress handles content. Processors like Stripe, PayPal Giving Fund, or nonprofit-specific tools handle money. GiveWP and similar plugins can run as PHP — you install and update them; we do not auto-update.
Honest pricing (no discount)
| Plan | Price | Sites | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $9/mo | 1 | 2 GB |
| Pro | $30/mo | 3 | 10 GB |
| Scale | $65/mo | 10 | 30 GB |
| Business | $130/mo | 30 | 100 GB + teams |
Trial ~1 day then paid. Compare that to “free nonprofit hosting” that is ads, queues, or abandoned. Cheap-but-honest framing: cheap, full menu: pricing.
If your board requires a vendor charity discount for procurement theater, we are the wrong checkbox — pick a vendor that staffs that program. If your board requires a working site on current PHP, we are in range.
Donations and WooCommerce
Donation plugins and WooCommerce storefronts for merchandise can run. Limits mirror commerce honesty: no checkout SLA, no PCI product, no Elasticsearch — Woo. Prefer processors that keep card data off your origin. Receipt emails need SMTP to a real provider; WPHost includes no email hosting.
For light fundraising, a Stripe Payment Link embedded on a simple page may beat a heavy donation plugin stack. Choose boring reliability over demo-driven complexity.
Volunteers and access control
Nonprofits often share one admin login among volunteers. Stop. Use real users, least privilege, 2FA plugins — secure. When staff turns over, remove accounts the same week. Business teams help if multiple staff need the WPHost dashboard — agencies patterns apply to larger orgs.
Updates without a full-time technologist
We do not auto-update core or plugins. Assign updates to:
- A staff member with a monthly calendar block, or
- A paid maintainer / freelancer, or
- An agency retainer
If nobody will own updates, either buy concierge managed WordPress elsewhere or accept risk — what is managed. Staging on Pro+ lets a volunteer test updates before month-end appeal week — staging.
Campaign season operations
Before a big push:
- Full backup off-site — SSL and backups
- Freeze risky plugin experiments
- Confirm HTTPS on the public domain — custom domain
- Load-test the donate page on a phone
- Watch disk if you upload lots of event photos — image-heavy
Cron on Pro+ helps scheduled posts and plugin tasks when traffic is uneven.
What we do not include (nonprofits ask often)
- Charity discount
- Free forever tier
- Email inboxes for staff@
- cPanel
- Built-in CDN
- Softaculous one-click
- Concierge content updates
- Guaranteed fundraising outcomes
Install path remains zip + MySQL + installer — how to host. Migration from aging shared hosts: migrate. Keep MX at Google/Microsoft while moving web — transfer.
Mission versus marketing
Your about page can be earnest. Your hosting invoice can still be precise. WPHost will not cosplay as a foundation grant. We will run PHP, TLS, deploys, optional staging, and logs while your team runs WordPress.
Pillar including when to walk away: WordPress hosting guide. SMB parallels: small business.
Events, tickets, and calendar plugins
Event plugins add complexity similar to light ecommerce: forms, payments, QR codes, and email. They can run on PHP/MySQL. Test ticket purchase and confirmation mail on staging before selling a gala. Cache exclusions apply to ticket carts. If the “event” is really a Zoom webinar, the host only needs a landing page and registration form — video remains elsewhere — courses for related offload thinking.
Board reporting without vanity metrics
Uptime and TLS are hosting concerns. Donor conversion is application and messaging. When a board member asks why the site is “slow,” measure images and plugins before buying Scale — fast. When they ask why there is no nonprofit discount, point at public pricing and the cost of running current PHP honestly.
Accessibility and trust
Nonprofits often serve audiences who need accessible sites. Hosting keeps HTTPS and modern PHP available; accessible themes and content are still your build choices. A broken SSL warning during donation week destroys trust faster than an imperfect color palette — verify certificates after DNS changes — custom domain.
Migrating off aging church/shared hosts
Many nonprofits inherit cPanel shared hosting from a volunteer era. Migration is the same physics as any WordPress move — migrate — plus careful MX preservation so the office inbox survives — transfer. Expect PHP 8.4 to break abandoned plugins; that is a gift before fundraising season.
Grants that fund “a website” vaguely
When a grant funds web work, budget hosting + maintenance + content, not only design. A gorgeous theme on abandoned plugins fails mid-grant report. Put WPHost plan costs and a maintenance retainer in the proposal. Point grant officers at pricing for transparent numbers without fake charity SKUs.
Keep a simple runbook for the one staff member who understands wp-admin so a departure does not strand the donation page.
Nonprofit honesty: same prices, same zip install
There is no nonprofit coupon on WPHost. Starter is $9, Pro $30, Scale $65, Business $130 — full stop. What you get is PHP WordPress hosting without Softaculous theater. Upload the zip, create MySQL, set salts in wp-config.php, finish the installer, keep a backup plugin pointed at cloud storage the board can access.
Volunteer site admins change yearly. Use real WordPress users, not a shared nonprofitadmin password on a sticky note. Business teams help when staff overlaps. We do not auto-update plugins; put updates on a calendar or hire a maintainer — managed.
Donations and forms
Donation buttons usually deep-link to Stripe, PayPal, or a processor — keep PCI scope off your origin when you can. Contact and newsletter forms need an ESP/SMTP path; email hosting is not included. Point DNS carefully and leave MX alone — custom domain. Staging on Pro+ with a DB copy is how you rehearse homepage campaigns without breaking the live donate button.
Store registrar and WPHost logins in an org password manager, not a volunteer’s personal browser.
FAQ
Is there any nonprofit or NGO pricing?
No. Public plans only. No coupon program in this product.
Can we run GiveWP or similar?
Yes as a plugin you maintain. Test on staging; keep backups; configure payment processors properly.
Do you offer donated hosting?
Not as a standard SKU described here.
Will you update our plugins for free because we are a nonprofit?
No. We do not auto-update for anyone. Hire maintenance or schedule staff time.
Is Starter enough for a small nonprofit?
Often for a brochure + donate link site under 2 GB. Use Pro when you need staging or more disk for media.