NonprofitForge

Inspiration

Every time we talked to (or read about) small nonprofits, the same pattern showed up. They run huge missions on tiny tools. Volunteer signups live in random Google Forms. Client intake is in a spreadsheet that only one person understands. New programs get delayed not because of ideas or impact, but because nobody has time to “figure out a system” for it. We kept hearing sentences like: “I wish we had a simple form for this.” What if they could just say that sentence, and the tool appears?

What it does

NonprofitForge is a tool that lets nonprofits describe what they need in plain language (like a signup form or simple tracker), and then automatically turns that into a ready‑to‑use digital tool. Instead of issues with tech or custom software, they just explain their need and get something they can start using right away.

How we built it

Nonprofit Toolforge is a full‑stack TypeScript app: a React + Vite frontend talks to an Express backend that uses Prisma + SQLite for storage, and the backend calls an Groq‑compatible API to turn natural‑language descriptions into structured JSON schemas, which the frontend then renders as live forms and trackers.

Challenges we ran into

We struggled with getting the AI to reliably output clean, valid JSON schemas from messy natural language, and with keeping the tool powerful while still simple enough for non‑technical users.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We’re proud that we built an end‑to‑end system where a nonprofit can describe a need in plain language and instantly get a working, shareable form or tracker with real data storage and CSV export.

What we learned

We learned how powerful structured prompts and JSON validation are for making AI outputs reliable, and how important it is to design tools around real nonprofit workflows instead of just generic “form builders.”

What's next for NonprofitForge

Next, we want to add more tool types (like checklists and workflows), multi‑language support, and integrations with tools nonprofits already use (like Google Sheets and email) so NonprofitForge can fit even more smoothly into real‑world operations.

Built With

• express.js
• groq
• node.js
• prisma
• react
• shadcn
• sqlite
• typescript
• vite