IT Services for Nonprofits and Churches

What IT services for nonprofits cover

IT services for nonprofits cover the same basics as any small office. What differs: a lot of the people using your systems are volunteers, much of your data is about donors and members who trust you with it, and every dollar spent on technology is a dollar not spent on the mission.

A typical scope:

• Email and file storage in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, set up with nonprofit licensing where you qualify.
• Your donor management or church management system, online giving and event tools.
• Staff laptops, shared office PCs and any kiosks or check-in tablets.
• Wi-Fi, with a guest network for visitors and volunteers kept apart from staff systems.
• Backups, security tools and help when something breaks.

Many small organizations rely on a volunteer who "knows computers." That can work for a while, but it leaves the organization exposed when that person moves on, and nobody else has the admin passwords. The first job of any provider, paid or volunteer, is to write down what you have and who controls it.

Protecting donor and member data

Donor and member data is the most sensitive thing most nonprofits hold, and the most likely way to lose it is a stolen email login. Names, addresses, giving history, and for churches, prayer requests, counseling notes and children's check-in records, are all valuable to scammers and painful to explain if exposed.

Practical protections:

• Require MFA on email, the donor or church management system, online giving and bank accounts.
• Give staff and volunteers only the access their role needs; a greeter does not need the full giving database.
• Turn off accounts on the day someone leaves or stops volunteering.
• Keep a list of every outside service that holds donor data, and who the admin is for each.
• Use the payment processor for card data rather than storing card numbers yourself.

Money fraud is the other half of the risk. Business email compromise caused about $3.05 billion in reported losses to the FBI in 2025 ⁴. Nonprofits see the same pattern: a fake email from the executive director or pastor asking the bookkeeper for an urgent wire or gift cards, or a vendor's "new" bank details. Require a phone call on a known number before any payment change.

Volunteers and shared devices

Volunteers and shared devices are where nonprofit IT most often breaks down, because shared logins make it impossible to know who did what or to cut off one person's access. Give each regular volunteer their own account where possible, even a low-cost or free one, and keep shared devices locked down.

For shared office PCs, check-in tablets and kiosks:

• Set them to sign in to a limited account that cannot install software or reach the finance system.
• Keep them updated automatically, as the SBA advises small businesses ².
• Use a device management tool so a lost tablet can be locked and wiped.
• Keep them on the staff network only if they need it; otherwise put them on their own network.

For volunteers who use their own laptops and phones, keep organization data in the cloud service rather than downloaded to personal devices, and remove their access when they step away. Retire old computers that can no longer get security updates; Windows 10 support ended October 14, 2025 ⁵.

Nonprofit software discounts

Major software companies offer donated or discounted licenses to eligible nonprofits, and these can cut license costs sharply. Microsoft and Google both run nonprofit programs for their email, file and collaboration tools, and many security, backup and donor management vendors have nonprofit pricing as well.

The offers, eligibility rules and prices change, so check them directly with Microsoft and Google before you budget. Eligibility usually depends on your tax status and the type of organization, and some programs treat houses of worship, schools or government-related bodies differently. Compare against commercial list prices: Microsoft 365 Business Premium, which includes stronger security features, lists at $22 per user per month on an annual commitment, Business Standard at $14 and Business Basic at $7 ⁶¹³¹⁴.

A provider that works with nonprofits should know how to register your organization, apply the right licenses and avoid paying commercial rates by mistake. Our Microsoft 365 support guide explains what each plan includes.

Cybersecurity for churches

Churches carry the same risks as other small nonprofits plus a few of their own: a public calendar that tells scammers when the pastor is traveling, livestream and media equipment on the same network as the office, and children's ministry records that need careful handling.

Priorities for a church:

• MFA on email, giving, the church management system and the bank.
• A separate network for guests and media equipment.
• Clear rules that staff never act on payment or gift card requests sent by email or text without a call.
• Limited access to children's check-in and pastoral care records.
• Tested backups of the church management system and office files.

If something goes wrong, act fast. If an attack or fraud is happening now, call your cyber insurer's hotline if you have a policy, report to the FBI at ic3.gov, and do not wipe systems before evidence is preserved. Our incident response guide covers the first steps.

Low budgets: what to fund first

With a small budget, fund the controls that stop the most common attacks before you pay for anything else. CISA's small business guidance calls for MFA, patching, tested restores and removing admin rights from user laptops ⁷, and most of that costs staff time more than money.

A practical order:

1. MFA on every account that touches money or donor data.
2. Automatic updates on every device, and retirement of unsupported ones.
3. Backups of email, files and the donor or church database, tested with a restore.
4. Staff and volunteer phishing training, which lists at about $1.50 to $4 per user per month ⁹.
5. Endpoint protection on staff computers.
6. Paid support, either per hour when needed or a monthly plan.

Typical published ranges are $100 to $250 per user per month for fully managed IT and $75 to $250 per hour for break-fix help ³. A small nonprofit with a handful of staff may do better with a monthly plan for the core, plus volunteers for simple tasks. Our managed IT pricing guide explains the models.

Cyber insurance is worth pricing too; Insureon reports a median of $129 per month for the small business policies its customers buy ⁸. Our cyber insurance requirements guide lists the controls insurers ask about. For the basic controls, see cybersecurity for small business; to compare providers, use our guide on how to choose an MSP and see whether managed security services fit your size. Private schools organized as nonprofits should also see IT for schools.