Your mission deserves more than
1.5% of every donation.
VeloCMS is an independent publishing and donation-capture platform for small nonprofits, 501c3 charities, churches, community organizing groups, mutual aid networks, and advocacy organizations — announcement posts, event publishing with RSVP capture, sermon and program archives, volunteer signup forms, multi-author contributions from board and staff (Business plan), transparent financial reporting, and BYOK Stripe direct donation processing at 0% platform fee — donations go to your org, not a percentage-cut intermediary — with the Solarpunk Optimist theme free on every plan.
Why nonprofits are paying more than they should to publish and collect donations
Platform fees on every donation, nonprofit features bolted onto website builders designed for fitness studios, and a four-tool SaaS stack that eats into the operating budget that should be funding programs.
Donation platforms add their own fee on top of card processing
Donorbox's free Standard plan lists fees of 2.95%–3.95% on donations; its Pro plan costs $150/month and lists 1.75%–2% (Donorbox pricing page, October 2026). GoFundMe Pro, formerly Classy, shows no prices on its pricing page, so the cost only appears after a sales conversation. Whatever the platform, the intermediary layer between your supporters and your mission takes a share, and none of it is optional.
Wix + Squarespace charge for paid plans, but their nonprofit features are an afterthought
Your 'Donate' button looks exactly like the third-party widget it is — DonorBox or PayPal embedded in a Wix block that breaks on mobile every six months when Wix updates their editor. Sermon archive doesn't have an audio player. Event RSVP doesn't sync to your volunteer database. Financial transparency requires a manually-maintained PDF page. Your Squarespace membership section wasn't designed for donor tiers — it was designed for fitness studios. The nonprofit use case is a bolt-on, not a first-class feature.
Mailchimp + Eventbrite + DonorBox + Wix: four dashboards, four billing cycles
Mailchimp starts at $13/mo (Essentials). Eventbrite takes 3.7% + $1.79 per paid ticket plus 2.9% payment processing (free events cost nothing). Donorbox's free plan lists fees of 2.95%–3.95%, and a Wix site plan comes on top of that: four dashboards, four billing cycles, four login flows for your executive director, and none of them talk to each other. Your donor who RSVPs to the gala doesn't automatically get added to your volunteer list.
What a nonprofit-first publishing platform actually gives you
BYOK Stripe 0% donation processing, event RSVP, sermon audio archive, multi-author board contributions on Business, financial transparency pages, and the Solarpunk Optimist community theme — one flat subscription, no platform tax on donations.
BYOK Stripe direct donation processing — 0% platform fee, donations go directly to your org
Connect your org's Stripe account in Admin → Settings → Membership. Create a 'Monthly Supporter' tier at $10/month or a one-time donation tier — gate your 'Donor' newsletter digest behind it. VeloCMS charges 0% platform fee. The only cost is Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30. For a $100 donation: $96.80 reaches your org. For a $40k annual fundraising goal: you keep $38,720 after Stripe processing (400 donations of $100), with no platform fee taken before it reaches your programs.
Event publishing + RSVP capture — fundraisers, volunteer days, recurring services
Create an event with a date, location, and address. Add a free RSVP ticket with a capacity limit: every confirmation email carries an .ics calendar invite, and visitors can join a waitlist when the event sells out. Run your annual gala, weekly food pantry hours, monthly community organizing meeting, and seasonal volunteer day as events, each one keeps the email addresses of the people who registered. Every RSVP is a community member you can reach directly for the next event without Eventbrite's per-ticket service fee on paid events (3.7% + $1.79 per ticket).
Sermon + program archive with native audio player — churches and religious orgs
Upload your Sunday sermon MP3 directly to Cloudflare R2 (included in your plan storage). It embeds as a native browser audio player inside the post — no SoundCloud link, no podcast hosting fee. Create a 'Sermons' tag and your archive becomes a browseable episode library your congregation can search by series, speaker, or scripture reference. For community orgs: upload your town hall recording, board meeting minutes audio, or program update presentation — the same pattern works for any audio-first content library.
