We are a volunteer-led initiative providing technical consulting and donated infrastructure dedicated to supporting grassroots mutual aid groups, organizers, and non-profits across the Twin Cities.
To ensure real privacy and resilience, our architecture follows a defense-in-depth model: privacy-first OpenBSD servers with full disk encryption at the core, paired with Cloudflare’s global edge for DDoS mitigation, static edge delivery, caching, and automated email protection.
We believe in data sovereignty: your community’s data belongs strictly to your community. We build custom, surveillance-free setups so you can focus on organizing without corporate lock-in, data harvesting, or expensive recurring software subscriptions.
How It Works
You don’t need technical jargon, formal specifications, or prior knowledge of specific software. If your group is struggling with a digital bottleneck, an insecure workflow, or an expensive commercial subscription, tell us what’s happening in plain language.
Tell Us the Problem (Plain English)
Reach out describing what your group does, where you're feeling friction, and what's slowing down your organizing.
Collaborative Privacy & Architecture Review
We evaluate your requirements together and design a privacy-first, secure, zero-cost or community-subsidized solution.
Deploy, Migrate & Hands-On Team Walkthrough
We configure hardened infrastructure, safely migrate your data, and walk your organizers through using the tools with ongoing support.
Replacing Proprietary Tech with Privacy-First Tools
Organizers shouldn't have to surrender community data to Big Tech or pay escalating monthly software fees. Here is how we replace commercial subscriptions:
| What You're Using | The Problem | What Skywaters Provides |
|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace / Drive / 365 | Data harvesting, surveillance, subscription pricing | CryptPad & Private Nextcloud Client-side encrypted live document collaboration and cloud storage. |
| Mailchimp / Substack | Intrusive tracking pixels, steep price jumps as lists grow | Listmonk Newsletters Self-hosted, tracker-free community newsletters and discussion lists. |
| Google Forms / Airtable | Vendor lock-in, data limits, fragile spreadsheet workflows | Custom MariaDB & Web Portals Tailored relational databases for volunteer rosters, mutual aid intake, and inventory. |
| Shared Plaintext Passwords | Credential leaks, organizer lockouts, insecure SMS 2FA | Bitwarden / Vaultwarden & MFA Encrypted team password vaults, hardware 2FA keys, and organizer security audits. |
| Commercial Web Builders (Squarespace / Wix) | $15–$40/mo fees, slow bloated code, tracker injections | Donated OpenBSD & Edge Hosting Blazing-fast, accessible static sites and portals on free subdomains or custom domains. |
Services & Capabilities
Every organization’s workflow is unique. Common systems we build, migrate, host, and maintain include:
Websites & Public Portals
100% Free CoreFast, accessible, tracker-free informational websites, resource landing pages, or contact forms hosted on a free subdomain or your custom domain.
Email & Newsletters
Pass-Through / FreeCustom organizational email addresses (e.g., organizer@yourgroup.org) using privacy-first hosts, discussion lists, and one-to-many newsletter delivery via Listmonk.
Secure Drive & Collaboration
EncryptedPrivate cloud storage and live document collaboration (Nextcloud, CryptPad) as surveillance-free alternatives to Google Workspace.
Databases & Intake Tools
Custom MariaDBTailored relational databases (powered by MariaDB on OpenBSD) and lightweight web interfaces to manage mutual aid requests, volunteer shift scheduling, or inventory.
Digital Security & Backups
HardenedPassword manager setups (Bitwarden), two-factor authentication rollouts, organizer security audits, and automated encrypted offline backups.
Migrations & Consulting
AdvisoryUntangling DNS records, auditing legacy software, and migrating away from proprietary platforms to lightweight self-hosted tools.
Operational Scope & Boundaries
- Lightweight, accessible web portals & forms
- Organizational email & privacy newsletters
- Team password vaults & security checkups
- Intake databases & volunteer shift rosters
- Software migrations away from paid SaaS
- Native mobile app builds (iOS / Android)
- Proprietary closed-source software development
- High-frequency commercial payment gateways
- High-risk self-hosted raw SMTP email servers
Cost & Sustainability
We remove financial barriers so community organizers can operate sustainably without commercial licensing fees:
-
Core Infrastructure (Always $0 / Free): Problem analysis, security audits, and hosting on our donated OpenBSD servers are 100% free of charge. We provide free
*.skywaters.orgsubdomains and deploy open-source tools at zero cost. - External Third-Party Services (At-Cost / Pass-Through): If your organization needs custom domains (e.g., yourgroup.org) or dedicated privacy mailboxes from external providers, we pass through wholesale ethical rates with zero markup (often just $10 a year).
- Community Subsidies: For grassroots groups with zero budget, our community fund covers third-party pass-through costs whenever funds allow.
Grassroots Community Fund
skywaters.org is bootstrapped and volunteer-led. To launch this initiative, the project is bootstrapped with a personal commitment of $50 every month out of pocket to fund baseline OpenBSD server capacity, bandwidth, and encrypted storage.
Community contributions allow us to expand sustainably and support more local Minneapolis groups:
Registers a custom .org domain grant for a $0-budget grassroots mutual aid group.
Powers an encrypted OpenBSD server node supporting 4–5 local organization portals.
Funds automated offsite encrypted backups, edge networking, and emergency rollout support.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this really 100% free? What’s the catch?
There is no catch, no advertising, and no data collection. Core consulting and hosting on our donated OpenBSD infrastructure are 100% volunteer-backed and free of charge. If your group needs an external service (such as a custom domain registration), we pass through the raw wholesale cost (usually ~$10/year) with zero markup, or subsidize it from our community fund for zero-budget groups.
Our group has zero technical knowledge. Can we still apply?
Absolutely. You don’t need to know anything about servers, databases, or code. We handle all technical configuration, migration, and server administration, and we walk your team through using everything in plain language.
What happens if Skywaters ever shuts down or we want to move?
Data sovereignty is our founding principle. Everything we build uses open standards, standard SQL databases, and portable flat files. We ensure you receive complete, exportable backups of your data at all times with zero vendor lock-in.
Who qualifies for support?
We prioritize grassroots mutual aid collectives, tenant unions, community organizers, and non-profits operating in Minneapolis and surrounding Twin Cities areas. We do not provide services for commercial businesses or for-profit ventures.
How can technical organizers or sysadmins get involved?
We welcome sysadmins, web developers, security researchers, and technical writers who want to contribute volunteer hours to support local grassroots movements. Send an introductory email to hello@skywaters.org.
Volunteer Service Disclaimer: While we follow modern infrastructure best practices and security hardening, all technical consulting, hosting, and support are provided by volunteers on a best-effort, strictly “as-is” and “as-available” basis with no warranties or SLAs. Participating groups agree to hold harmless volunteer maintainers and are encouraged to keep independent offline backups of vital records.
Get in Touch / Request Resources
Whether you are an established non-profit or a grassroots mutual aid collective, we would love to hear from you. To request technical assistance or server hosting, email hello@skywaters.org with:
- Your organization or project name
- Your mission and the community you serve in Minneapolis / Twin Cities
- The specific technical bottlenecks, hosting, or consulting support you need (e.g., website, email, cloud storage, database)
Privacy Note: Project details and contact emails are strictly reviewed by our volunteer team to evaluate requests and are never shared with third parties.