The Shades Network

Nonprofit organizations serving the Greater New York community may qualify for our free web-hosting accounts. Entities awaiting IRS approval may also qualify. Preference is given to organizations with current 501 (c)(3) status.

Those applying go through a board screening process to ensure that they are a bona fide nonprofit organization serving in the New York community. Documentation, including proof of 501 (c)(3) status will be requested. If the organization does not yet have 501 (c)(3) status, other documentation may be considered. The organization applying must pass our board screening process before it can be considered for a free account.

What are the requirements for a free account?

We are pleased to be able to provide these accounts at no cost. We only have four basic requirements:

The organization must be a nonprofit organization that primarily serves Greater New York community.
The organization must pass our screening process. The organization will be asked to provide some documentation, including proof of 501 (c)(3) status.
The organization must have a registered domain name and access to the DNS (domain name server) files.
After approval for an account is secured, we will work with the organization to have its website live within 60 days.

Are your services really free?

The Shades Network offering free non-domain web hosting accounts to nonprofit organizations serving the New York community that maintain relationship orientated services.

Nonprofits approved for the program pay absolutely nothing.

What's the catch?

There is none. The accounts are 100% free to nonprofits approved for the program. Your only requirement would attendance at our monthly meeting. The meetings primary focuses are past, present and future projects, which assist building community awareness of the services offered by members of the network. This is a win/win situation.

There are no hidden costs of any kind.

What would our URL address be?

Let us say that your organization's name was "The Shades Network".

Your URL and email address might be:

URL: http://shadesnetwork.com, webmaster@shadesnetwork.com

Does this offer apply to non-domain name hosting?

No, these accounts are domain only. Your organization is responsible for domain registration. (Most of the website hosted by our network use mydomain.com)

What is the difference between a non-domain and domain name account?

A non-domain account is a web hosting account that does not include a personalized address.

Examples of organizations that have non-domain accounts with The Shades Network (using The Shades Network's domain):

ASHH: http://www.theshadesnetwork.net/austinshhh

DAP: http://www. theshadesnetwork.net/dap

DVPA: http://www theshadesnetwork.net/dvpa

Examples of organizations that have their own domain names (and host with The Shades Network):

NAD: http://www.nad.org

NBDA: http://www.nbda.org

DWU: http://www.dwu.org

Domain name registration is not a free service. Each organization pays for the cost of registering their own domain name before their site is hosted on The Shades Network's servers.

There are many advantages to having your own domain name. Having an easy to remember domain helps your clients and / or members find you easier on the web. You can also set up and use personalized email addresses such as info@your_organization.org and president@your_organization.org.

If you are a small nonprofit without much funding, having your own domain name can be not as expensive as you may think. Domain name registration costs about $7 yearly.

Do you offer Internet access?

No, you will need local Internet access in order to maintain your website and retrieve email addressed to your site. We specialize in web hosting which means that we do not have hundreds of modems to maintain enabling us to devote more time to our customers and to the addition of enhancements to our servers.

Do we have to put any advertising banners on our website?

Absolutely not. There are no annoying advertising banners to deal with. These are full commercial accounts. You have full control over content.

While many of our clients have chosen to show support for The Shades Network by including our small logo on their site, this is optional and is not required.

How much web space can I expect to receive?

Web space allotment is a case-by-case decision. Our decisions are based on the organizations mission, the scope of the organization and the organizations target population. Five megabytes (5 MB) comes with our starter web-hosting accounts. This is more than enough space for most nonprofit websites just getting started on the web.

Do you provide free email accounts?

Yes, however we pay considerable attention to those that would seek to abuse email accounts.

What if we need additional services?

In our experience, it has been rare for new nonprofits just starting out on the web to need additional services beyond what is offered with our free non-domain accounts.

Should your organization need additional services beyond what is offered, these services can be purchased from The Shades Network as needed.

Examples of additional services include adding additional CGI/PHP scripts, additional MySQL database (one database is offered at every hosted site), custom form programming, mailing lists, additional email services, intricate, complicated web design and so on.

Do we have to send you our web pages or can we upload ourselves?

You will have full FTP access to upload your web pages to your web space 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can make changes to your website at any time.

Can we use FrontPage software?

Yes, you can use Microsoft FrontPage software with your account. There are some limitations, however. The special Extensions feature will not work with non-domain accounts. This is a Microsoft FrontPage software limitation.

Can we use Dreamweaver software?

Yes, you can use DreamWeaver software with your account.

Do you offer counters? Forms?

Yes and NO. Yes, a standard form will be included in your account; however, counters are beyond our mission’s scope.