Multi-author contributions on Business — board members, staff writers, guest contributors
On the Business plan (up to 5 team members including the owner), go to Admin → Users and invite your executive director, communications staff, board members, and program coordinators as authors. Each gets their own login and author profile — posts display their name and bio without sharing the admin password around the board room. Your annual report can be co-authored by several department heads. Your program newsletter can rotate among your staff writers. Guest posts from partner organizations go through a draft-review workflow before going live. Real editorial structure without enterprise pricing. Pro includes one team member, the owner.
Financial transparency + annual report page — donor trust at a glance
Create a '/about/annual-report' post each year with your program financials, budget breakdown, and 990 highlights. Gate the detailed financial appendix behind a 'Donor' member tier — not paywalled from the public, but trackable to measure donor engagement. Or publish it fully open — the post renders as a clean, readable page your board can share with grant funders, major donors, and community members who want to understand where their contribution goes. No plugin. No PDF-only download. A real searchable web page that Google indexes.
Solarpunk Optimist theme included free — community-organizing aesthetic, not corporate template
The Solarpunk Optimist theme was designed to make community work feel like what it is: hopeful, collective, and alive. Warm golden-hour typography, organic asymmetric reading columns, hand-drawn leaf-vine ornaments — it communicates mission before a single word is read. Apply it in Admin → Themes in 10 seconds. For contemplative religious organizations (Quaker meetings, contemplative Catholic communities, Buddhist centers), Wabi Sabi offers sumi-ink aesthetics on rich-cream background. For academic foundations and policy-focused orgs, Memo Garamond provides scholarly serif typography. All three are free.
Features nonprofits and community organizations actually need
0% donation fee via BYOK Stripe, event RSVP with .ics calendar invites, sermon audio archive, volunteer signup forms, multi-author access, financial transparency pages, and community alert newsletter — without a plugin stack.
BYOK Stripe 0% platform fee — every donation goes to your org
Connect your own Stripe account by pasting your secret key. Create donor tiers, recurring monthly giving, or one-time campaigns. VeloCMS takes 0%. Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30 is the only cut — and that goes to payment infrastructure, not a platform intermediary.
Event publishing + calendar invites: RSVP capture builds your attendee list
Post events with a date, location, and address. Free RSVP tickets email each attendee a confirmation with an .ics calendar invite, and you keep the attendee emails, every attendee becomes reachable for the next announcement without Eventbrite's per-ticket fee.
Volunteer signup forms — built into any post
Add a member-signup CTA to any post to capture volunteer interest. The signup gates to a free 'Volunteer' member tier — you can filter your list by tier to send targeted volunteer-day announcements.
Sermon + program audio archive — native MP3 player, no podcast host
Upload MP3s directly to R2. They embed as native browser audio inside the post. Tag by series, speaker, or program — your sermon archive becomes a browseable library without a separate podcast hosting subscription.
Financial transparency template — annual report as a real web page
Publish your 990 highlights, budget breakdown, and program outcomes as a post. Share with grant funders and donors. Google indexes it. No PDF upload required — a real permanent URL your development director can link in grant applications.
Community alert newsletter — owned list, blast in 2 minutes
Gala tickets going fast? Volunteer day rescheduled? Grant deadline reached? Admin → Newsletter, write one paragraph, send. Every subscribed community member gets it directly — no algorithm, no Mailchimp per-contact fee for your 400-member list.
VeloCMS vs Wix Nonprofit vs Squarespace vs DonorBox + Wix
| Feature | VeloCMS | Wix Nonprofit | Squarespace | DonorBox + Wix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom domain | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes — but split-stack |
| Platform fee per donation | 0% | Wix Payments card processing: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (US) | 2% on Basic, 0% on higher plans (plus card processing) | 2.95%–3.95% (Standard), 1.75%–2% (Pro) |
| Event RSVP + .ics calendar invites | Yes | Weak | Weak | No |
| Sermon / program audio archive | Yes | No | Limited | No |
| Multi-author + admin roles | Yes | Yes | Yes | N/A — donation-only |
| Financial transparency template | Yes | Manual | Manual | No |
| Cost per year ($) | 108–348 | Paid plan (price varies by billing country) | Paid plan (price varies by billing country) | Free (Standard) or $150/mo (Pro) |
From Wix + DonorBox to your own community publishing home in five steps
No developer, no plugin configuration, no DonorBox migration wizard needed. Your posts, your donor list, your event archive — live on your domain today.
