How WordPress Builds Movements

When I was young, I remember playing Super Mario and Clay Fighter on a tiny Super Nintendo in Mexico – those games hooked me. In second grade, my school was throwing out a stack of green-screen computers; I asked for one and managed to get a couple of simple games running. By middle school I was deep into tinkering with GameMaker. My little cousins would yell, “Put a worm in that chases us!” and by dinner we’d all be dodging a pixel worm I’d just coded. Seeing them laugh at something I built was electric. Money was tight, so expensive software or game engines were off the table for me. That limitation opened an important door: open-source. Blender, Python, GIMP – those were my first big tools, all completely free and community-built. The idea that technology could be shared and improved by anyone blew my mind and shaped how I view the world.

Fast forward to today: at Hundred Hands Learning Lab (H2L2), we rely on open-source software every day. Our primary platform is WordPress, an open-source content management system (CMS). Sure, there are flashy proprietary alternatives out there – Webflow, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify – promising quick-and-easy websites. But WordPress remains my first pick for mission-driven projects, and not just because I personally love it. There’s a reason over 60% of nonprofits worldwide use WordPress for their websites. I want to talk about why WordPress checks so many boxes for movement organizations, and how it aligns with the ethos of not-for-profits in ways that other solutions often don’t.

Why Choose WordPress?

To be clear, WordPress isn’t perfect – it comes with trade-offs. For example, a typical WordPress site has some bloat (extra code, like CSS and JavaScript, loading on every page) which can slow things down. You can mitigate this with caching and optimization plugins, though it’s rarely a perfect fix. If you know exactly what you need and have the resources, a custom-built website using a modern framework (say, Node.js or Ruby on Rails) could indeed run faster or more efficiently for that specific purpose. In developer circles, some even scoff at WordPress’s foundations in PHP (“PHP? Blasphemy!” as one veteran coder joked). It’s easy to dismiss older technologies. But here’s the flip side: WordPress challenges the web development equation in favor of quick value. With WordPress, one developer (or one small team) can run a large, complex website or application, because plugins handle about 80% of the heavy lifting – things like security, user management, SEO, and interactive features are often available as ready-made plugins. Meanwhile, a global community is continuously improving the core software. In other words, you’re standing on the shoulders of thousands of contributors.

Efficiency and Speed: For many common nonprofit website needs (a few pages, a blog, a donation form, maybe an events calendar), WordPress is more than sufficient. It’s tried and tested, and you can get a basic site up fast. As a developer, I appreciate that I don’t have to reinvent the wheel for standard functionality. If your project is a relatively simple informational site, why spend months of custom coding? An experienced WordPress practitioner can launch it in a fraction of the time. (And if your needs grow later, WordPress can often grow with you – or you’ll at least have a working site to build on while you consider a custom build for phase 2.)

Scaling and Complexity: Now, it’s true that if a WordPress site keeps expanding – say you keep bolting on plugins for every new feature – it can start to creak under its own weight. I’ve seen cases where a well-meaning admin adds 25 plugins and suddenly pages take ages to load or even break entirely. The lesson: if you anticipate needing highly complex, unique functionality from day one, you should consider a custom-built solution or a specialized platform. But for the vast majority of small to medium organizations, WordPress hits a sweet spot between power and simplicity. One industry expert put it this way: WordPress covers the basics well, but if your site is poised to become the next Facebook, you’d architect it differently. For movements and nonprofits, we’re usually trying to avoid complexity and focus on content and impact – and WordPress is tailor-made for that.

The PHP Question: Some folks hear that WordPress runs on PHP and worry that it’s an outdated technology. It’s true that PHP is an older language, but modern PHP (now in version 8+) has evolved significantly. It’s secure, fast, and maintained by a huge community. In fact, PHP powers large portions of the web very reliably. Don’t let the tech stack age fool you – WordPress’s longevity is a strength, not a weakness. It means years of bug fixes, security patches, and knowledge-sharing backing it up. (And if you really don’t want to touch PHP, you usually don’t have to – most WordPress work happens through its admin interface, themes, and plugins, with just a bit of HTML/CSS.)