Will we be able to have our own CGI-Bin?

Yes. You will have access, however all third-party custom scripts must be installed through our programmers; otherwise you might unintentionally damage the network. This is a fee-based (contract) service.

Can we install PHP scripts?

No. Our programmer (which we contract) must install all scripts including PHP; the service fee is dependent on the complication of the script.

What kind of policies does The Shades Network have?

We do not allow our servers to be used for spamming, harassment, warez, or the hosting of adult-oriented content (porn). Please see our Hosting Agreement.

Will you design our website for us?

We would love to assist you in the design of your website. A representative will visit your location, take pictures of your service and staff and include this in your web-design.

Can we hire The Shades Network to design our website if we desire something beyond the basic package?

Yes, you can. We offer discounts on our web design and programming services to nonprofit organizations. Please see our Website Design section for more information.

When does this offer end?

We will stop offering free accounts when we have run out of the allotted amount of space we've set aside or lose funding; which we hope will never happen on either event.

Are there expirations on the accounts?

For as long as the nonprofit organization needs it. Accounts in good standing are automatically renewed each year after the initial one-year period ends.

Should we ever decide to terminate our program under good terms, nonprofits currently part of the program will receive a DVD with their web files on it. Your site can then continue to enjoy web hosting at its new home.

Why are you offering this?

Most of our The Shades Network team has a background in nonprofit human services work. Our Director, for example, has worked for The Veteran’s Administration in St. Albans, New York for the past 13 years before eventually founding this non-profit network. He also owns and manages Shades Media (a relationship orientated film and animation company), The Black Relationship Magazine (www.luvshades.com) and is Director of The Shades of Love Foundation (parent organization of The Shades Network).

We believe that community empowerment should begin and end with the relationships between the opposite sex and/or significant others. We do not discriminate against the nature of the relationship service and implore all to take advantage of our services. Therefore, be forewarned that we solicit all focus groups without reservation. This would include gay and lesbian groups, homosexual and bi-sexual groups, interracial groups as well as religious organizations. Our goals are simple – to build concrete communities in its entirety. Entirety is not exclusive or selective for one viewpoint over another, and we responsively urge all future members to consider the diversity of our clients, which include gay, lesbian, bisexual, interracial, Christian, Muslim and other diverse groups. To receive our service you or your representative must attend a monthly meeting to discuss and plan future events.

Additionally, we know first-hand how frustrating and confusing it can be for many nonprofits to get their start in the community. Costs and the lack of knowledge are often big barriers. These accounts and the support we provide for them through our network of non-profits are one of the many ways we fulfill our obligation as a non-profit entity.

What are some nonprofits you currently host?

Some organizations are currently taking advantage of our free nonprofit hosting program however; as we are a new initiative we are developing our client list.

Check with us in the near future.

What makes The Shades Network different?

There are many places where you can obtain a free hosting account. However, none of these places can compare to what you get from The Shades Network.

The Shades Network is a nonprofit agency, therefore, profit and your dollars are not our source of motivation.
These accounts are being offered as a way to serve the New York Community. Unlike other companies that offer free hosting, our goal is not to turn a profit by requiring you to place advertising banners on your site. We do not "brand" your site in anyway.
We provide adaptive technical and customer support. When you have a server-related problem, we are happy to help.
Reliable, secure, fast servers. Unlike most hosting providers, we do not overload our servers with too many accounts on one server. This keeps our servers and your website running smoothly.
New features. We are constantly upgrading and adding new features to our servers.

Who do we contact you if we have additional questions?

If you have additional questions not answered here, please feel free to contact us using our Contact Form.

Due to the enormous amount of spam we have received since publishing our contact email address online, we are no longer accepting email at our email address; instead, we use a contact form.

Additionally, if you would like to contact us by phone, our phone number is:

718-421-1255

Where do I sign up?

Please do not apply for an account if you are not a nonprofit organization serving the Greater New York communities.

We will not approve any application without verification of nonprofit status.

Lately, we have been receiving a great deal of applications from individuals wishing to use these accounts for personal use. Our free non-domain accounts are not for personal use. If you are an individual, there are many places on the web where you can obtain a free hosting account for your personal use. This is not the place. Please also note that these free accounts do not come with PHP or CGI-Bin access. If this is something you need, please sign up for a regular web hosting account.

Nonprofit organizations may apply for an account by filling out our Nonprofit Account Application Form. All fields are required.

After submitting your application, we will ask you to provide some printed documentation about your organization.

Once we have received and verified your application and all requested documentation, your new account will be set up within five business days.

Thank you for your interest in our nonprofit web-hosting program.