Export your Wix or Squarespace content + DonorBox donor history
On Wix: go to Wix Blog → Posts → Export all posts (CSV + HTML). On Squarespace: Pages → Export → choose XML archive. For DonorBox: Admin Dashboard → Donors → Export CSV to get donor email list and giving history. Save all three files — you'll import them. Your existing Wix or Squarespace site stays live throughout the migration, so there's zero downtime for your community.
Upload to VeloCMS — announcement posts, event archive, and team pages
In Admin → Tools → Import, upload your Wix or Squarespace export. VeloCMS maps post titles, body text, publish dates, and featured images (images re-upload to Cloudflare R2 automatically during import). Drafts stay as drafts; published posts stay published. Import your DonorBox donor CSV via Admin → Members → Import CSV — each email becomes a free member record you can reach with community newsletters.
Set up BYOK Stripe direct donation processing
In Admin → Settings → Membership, paste your Stripe secret key — copied from your org's existing Stripe account (or create a free one). Create your first donation tier: 'Monthly Supporter' at $10/month. Create a one-time 'Annual Gala Ticket' tier at your ticket price. Gate your 'Donor Updates' newsletter digest behind the Monthly Supporter tier. Publish a 'We've moved to direct donations' announcement post to your imported donor list.
Configure multi-author access — board members and staff writers
In Admin → Users, invite your executive director, communications coordinator, program staff, and board members who contribute content. Each receives an email invitation and sets their own password. No shared admin credential circulating in a Google Doc. Assign roles: editors can draft and publish; contributors can draft only. Your board chair can write the annual report directly in the admin without you forwarding a Google Doc export.
Activate Solarpunk Optimist + first community alert email
In Admin → Themes, click Solarpunk Optimist → Apply. Your community-organizing aesthetic goes live across all posts and the event archive. Set your custom domain in Admin → Settings (Pro plan). Then Admin → Newsletter → New: write your migration-welcome message — 'We've moved our community home to our own platform. Update your bookmark and RSVP for our next volunteer day below.' Send to your full imported list. This is your first owned-list community alert — the pattern you'll use for every announcement going forward.
Start a 14-day free trial with the Solarpunk Optimist theme, event RSVP and a community newsletter. Pro ($9/mo) gives you unlimited posts, a custom domain and BYOK Stripe direct donations.
Pro
$9
per month
- Unlimited posts
- Custom domain + SSL
- BYOK Stripe direct donations
- Community newsletter
- All 40 themes included
- AI writing assistant
Business
$29
per month
- Unlimited posts
- Team (up to 5 members)
- Custom sender domain (email)
- Priority support
- Advanced member analytics
- Team collaboration
Questions nonprofits ask before switching from DonorBox and Wix
Honest answers — no platform upsell.
How does VeloCMS save my nonprofit money vs DonorBox or Classy?
The math is straightforward. Donorbox's free Standard plan lists fees of 2.95%–3.95% on donations; its Pro plan costs $150/month and lists 1.75%–2% (Donorbox pricing page, October 2026). On VeloCMS with BYOK Stripe, VeloCMS charges 0% platform fee: you pay Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30, which is $3.20 on a $100 donation, and nothing else per transaction. Compare that line by line with whichever donation platform you use today, and add its monthly subscription. VeloCMS Pro is $9/month ($108/year) with no transaction fee at all. GoFundMe Pro (formerly Classy) shows no prices on its pricing page, so ask for a quote and compare it the same way.
Can I migrate my Wix or Squarespace nonprofit site to VeloCMS?
Yes — for Wix, export your posts via Wix Blog → Posts → Export. For Squarespace, export via Pages → Export XML archive. In VeloCMS Admin → Tools → Import, upload either file and your post titles, bodies, publish dates, and featured images import automatically. Your donor and community email list from DonorBox or Mailchimp imports via Admin → Members → Import CSV. The migration typically takes 2–3 hours total. Your existing site stays live throughout — no downtime for your community during the transition.
