Hosting for associations and non-profits: simple, affordable and transferable
An association does not need a large website, but it does need one that always works, an email address in its own name and management that does not hang on one person. Our smallest plans are enough for most clubs and non-profits, with unlimited mailboxes on your own domain, a daily backup and a control panel you can operate without a technical background.
A sports club, a youth movement, a neighbourhood committee, a cultural non-profit: the website is usually managed by a volunteer who once started it. As long as they are around, all is well. The problem comes with the change of board. Below you can read where associations get stuck and how to avoid it.
Where it usually pinches for associations
Nobody knows who has access any more
The website was made years ago by a member who has since left. The domain name is in their name, the invoice goes to their address, nobody knows the password. At a change of board, that is the most common cause of a site that disappears.
Email via private addresses
Board members email from their personal address. Members do not know whom to write to, and if someone leaves, the whole mail history disappears with them.
A budget where every euro counts
Associations pay for hosting out of membership fees or subsidies. Every plan that offers more than needed is money not going to the activities. But too cheap often means: no backup and nobody to call.
What associations need from hosting
A plan sized for a small site
Linux Eco or Basic is enough for an association site with calendar, news and photos. You do not pay for space or memory you do not use, and you can always move up if the site grows.
Email in the name of the association
Unlimited mailboxes and aliases on your own domain: chair@, secretary@, registrations@. If a board member leaves, you change the password and the mailbox stays with the association. Webmail, IMAP and spam filter are included.
Management without technical knowledge
Through the Interworx control panel you create mailboxes yourself, install WordPress, Joomla or Drupal with one click and manage your files via FTP. Anyone who can set up an email program can do this too.
A backup that is there when you need it
Files and database are backed up every day and kept for fourteen days. A plugin that breaks the site or an accidentally deleted page is then a matter of restoring, not rebuilding.
How to set up your association's hosting properly
Four steps that make sure the association's website and email keep working, even after the next change of board.
Put the contract in the association's name
Register domain name and hosting to the non-profit or club, with the address of the registered office and a general contact address. That way everything remains the property of the association, whoever sits on the board.
Choose the smallest plan that fits
For most association sites Linux Eco or Basic is plenty. If in doubt, start small: moving up to a larger plan is always possible.
Create functional email addresses
Not names of people, but roles: secretary@, treasurer@, info@. At a change, the successor takes over the mailbox; only the password changes.
Record who manages the access
Note in the board minutes who manages the control panel and the domain name and where the details are kept. That one sentence saves the next team weeks of searching.
Further reading
The hosting plans
Eco, Basic, Standard and Premium side by side, with what is included as standard.
Read moreRegister a domain name
Check whether your association's name is still available and register it in the non-profit's name.
Read moreThe best hosting for an association is not the most extensive, but the hosting the next team can take over without explanation. Put everything in the association's name, work with functional email addresses and record the access. If you have a question, you get someone on the line who manages the servers themselves.