For a 15 to 30 employee nonprofit in Victoria, BC, a reasonable starting budget for fully managed IT support is approximately $75 to $150 per person per month, depending on your technology setup, cybersecurity needs, number of devices, and what is included in the service agreement.
That means a Victoria nonprofit might budget approximately:
| Team size | Estimated monthly managed IT support budget |
|---|---|
| 15 employees | $1,125 to $2,250 per month |
| 20 employees | $1,500 to $3,000 per month |
| 30 employees | $2,250 to $4,500 per month |
These numbers are a helpful planning range, not a guaranteed quote. Every nonprofit has its own mix of staff, volunteers, cloud tools, devices, privacy needs, and support expectations. A small arts organization with mostly cloud-based tools may have a very different IT budget than a social services nonprofit handling sensitive client records across multiple locations.
For many Executive Directors and Operations Managers, the bigger question is not only “What does IT support cost?” It is “What are we actually getting for that money, and will it make life easier for our staff?” That is the right question to ask.
The 5 Factors That Determine a Nonprofit’s IT Support Cost
Managed IT pricing usually comes down to five practical factors. You do not need to be technical to understand them. You just need to know what affects the amount of support your organization will need month to month.
1. Number of people supported
Most managed IT providers price support based partly on the number of people who need help. That may include full-time staff, part-time staff, contractors, and sometimes key volunteers who use your systems regularly.
For nonprofits, this part can be a little messy. You may have 20 employees on payroll, plus 40 volunteers who occasionally need access to shared files, email, scheduling tools, or a donor database. Not every volunteer needs the same level of IT support, but anyone using your systems should be considered when planning your technology needs.
2. Number and type of devices
A 20-person nonprofit may not have only 20 devices. Staff might use laptops, desktops, mobile phones, tablets, shared reception computers, printers, network equipment, and meeting room technology. Some organizations may also still have servers or legacy systems that need extra care.
The more devices you have, the more there is to manage, update, protect, and troubleshoot. A cloud-first organization with newer laptops will usually be easier to support than one with old desktops, aging network equipment, and several systems that do not talk to each other.
3. Cybersecurity requirements
Cybersecurity is often one of the biggest reasons nonprofits move from casual IT help to managed IT support. Many organizations handle donor information, staff records, client details, grant documents, financial data, and board materials. That information needs practical protection.
At a basic level, this may include multi-factor authentication, endpoint protection, security monitoring, backups, patching, and staff guidance. A nonprofit that works with vulnerable clients, healthcare-related information, legal information, or government-funded programs may need a stronger cybersecurity setup than an organization with lower-risk data.
The key is to avoid treating cybersecurity like a scary add-on. It should be built into the way your systems are managed every day.
4. Microsoft 365 and cloud environment
Many nonprofits rely on Microsoft 365 for email, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, calendars, and document sharing. These tools can work beautifully when they are set up well. When they are not, staff can lose time searching for files, dealing with permissions problems, or working around confusing folder structures.
Your IT cost may depend on how much help you need with Microsoft 365 licensing, user management, security settings, SharePoint structure, email protection, and day-to-day support. Licensing costs may be included in your monthly fee, billed separately, or handled through a nonprofit licensing program, so it is worth asking about this early.
5. Support complexity
Two nonprofits with the same number of staff can have very different support needs. A single-location nonprofit with mostly remote tools is usually simpler than an organization with multiple sites, shared workstations, hybrid staff, program-specific software, and older systems that need careful handling.
Support complexity can also come from timing. If your team runs evening programs, weekend events, fundraising campaigns, or time-sensitive grant reporting, you may need clearer expectations around after-hours support and emergency response.
What Should Be Included for $75 to $150 Per Person?
A managed IT quote should be clear enough that a non-technical leader can understand it. If the proposal only says “comprehensive IT support,” ask for more detail. You want to know what is included, what costs extra, and what level of support your staff can expect.
For many nonprofits, a strong managed IT plan may include support in these areas:
| Category | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Help desk | Day-to-day support for staff when something is not working |
| Device management | Setup, updates, monitoring, and maintenance for computers and other devices |
| Microsoft 365 support | Email, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, permissions, and account management |
| Cybersecurity | MFA, endpoint protection, monitoring, patching, email security, and practical safeguards |
| Backup and recovery | Backup systems, restore planning, and recovery support if something goes wrong |
| Strategic IT planning | Budget planning, technology roadmaps, lifecycle planning, and plain-language guidance |
For a nonprofit, this matters because IT is rarely just one thing. A staff member locked out of email before a donor meeting needs help desk support. A finance lead worried about suspicious emails needs cybersecurity support. An Executive Director planning next year’s budget needs strategic guidance that makes sense in real dollars.
