Service
Fractional CTO for Nonprofits
A fractional CTO for a nonprofit is part-time technology leadership on a monthly retainer instead of a full-time executive hire. Lifehouse Development provides it from Grand Rapids, Michigan: strategy, vendor-neutral software decisions, board-ready recommendations, and ownership of the roadmap — month to month, for nonprofits and churches too small for a full-time CTO.
A full-time CTO costs $200,000–$350,000 per year. Most nonprofits don’t need that — but they do need someone thinking strategically about technology on their behalf, and right now that person is probably an executive director doing it after hours between everything else.
A fractional CTO partnership is the ongoing form of our nonprofit technology consulting: executive-level technology leadership on a month-to-month retainer, sized to what your organization actually needs.
What We Own
The work a nonprofit CTO actually does
Answering the board
Boards now ask about AI, cybersecurity, and data privacy, and the answers have to be honest, brief, and free of jargon. We prepare those answers with you — or deliver them at the meeting if that is more useful — so technology stops being the agenda item nobody can speak to.
Owning the roadmap
Which systems get replaced this year, which get left alone, what the fiscal-year technology budget should actually be, and which grant cycles the larger projects should be timed against. Decisions made deliberately rather than in response to whatever broke most recently.
Vendor selection and negotiation
CRM, donation platform, case management, email. We sell none of them and take no referral commissions, so the recommendation is based on fit and total cost rather than on who pays the largest partner margin.
Making systems survive turnover
Nonprofit knowledge tends to live in one person's head, and nonprofits lose that person more often than they would like. Documentation, sane permissions, and volunteer-proof processes are what keep an organization running through a transition.
How It Works
A rhythm, not a ticket queue
A standing monthly session
One scheduled conversation each month covering what shipped, what is next, and what changed. This is where roadmap decisions actually get made, rather than deferred until something breaks.
Availability between sessions
A vendor sends a renewal quote, a funder asks a security question, a staff member proposes a new tool. You get a quick, straight answer instead of guessing or scheduling a project.
Board and funder support, when it matters
Technology sections of grant applications, security questionnaires from funders, and the AI question your board will ask at least once a year — drafted with you, in language a non-technical board can act on.
Build work, only when it is warranted
If a project turns out to need software rather than strategy, we scope it separately at published prices — see what a build engagement involves. The retainer is never a channel for quietly billing a build. New to working with us? Start at technology help for nonprofits.
What You Get
Strategic technology leadership, on a retainer
- A clear picture of your current technology landscape
- Prioritized recommendations you can act on immediately
- Vendor-neutral guidance — we have no products to sell you
- A technology roadmap aligned to your mission and budget
- Executive-level thinking without a full-time executive salary
- A partner who stays accountable to outcomes, not just deliverables
Not a nonprofit? The same partnership for founders and small commercial teams is our fractional CTO for startups and small teams.
Honest Fit
When you don’t need a fractional CTO
If your systems are broadly working and you have one specific decision to make, a one-off assessment through our nonprofit technology consulting is the better buy. It is cheaper, it ends, and it answers the question.
If what you actually need is someone to fix laptops, reset passwords, and manage the network, you need a managed IT provider, not a CTO. We are happy to tell you which one you are looking at — it takes about fifteen minutes and costs nothing.
Common Questions
Fractional CTO for nonprofits, answered
What does a fractional CTO do for a nonprofit?
The same job a full-time CTO would, at the fraction of the scale a nonprofit actually needs: setting technology direction, choosing and negotiating with vendors, planning the budget, answering the board's questions about AI and security, and making sure systems are documented well enough to survive staff turnover. It is strategic ownership rather than help-desk support.
How much does a fractional CTO cost compared to hiring one?
A full-time CTO runs $200,000–$350,000 a year in salary and benefits, which is not a realistic line item for most nonprofits. A fractional partnership is a month-to-month retainer sized to the hours you actually need — typically a few hours a week — with no long-term commitment. We scope it in the first conversation so you know the number before deciding.
Is this different from your fractional CTO service for founders?
The discipline is the same; the context is not. Nonprofit engagements revolve around boards, grant reporting, funder compliance, donor data stewardship, and fiscal-year budget cycles. If you are a founder or small commercial team, our fractional CTO for startups and small teams page is the better fit.
We already have an IT provider. Does this replace them?
No, and you should be wary of anyone who says it does. Managed IT keeps the laptops running and the network up. A fractional CTO decides what you should be running in the first place. The two roles complement each other, and we work alongside existing IT providers regularly.
Do you work with churches?
Yes — churches are a significant part of this practice. The recurring needs are Google Workspace administration, file systems that volunteers cannot accidentally break, and technology decisions that outlast a change in leadership. Our guide to Google Workspace for churches gives a sense of the approach.
What if we only need help for a few months?
That is a legitimate engagement and we will say so rather than stretch it. Some organizations need a partner through a migration, a rebrand, or a leadership transition and then genuinely do not need us. The retainer is month-to-month precisely so ending it is easy.
Is a Fractional CTO right for you?
The best way to find out is a free 30-minute conversation. No pitch, no pressure — just an honest assessment of where you are and what kind of support would actually help.