Cost-Effectiveness: A major benefit of WordPress for movements is cost. The software itself is free – free as in gratis, and free as in freedom. You will need to host it somewhere, but you’re not paying license fees to a company just to keep your site online. Many hosts offer discounts or even free hosting for 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Most plugins are free or have free versions, and even premium plugins or themes are one-time purchases or low-cost compared to hiring developers for every feature. I often tell clients: WordPress plus a handful of well-chosen plugins can save you tens of thousands of dollars in custom development. For example, instead of contracting a developer to build a forms system or an events calendar from scratch, you can install a trusted plugin and maybe pay $50 for a pro add-on – or find an open-source one at no cost. Premium plugins aren’t free, but they cost far less than a dedicated team writing bespoke code for each feature. Over time, the savings and flexibility add up, which is crucial for nonprofits that need to stretch every dollar.

Designing for Movements Means Independence

One principle we follow at H2L2 is to “design for our own obsolescence.” That sounds a bit odd, but here’s what it means: our goal is always that clients (the movement organizations we serve) will eventually be able to maintain their websites on their own. We’re not trying to embed ourselves permanently or lock anyone into an expensive maintenance contract. Unfortunately, not all tech providers have that philosophy. Many subscription-based services depend on locking you in. I personally dislike most “website builder” subscription services – they feel a bit money-grabby, designed to keep you paying forever. As I often say, these platforms aren’t built for you to buy once and be done; they’re built to keep you paying monthly or yearly. Movements, unlike corporations, can’t always guarantee a steady budget; they go through ups and downs. If your site’s existence depends on writing a check every single month to a private vendor, that’s a point of vulnerability.

WordPress, by contrast, offers the independence and resilience that movements need. It’s open-source, which means you control your destiny: you can host your site anywhere, move it if needed, and no one company can suddenly pull the plug on your presence. You also have full access to your data. If you ever outgrow your current website’s design or your web host, you can export everything and set it up elsewhere. (For example, migrating from one WordPress theme to another can be done without losing your content. You might need to tweak some layouts, but you won’t have to start your blog posts or archives all over.) Contrast this with something like Wix: users report that if you want to switch your Wix site to a new design or platform, there’s no direct export – you literally might have to rebuild from scratch, copying text and images one by one. That kind of data lock-in is scary when you think about grassroots organizations that might not have the capacity to do a full rebuild in a pinch. With WordPress, your movement “owns” its infrastructure in a real sense: you have the files and the database, and you can take them wherever you need to go.

This independence also aligns with the values of most movements. Choosing the right tech infrastructure isn’t just about cool features or convenience – it’s about aligning your tools with the ethos of your organization. If your movement is about empowerment, transparency, or justice, it might feel more fitting to build on an open, community-driven platform rather than a closed, corporate one. WordPress, despite its imperfections, strikes a practical and ethical balance. It’s backed by a global community of volunteers and companies who contribute to the project. It embodies resilience through collaboration. In a way, when you use WordPress you’re standing in solidarity with a worldwide network of creators and users, rather than renting space from Big Tech Inc. The result is that your website can scale, pivot, or even pause operations in tough times without vanishing – you’re in control of your own story online, which is exactly where movements need to be.

Finally, a quick note on security and sustainability: Because WordPress is popular (powering ~43% of all websites), it’s a target for hackers, and you do have to take basic precautions. This means keeping your plugins and WordPress version updated (the community releases security patches frequently), using strong passwords, and probably installing a security plugin or service for monitoring. These steps are straightforward – and honestly, any platform will require security diligence. The good news is WordPress’s community has produced many guides and tools to help non-experts harden their sites (often for free). Owning your tech means you’re responsible for it, but you’re not alone – a vast support ecosystem is out there. In my experience, a well-maintained WordPress site can be just as secure as any proprietary solution, and you have the benefit of knowing what’s happening under the hood. If something does go wrong, you’re not helpless; you can fix it or find someone who can, rather than waiting for a vendor’s support line. In short, WordPress gives movements control – of their data, their costs, and their future.