App strategy for nonprofits

Questions? Let’s talk answers.

Dive into the most common questions about our full-service project process for nonprofits.

How much does the initial discovery phase cost?

The discovery phase starts at $1,250 for most small nonprofits. That covers a focused, collaborative process where we work together to define a project that's actually doable, not just wishful thinking. All discovery packages include:

• A kickoff workshop with your team to clarify goals and challenges
• A prioritized project roadmap with recommended features and phases at a variety of potential funding levels
• A draft budget and timeline tailored for grant applications
• Grant-ready narrative language you can plug into proposals

Based on your needs, we may suggest a package that also includes:

• A workflow review if you don't already have a project in mind to understand daily needs and pain points
• Staff interviews to determine how to construct a tool that works best for how your organization runs
• A technology audit of your current tools and systems
• Grant research to find the best funding matches for projects
• Grant writing and submission for teams with busy or no development capacity

You'll walk away with a clear scope of work, a rough budget, and a grant-ready plan you can take to funders. If we move forward together after funding is secured, that fee is rolled into the overall project cost.

What happens if the project isn't fully funded? And what happens if we can't find a good funding match?

Grant budgets can vary, and sometimes funders only cover part of a project. That's why we build a phased plan that prioritizes what will have the most impact — and works even if you're only partially funded. For larger projects, we can help you create realistic budgets and explore multiple funding options so you're not relying on just one grant.

If the project doesn't get funded right away, you'll still have a valuable, well-defined plan that's ready for the next opportunity. Many clients use the same materials to apply to multiple funders or re-submit in the next grant cycle. You won't be starting from scratch; you'll be better prepared, with a compelling and realistic proposal in hand.

How much staff time will this take? And do we need to have grant writers on staff?

We've designed our process knowing that staff already wears a lot of hats and is stretched thin at many nonprofits. We'll take care of most of the heavy lifting on tech research, scoping, and grant prep. You'll be involved mostly for interviews, reviews, and decision-making — not endless meetings. When possible, we'll try to use assets and collateral you already have available from other development intiatives.

For grant writing, we can work with your existing structure. If you have someone who handles grant writing, we'll support them with technical language, project budgets, and anything else they need. If not, we can either draft the materials ourselves or collaborate with a trusted grant writer in our network. Either way, we'll make sure your application includes everything needed to clearly and confidently present the tech side of the proposal.

A lot of the technology solutions we've tried in the past have been really complicated. How do we know we won't end up with a tool that's too confusing?

At One Ten Digital, we design projects with user experience and ease of use as the top priority. We focus on simple, practical solutions that fit your team's skills and capacity. In many cases, we can design and build custom tools made specifically for how your organization runs. Depending on your needs, we can also build in training time and documentation to make sure your team feels confident working with what we've created.

What about maintenance costs?

We design projects with your team's capacity in mind, and that includes what happens after launch. If we build something custom, we'll talk about simple maintenance plans, handoff options, or support tiers that make sense for your budget. In many cases, we recommend low-code or no-code tools to keep long-term costs low and give your team more control.

Will we own the technology, or is it tied to you or a third party?

You'll own any custom tools we build for you. When using third-party platforms (like Airtable or no-code builders), you'll have control over your accounts and data. Transparency about ownership and access is a key part of our process, and we do whatever we can to find solutions that don't have costly license or subscription fees.