Building Tools That Pay for the Mission
Every tool I build has a subscription, and 15% of the revenue goes to We The Gente, so donations go straight to the families they support.
Most nonprofits pay their bills with fundraising. Selling things and holding events can raise money. But you’re always on other people’s time, asking for it, and every month starts with the same worry: will enough come in?
I run We The Gente, a nonprofit in Rochester, Minnesota, that serves Latino families. I also build software, and I plan to use it to fund the nonprofit.
Every tool I build has a subscription, and 15% of each tool’s revenue goes to We The Gente. That money pays the nonprofit’s overhead, meaning rent and salaries and everything else it takes to keep the lights on.
Overhead matters to donors too. When someone gives $100 to a typical nonprofit, part of it goes to operating costs before any of it reaches a family. Say that’s 20%. The family gets $80, maybe less. If the tools pay the overhead, every donated dollar can go straight to the people it was given for.
I also want the tools to be useful on their own. I build them for small business owners and for people who aren’t very technical, and they fill a gap. Each subscription pays for the next round of work on the tool and sends money to the nonprofit. If it goes the way I hope, the tools fund We The Gente, and We The Gente can keep helping people where it is really needed.
Here’s what I’ve built so far:
Mybeautiful.email uses AI to build emails. You give it context and describe how you want the email to look, and it returns a finished email. More context gets you a better result. It’s still a work in progress, but I’ve used it for real emails, and it’s held up.
Launched.so puts everything you need to get online in one package. Every time I’ve started a project, I’ve had to register a domain, find an email provider, and build a landing page, each on its own schedule. Launched does all of that in about 15 minutes and shows you visitor stats from day one. Contact forms, waitlists, and quote requests come next. Many small businesses live on Facebook, with reviews split between Facebook and Google and nothing to tie it together. I want Launched to be that place.
Sitefren.com is an AI website builder for shared hosting that fits in one file. Most AI site builders keep you on their platform, charge a monthly fee, and make it hard to leave. Sitefren works more like Adminer. You upload one file to your hosting, add your AI provider’s API key, and generate your site. The site is yours, and you can take it anywhere. I may pair it with Sheepdog Host, my shared hosting service, so a subscription includes AI credits. This would make it even easier for people to get started.
Domorin.com manages domains across registrars. If yours are spread across GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap, and Porkbun, it’s easy to forget a login or let one expire. Domorin puts them in one place, with DNS, parking pages, SSL, and expiration alerts.
Vota.mn is a Minnesota voter information site. It covers how to register and where to vote, plus short facts that are easy to share with friends. It doesn’t make much money yet. I hope to be running minimal ads, and 15% of that revenue will go to We The Gente.
Wethegente.com is our merch store. Right now it’s t-shirts, and a calendar is in the works. 15% of each sale goes to the nonprofit.
As for the nonprofit itself, We The Gente helps Latino families claim their place here. A lot of us say “americanos” and leave ourselves out. If you were born here or naturalized, you’re American, and you’ve been part of this country for a long time. The name is meant to say that. “Nosotros el pueblo” is the literal translation of “We the People,” but it still has an us-and-them feel. “We The Gente” says we’re already in it. The logo borrows the lettering from the top of the Constitution, with a Chicano touch.
Every family starts with La Guía. We sit down with them, see where they are, ask questions they may not have thought about, and look for gaps. Then our team meets, works out how to help, and comes back with a plan.
Raíces Seguras focuses on stability through financial help and budgeting. Despensa Familiar now runs under it, bringing food security and stability where it’s needed.
Adelante covers work and moving up. We show people what’s possible and how to get there. We recently held a session on starting a business, and the next one is about school and certifications at the local community college. Careers are wider than people assume. Someone who draws well doesn’t have to stop at tattoos. They could go into graphic design, logos, flyers, illustration, or animation. AI has taken a lot of entry-level work, but mostly it copies. Original creative work still comes from people, and how far you take it is up to you.
La Llave will be a scholarship program. We’re still working out the details, but even $500 helps. My goal is to give one or two a year.
Teclas is the newest one. It teaches tech literacy, which means using a computer, using AI, and hands-on work with hardware.
If one of the tools fits what you need, use it. Every subscription supports We The Gente. You can also donate directly at wethegente.org/donate, or buy a shirt at wethegente.com.
I’m also looking for artists. You might paint, make music, or do something else entirely. We have a new office with bare walls, and I’d like to fill them. If you’re interested, I’m happy to give you a virtual tour and show you what I have in mind for the art.