I’ve built WordPress sites for a handful of small Nebraska nonprofits, most notably the Nebraska Association for Translators and Interpreters (NATI). WordPress was the default answer in 2018. In 2026, with the Automattic / WP Engine fight still smoldering and Squarespace / Ghost / static-site stacks having gotten very good, the answer is more nuanced. This post is what I tell a board considering a new site.
The short version
If you need donations + memberships + event ticketing + a member-managed content area, WordPress is still the answer. The plugin ecosystem isn’t matched anywhere else. If you just need a clean brochure site with a donate button, Squarespace or Ghost will save you years of plugin-maintenance headaches.
When WordPress is the right call
| Need | Why WordPress wins | Plugins I use |
|---|---|---|
| Online donations (one-time + recurring) | Mature plugins, integrated payment gateways, donor receipting | GiveWP, WPForms |
| Member subscriptions / dues | Several options at different price points; integrates with WooCommerce | Paid Memberships Pro, MemberPress, WooCommerce Memberships |
| Event ticketing + RSVPs | Calendars, payment, attendee management in one | The Events Calendar (+ Event Tickets Plus for paid tickets) |
| Volunteer signup & management | Free plugins handle one-time and recurring opportunities | Wired Impact Volunteer Management |
| Email + CRM integration | Direct integrations with Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or CiviCRM | MC4WP, CiviCRM (if you need full nonprofit CRM) |
| Member-edited content (resource library, member directory) | Front-end editing exists in most membership plugins | Paid Memberships Pro + custom post types |
When you should pick something else
- Squarespace or Wix. If you just need a marketing site and a Stripe-powered donate button. Both have built-in donation blocks now. Far less maintenance than WordPress; far less flexible too.
- Ghost. If you’re primarily publishing content + a newsletter. Built-in member subscriptions, paid tiers, and email broadcasts. Lovely tool; weak for events and complex donation flows.
- Donorbox or Givebutter embedded into a static site. If donations are 80% of what the site does. You can host the marketing site anywhere and embed the donation widget. Cheapest option.
The WordPress political situation, in plain English
In late 2024, Automattic (the company behind WordPress.com) and WP Engine (the largest WordPress hosting company) got into a public fight that resulted in Matt Mullenweg blocking WP Engine from accessing the WordPress.org plugin directory, the founder of WP Engine suing Automattic, and a lot of nonprofits and small businesses wondering whether the open-source project they’d invested in was being held hostage.
As of mid-2026 the dust has mostly settled: WordPress core is still genuinely open source, WP Engine is still operating, and Automattic and the .org foundation are in an uneasy truce. But the episode is a reminder that WordPress is governed by one person and one company in a way most open-source projects aren’t. If that bothers you, Ghost is a fully foundation-governed alternative.
If you stick with WordPress, the boring setup
My default stack for a small-nonprofit WordPress site:
- $6 DigitalOcean WordPress 1-Click Droplet
- Cloudflare in front (free tier)
- Wordfence Security (free tier)
- UpdraftPlus or server-level backups
- Auto-updates for plugins enabled; major core updates done manually after a backup
- One plugin per real need, no “just in case” installs. Every plugin is a maintenance liability
Full walk-through in my default WordPress stack.
One specific recommendation for Omaha-area nonprofits
If you’d like Tiempo to help set up or maintain a WordPress site, get in touch. If WordPress isn’t the right fit and you want a more design-led build, my friend David Hayes at Black Brick Software is who I usually refer to.