Does VeloCMS support recurring donations and monthly giving programs?
Yes — via BYOK Stripe's subscription billing. In Admin → Settings → Membership, create a 'Monthly Supporter' tier at whatever recurring amount makes sense for your community ($5, $10, $25/month). Stripe handles the recurring billing, payment failure retry, and donor notifications automatically. You can also create annual giving tiers with a one-time payment. VeloCMS doesn't add a layer on top of Stripe's native subscription logic — you're working directly with Stripe's infrastructure, which means you're also eligible for Stripe's nonprofit discount program on processing fees (typically 0.7% rather than 2.9% for registered 501c3s — worth applying for).
How does the sermon and program audio archive work for churches?
Upload your sermon MP3 directly in the post editor — it stores to Cloudflare R2 (included in your plan storage up to 10GB on Pro, unlimited on Business). The audio embeds as a native browser audio player inside the post. No SoundCloud link, no podcast hosting subscription. Tag each sermon post with the speaker's name, the series, and the scripture reference — your congregation can browse the archive filtered by any of those tags. For a church with 10 years of weekly sermons, that's a properly searchable library. The same pattern works for community organization board meeting recordings, town hall audio, and program update presentations.
Can we have multiple board members and staff contributing posts?
Yes, on the Business plan. VeloCMS has a multi-author system built in: Business includes up to 5 team members and Agency is unlimited, while Pro is single-member (the owner). In Admin → Users → Invite, add each contributor with their email address. They receive an invitation email and set their own password — no shared admin credential. Role options: admin (full access), editor (create/publish/edit all posts), author (create/edit only their own posts). Your board chair can write the annual report, your program coordinator can publish event announcements, and your ED can send the monthly newsletter — each from their own login, each with their author name on the post. Author profiles appear on the post page with name, photo, and bio if you configure them.
Does VeloCMS handle 501c3 donation receipt generation for tax purposes?
Donation receipts are handled via Stripe's native receipt system — when a donor completes a payment, Stripe sends them a receipt email automatically. For 501c3 annual giving statements (the IRS Form 1099 equivalent for donors giving $250+), you can download the donor transaction history from your Stripe dashboard and generate PDFs via Stripe's reporting. VeloCMS's member export (Admin → Members → Export CSV) gives you each donor's contact info and signup date. For organizations that need formal IRS gift acknowledgment letters, those are typically generated by your accounting system using Stripe transaction exports — VeloCMS doesn't replace that workflow, but it doesn't complicate it either.
Why is Solarpunk Optimist the recommended theme for nonprofits?
Solarpunk Optimist was designed to communicate collective hope — the visual language of community organizing, mutual aid, and civic action. Warm golden-hour typography, organic asymmetric reading columns, hand-drawn ornamental details — it feels like a well-made community newspaper, not a corporate charity portal. The visual tone signals mission alignment to your donors and community members before they read a word. For contemplative religious communities (Quaker, Buddhist, contemplative Catholic), Wabi Sabi's sumi-ink aesthetic on rich-cream background matches the slower, quieter register of that work. For grant-making foundations and policy-research nonprofits, Memo Garamond's scholarly serif typography signals the rigor funders expect. All three are free on every plan.
Can VeloCMS handle our annual report and financial transparency page?
Yes — create a post titled 'Annual Report 2026' with your program outcomes, budget breakdown, and 990 highlights. You can publish it fully publicly so grant funders and community members can find it via Google search. Or gate the detailed financial appendix behind a free 'Community Member' tier — it's still free access, but you capture the email of each person who reads it, which helps you track donor-level interest in financial details. The post renders as a clean, indexable web page with your org's header and theme — not a PDF hosted on Google Drive. Your development director can link it directly in grant applications. Multiple staff can contribute sections to the post via the multi-author system.
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Your mission deserves 100% of every donation. Start your free trial with Solarpunk Optimist.
BYOK Stripe 0% platform fee, event RSVP with .ics calendar invites, sermon and program audio archive, multi-author board access on Business, financial transparency pages, and community alert newsletter — all on a custom domain your organization owns.