Reign for non-profits. Non-profit supporter and volunteer community.

Reign is the WordPress theme for building a complete community site: social network, courses, member directory, marketplace and job board on one install. A non-profit uses the social network and the events.

BuddyNext provides supporter and volunteer profiles, a feed and spaces, and its Pro plan adds paid plans and gated spaces, broadcast email and push, which suit a members tier and supporter updates. Eventonomy, free, handles volunteer shifts as events with RSVPs, capacity limits and attendee management. Donations run through a separate donation plugin, because neither BuddyNext nor Eventonomy takes gifts on its own.

The BuddyPress Community Bundle kit is the packaged route and the membership site build guide covers members tiers. The plugins page shows the split, and Reign is a flat theme licence, which is useful when budgets are tight.

Volunteers engage most. They open the site to see which shifts need cover, sign up, receive a reminder and post a short update after the event. They also swap shifts without a coordinator running a spreadsheet.

Supporters donate once or monthly, receive a receipt and read impact updates. Those who join the community comment on stories, share events with friends and sometimes volunteer for the first time.

Staff use the week to post updates, thank donors and watch for volunteers who have gone quiet. A donor who hears nothing between appeals is a donor who lapses.

The first month decides whether staff and volunteers see the site as help or as one more job. Spend the first week watching what people actually do. Which volunteers signed up for a shift without asking anyone? Which ones phoned the office instead? Every phone call is a note about something the site did not make clear, and fixing those notes early is worth more than any new feature.

In week two, send a short, personal message to every volunteer who has not logged in. Do not frame it as a campaign. Say what the site now does for them, such as showing open shifts and letting them swap a slot, and ask what would make it easier. A handful of replies will show you the one change that matters most.

In week three, look at the donation flow as a donor would. Make a small test gift, check the receipt wording, check what the donor sees afterwards and check whether managing a monthly gift is obvious. A donor who cannot find how to change a gift will cancel it, and the cancellation costs more than the fix.

By the end of the month, write a one-page summary for your trustees or board. Say how many shifts were filled through the site, what supporters asked for, what you changed and what you will do next. Keep it plain and honest. A board that sees steady, modest progress keeps supporting the project, and a board that hears only promises stops listening.

Also use this month to decide who owns the site after you. Name a second person who can post updates, approve volunteers and answer a supporter. A site that depends on one volunteer disappears the day that volunteer moves away.

Chasing one-off campaigns instead of recurring giving is the main one. Predictable income changes what you can plan.

Showing beneficiaries without consent is the second. Get explicit permission and protect anyone vulnerable.

Third, do not make the site the only channel. Keep printed and phone options for people who need them.