Which CMS, script, etc. should I use?

Question

I have been requested by someone starting a non-profit organization to build their website.

They basically want to have users be able sign up, create profiles, send messages, etc. and then have charities be able to do the same, but with different functionality (write blogs, post videos, etc).

The users would look over each charity's profile, then determine which one they would like to donate to. The payments would all go directly to the owner of the site, and then be distributed from there.

I'm only a front-end programmer, but I know they can't afford to have the functionality of this site coded from scratch. Are there any scripts out there that could be modified to make this work?

I would even be willing to pay for a programmer here to develop the site. Just let me know how much you think something like this would cost, and how you would go about implementing it.

Thanks so much for any help. I appreciate it!

Answer 1

Check out Wordpress using the Buddypress plugins. That will add social networking features to your Wordpress site. I would handle the payments with PayPal. They have specific non-profit information on their site. Google for 'paypal payments for non-profits'.

Answer 2

I would recommend the Django framework. I'm currently in the process of learning it, and it's generally very pleasant to use.

If you want to hire someone to do (some of) the work for you, I recommend you get in touch with Etianen who do Django work and also have a CMS built on top of it. (Full disclosure: I don't work for Etianen, but I do know the guy behind it. He's very good at what he does.)

Answer 3

If you don't think you have the resources to build it yourself, you could always start with something like Ning and customize it from there. It's basically a Facebook-like social network engine, with the ability to plug in custom apps if you desire. Might be better than trying to re-invent the wheel.

Answer 4

If you want to build a blog/social network/charity site in PHP, take a look at Drupal. As a front-end guy, you may have an uphill climb to snap together a site with many complex features on your own. Luckily, there are a number of books that might help you get started, if you decide to embark down that path.

Answer 5

You might want to check out the CMS Matrix to compare various CMS possibilities online. They have an incredible number of CMS listed on the siet. My biases run towards Bricolage, but CMSes can vary widely; the CMS Matrix will allow you to compare selected CMS environments to select one that meets your needs.