What Would Managed IT Cost for a 20-Person Victoria Nonprofit?
For a simple planning example, a 20-person Victoria nonprofit using the $75 to $150 per person range would budget:
20 people × $75 to $150 per person = approximately $1,500 to $3,000 per month
Annualized, that works out to approximately:
$18,000 to $36,000 per year
A 20-person nonprofit may land closer to the lower end if it has a clean cloud setup, newer devices, simple support needs, and a fairly standard Microsoft 365 environment. It may land closer to the higher end if it has more complex cybersecurity requirements, multiple locations, older infrastructure, servers, after-hours support needs, or a large number of volunteers who require system access.
The number by itself is only part of the decision. A lower quote is not always better if it leaves out the support your team actually needs. A higher quote should come with clear value, plain explanations, and no mystery around what is included.
Managed IT vs. Hiring an Internal IT Employee
Some nonprofits compare managed IT support with hiring an internal IT person. That can be a useful exercise, especially if your team is growing and IT issues are taking up more staff time.
According to Job Bank, the median wage for a computer network technician near Victoria is listed at $31.25 per hour, which works out to about $65,000 per year before benefits, payroll costs, training, tools, and management overhead. Job Bank also lists British Columbia wages for information systems specialists at a median of $46.15 per hour, which works out to about $96,000 per year before additional employment costs.
That does not mean hiring internally is the wrong choice. For some organizations, it may make sense. The important thing is to compare the full picture.
| Consideration | Managed IT | Internal IT employee |
|---|---|---|
| Cost structure | Monthly or per-person fee | Salary, benefits, payroll costs, tools, training, and overhead |
| Expertise | Access to a team with different skill sets | Depends on one person’s experience |
| Coverage | Team-based coverage | Limited by one person’s availability |
| Cybersecurity | Shared specialist resources may be available | Depends on the employee’s cybersecurity background |
| Vacation and sick coverage | Built into the team model | Requires a backup plan |
| Strategic guidance | Can include planning, budgeting, lifecycle advice, and plain-language recommendations | Depends on the hire and their role |
For a 20-person nonprofit, managed IT can offer a wider support bench than one internal generalist. That can be especially helpful when your needs range from password resets to cybersecurity planning to Microsoft 365 cleanup.
An internal IT employee may be a better fit when your organization has enough daily technical work to justify a full-time role and has someone senior enough to manage that function well. Some growing nonprofits eventually use both: an internal operations or IT lead supported by an external managed IT partner.
Why Nonprofits Should Treat IT as a Planning Decision, Not Just a Cost
It is natural to look at IT support as another monthly expense. Nonprofit budgets are tight, and every dollar has to earn its place. But IT affects much more than computers.
It affects whether staff can access files before a board meeting. It affects whether donor records are protected. It affects whether a program coordinator can work from home when a child is sick, whether a grant report gets submitted on time, and whether your team loses a day trying to fix a preventable problem.
Good managed IT support should reduce the number of small technology frustrations your staff carry around every week. It should also help leadership make better decisions about hardware, software, security, and future planning.
Final Takeaway
For a 15 to 30 employee nonprofit in Victoria, a practical starting budget for managed IT support is about $75 to $150 per person per month. That works out to roughly $1,125 to $4,500 per month, depending on the size of the team and the support required.
For a 20-person nonprofit, that means approximately $1,500 to $3,000 per month, or $18,000 to $36,000 per year for managed IT support.
The right IT budget should be clear enough to explain to your board and steady enough to help your staff do their work without constant technology interruptions. If the numbers feel unclear, start with the per-person range, then adjust based on your team size, devices, cybersecurity needs, Microsoft 365 environment, and support complexity.
If your nonprofit is reviewing IT costs or trying to understand what level of support makes sense, it may help to look beyond the monthly number and consider the kind of partner your team needs.
The Human IT Company supports mission-driven organizations with friendly, practical IT help that is built around people, not just devices. Learn more about our approach to IT support for mission-driven groups.
