Nonprofits & Membership Organisations
Your Members Deserve a
Platform You Actually Own
Socio Connect builds custom community platforms for nonprofits and membership organisations that have outgrown SaaS tools like Hivebrite and need infrastructure they own permanently — with full data ownership, custom branding, and no ongoing platform fees.
The Hidden Cost of Renting Your Community
Nonprofits are uniquely vulnerable to the platform rental trap. Unlike corporations with deep technology budgets, nonprofits must justify every dollar to boards and donors. Paying $12,000–$36,000 per year to Hivebrite or similar platforms — indefinitely — for infrastructure your organisation never owns is a cost that compounds year over year with nothing to show for it.
At year five of a $24,000/year Hivebrite contract, your nonprofit has spent $120,000 on a platform you still don't own. Your member data sits in their system. Your community structure is built on their architecture. If they raise prices, if they get acquired, if they sunset a feature your members depend on — your organisation has no leverage.
A Socio Connect build is a different kind of investment. You spend more upfront. And then you own it — the code, the data, the infrastructure — permanently.
Hivebrite — 5-Year Cost
$60K–$180K+
- ×$12,000–$36,000/year in platform fees
- ×You own nothing at year 5
- ×Member data on Hivebrite's servers
- ×No leverage if they raise prices or shut down
Socio Connect — One-Time Investment
From $45K
- Own the platform permanently from day one
- Member data in your database, on your infrastructure
- No vendor can raise prices, change features, or shut down
- Optional stewardship plan: from $12,000/year
Built for Nonprofit Complexity
Nonprofit member communities aren't simple. They have regional chapters, volunteer cohorts, donor tiers, advocacy networks, and program participants — each with different access levels, different content, and different communication needs. Socio Connect builds with this complexity in mind from the first line of architecture.
Member portal with tiered access
Differentiated content and permissions by membership level or role
Chapter & regional hub management
National view plus chapter-level views, each with their own leadership tools
Program and cohort tracking
Track member participation and progression in specific initiatives
Advocacy tools
Action alerts, campaign updates, and petition management built into the platform
Event management
Annual conferences, chapter meetups, and webinars with RSVP and capacity controls
Volunteer coordination
Sign-ups, role assignment, tracking, and targeted communications
Donor recognition
Optional CRM integration for donor-tier features and recognition workflows
Resource library
Gated content by member tier, program participation, or custom rules
Reporting and analytics
Participation trends, engagement health scores, and member retention dashboards
Data Ownership Is a Mission Issue
For nonprofits, member data isn't just a technology asset. It's a mission asset. Your member database represents years of relationship-building, advocacy, and community investment. It contains the contact information, engagement history, and communication preferences of everyone who has chosen to be part of your mission.
That data should belong to your organisation — not to a SaaS vendor that could be acquired, shut down, or change its terms of service with 30 days' notice.
With Socio Connect, your member data lives in a database your organisation controls, backed up on infrastructure you own, exportable at any time in standard formats. You are never locked in.
Your servers
Data lives on infrastructure you control
Always yours
Full export in standard formats at any time
No lock-in
No vendor dependency on your most critical asset
Frequently Asked Questions
Let's talk about what your membership deserves.
Apply for a strategy call. We work with nonprofits at every stage of this decision — including helping you build the board case if you're not there yet.
Apply for a Strategy Call