For organizations
Stronger organization. Not more software.
Small community organizations are asked to do more every year with the same staff. HxDF starts by finding out where the capacity is actually going, at no cost, and then, if you want it, builds the fix and trains your team to own it.
What does HxDF do for a community organization?
Two things, in order. First, an independent audit that finds the real constraint and hands back findings, priorities, quick wins, and a 90 day plan you can act on with anyone or with nobody. Second, if you want the fix built, a Blueprint: HxDF designs it, builds it, tests it with your staff, trains them, measures what changed, and transfers ownership. HxDF currently offers audits at no cost to qualifying organizations, requires no followup purchase, and refers to nobody.
- Audits
- Twelve areas, at no cost, no obligation
- Blueprints
- Three, ending in transferred ownership
- Right now
- Taking first audit requests. None delivered yet.
The pathway
Four steps, and you can stop after any of them.
Most capacity work asks an organization to commit before anyone knows what is wrong. This runs the other way round: the diagnosis is free and complete on its own, and everything after it is a separate decision.
- 01
Audit
“What is actually happening?”
An independent diagnostic of one part of how you run, at no cost. You get findings, ranked priorities, quick wins, and a 90 day action list. Then it ends. Most organizations stop here, and that is a legitimate outcome.
- 02
Blueprint
“What should we build?”
If the audit finds something worth fixing and you want it built, a Blueprint is the doing: design, build, test with your staff, train, measure, transfer. It ends when you can run it without HxDF.
- 03
Tools
“What can we do ourselves?”
Free tools that cover part of the same ground with no engagement at all. The Nonprofit Capacity Self-Audit is the one most organizations should start with if they would rather not talk to anyone yet.
- 04
Resources
“What has been learned?”
Guides and, as real work produces them, anonymized field notes. Everything HxDF learns inside one organization is meant to reach organizations it will never work with.
Start here
Twelve audits. No cost, and independent.
Pick the one that sounds like your problem. If you are not sure, the Organizational Capacity Audit is the broad one and usually points at which of the others is worth doing next.
If you want it built
Three Blueprints, one difference: HxDF does the building.
A consultant is paid to recommend. A Blueprint ends when your staff can run and change the thing without HxDF, and that transfer is the deliverable rather than a closing phase.
- 01Proposed
Nonprofit Capacity Blueprint
One defined constraint, one bounded intervention, built and handed over with the staff trained and the change measured.
- 02Proposed
AI-Powered Organization Blueprint
One or two high value AI workflows implemented responsibly, with human review designed in and the effect measured.
- 03Proposed
Grant-to-Growth Blueprint
The delivery, documentation, measurement, and reporting infrastructure an organization needs to absorb funding well and come out more capable.
Or start alone
You do not have to talk to anyone.
Several of the planned tools cover part of the same ground as an audit, free and with no account. Finishing one enrolls you in nothing and sends HxDF nothing.
- Nonprofit Capacity Self-AuditIn development
- AI Readiness CheckProposed
- AI Tool FinderProposed
- Workflow MapperProposed
- Grant Readiness CheckerProposed
- AI Use Policy BuilderProposed
- Nonprofit Budget and Capacity PlannerProposed
- Privacy and Data InventoryProposed
- Volunteer Onboarding BuilderProposed
- AI Prompt and Workflow LibraryFuture concept
Fit
What makes an organization a good match.
HxDF currently prioritizes small nonprofits and community organizations whose work directly benefits people and communities, and whose needs are appropriate for our current capacity and expertise. Fit matters more than size or polish.
- 01Clear community benefit
- 02Limited internal technology capacity or budget
- 03One defined problem that fits the scope
- 04Willingness to share reasonable information for measurement
- 05Willingness to give honest feedback
- 06No expectation of unlimited free services
- 07Located in Oakland and the East Bay during the first year
We may not be able to accommodate every request, and availability may close when our monthly capacity is reached.
What gets measured
Before and after, in your terms.
No results exist yet. These are the kinds of measures a project defines at the start and reports at the end. They are published with dates, and only with your permission.
- Staff hours saved per week
- Response time to an inquiry
- Administrative steps removed
- Followup completion rate
- Program capacity (people served per staff hour)
- How well information is organized and findable
- Staff confidence using the new system
Independence
Nothing here leads to a sales conversation.
HxDF is an independent public benefit initiative. Organizations are never asked to buy anything, never treated as leads, and always control their own data. If it ever feels otherwise, say so and it gets fixed.
Governance and independence: Transparency
Questions
Including the ones about the catch.
What does this cost?
HxDF currently offers audits at no cost to qualifying small nonprofits and community organizations, and does not charge for an audit or require any followup purchase. No cost is not the same as always available: HxDF currently offers a limited number of audits each month at no cost, based on our capacity. When a month reaches capacity, requests are held for the next one and the organization is told where it stands. Availability can close when the capacity is reached. Blueprint costs have not been modeled because none has been delivered, and publishing a price now would be a guess. Real unit costs will be published once they exist.
Will you try to sell us something?
There is nothing to sell. HxDF does not refer organizations to any related commercial business, takes no compensation from anything you do after an audit, and has no vendor relationships to steer you toward. If the right answer is a simpler process and no new tool, that is the answer you get.
What if we do not want AI?
Then you will not get AI. Only one of the twelve audits is about AI readiness and one of the three Blueprints is about AI workflows. The rest are about operations, data, communications, volunteers, delivery, grant readiness, and growth. Sometimes the honest finding is that AI is premature or unnecessary here.
How much of our staff time will this take?
An audit works from what you already have wherever possible, and the scope is agreed up front. A Blueprint needs more, because the people who will use the thing have to be part of building and testing it. That is the design, not an inconvenience.
Has HxDF done this before?
No. No audit has been delivered and no Blueprint has been built. HxDF is an emerging initiative that is not yet incorporated. Everything on this page describes a designed model rather than a track record, and the first organizations to work with HxDF will be shaping it.
Request an audit
Describe the process that eats your time.
One paragraph is enough, and there is no call to book first. HxDF is looking for fit, not polish. The first organizations will hear directly.
Fund this work