Good work shouldn't be held back simply because the right digital infrastructure is out of reach.
Impact Access is our way of making selected development.city infrastructure and expertise more accessible to organisations working on meaningful social, environmental, or community-focused initiatives.
It is part of our commitment to #ForPeopleForPlanet.
1. What Is Impact Access?
Impact Access is a programme through which eligible organisations may receive selected digital services, infrastructure, or support at reduced cost or, where appropriate, without charge.
The programme is intended for organisations where access to better digital infrastructure could create meaningful additional impact.
This may include:
Non-governmental organisations and non-profits
Community organisations
Environmental initiatives
Social-impact projects
Local authorities
Educational or community-focused initiatives
Other organisations working toward meaningful social or environmental outcomes
Impact Access is not a separate product.
It is a way of making parts of the development.city ecosystem available where we believe they can create additional impact.
2. Why We Do It
Technology can make an organisation more effective.
Better communication can help a community stay connected.
Better workflows can save people hours of repetitive work.
Better digital services can make information and resources easier to access.
But not every organisation has the budget, technical expertise, or time required to build and maintain good digital infrastructure.
We believe that sometimes a relatively small amount of technology can remove a disproportionately large amount of friction.
That's where we want to help.
Our goal is not to give away technology for the sake of giving it away.
Our goal is to help good work work better.
3. What Can Be Included?
Impact Access is intentionally flexible.
Depending on the organisation, project, requirements, and available capacity, support may include:
Selected digital platforms or services
Digital infrastructure configuration
Automation and workflow improvements
Integrations between existing systems
Technical guidance
Onboarding and training
Strategy or consultation sessions
Other forms of digital support that fit within the development.city ecosystem
The exact support is determined on a case-by-case basis.
We may also recommend existing tools or services outside our ecosystem when they are a better fit.
The objective is impact — not selling you something you don't need.
4. Who Can Apply?
We are particularly interested in organisations that can demonstrate a clear connection between the requested infrastructure and a meaningful social, environmental, or community outcome.
You don't need to be a large organisation.
In fact, smaller organisations may sometimes benefit most from infrastructure that removes operational friction and allows limited resources to go further.
When assessing an Impact Access request, we may consider:
Mission
What does the organisation or project exist to achieve?
Impact
Who benefits from the work, and what difference does it aim to make?
Need
What problem is the requested infrastructure intended to solve?
Fit
Can development.city realistically provide something useful for the situation?
Capacity
Do we currently have the technical and operational capacity to support the request?
5. How It Works
The process is intentionally simple.
Step 1 — Tell Us About Your Work
Explain what your organisation does, who it serves, and what you are trying to achieve.
Step 2 — Describe the Challenge
Tell us what is currently getting in the way and what kind of digital support you believe could help.
You don't need to know exactly which technology you need.
That's our job to help figure out.
Step 3 — We Review the Request
We'll look at the mission, potential impact, technical requirements, and whether the project is a good fit for Impact Access.
Step 4 — We Discuss the Possibilities
If there appears to be a good fit, we'll discuss what support could realistically be provided.
This may involve a specific service, a combination of infrastructure, consultation, training, or another appropriate form of support.
Step 5 — Build, Learn & Improve
If we move forward, we'll establish the agreed scope and work together to put the infrastructure into use.
Where possible, we'll also learn from the experience and improve the infrastructure for future projects.
6. Is It Always Free?
No.
Impact Access may provide selected infrastructure or services at no cost, but this is not guaranteed.
Depending on the project, we may instead offer:
Reduced pricing
A limited free period
Selected services at no cost
Donated technical work
Consultation or training
A combination of these approaches
The decision depends on the organisation, the project, the requested infrastructure, and our available capacity.
We want Impact Access to remain sustainable so that we can continue supporting meaningful projects over the long term.
Impact support needs sustainable foundations too.
7. A Responsible Approach
We don't believe that giving an organisation technology automatically creates impact.
Sometimes technology isn't the answer.
Sometimes the existing systems are already good enough.
Sometimes a simpler process is more valuable than another platform.
And sometimes the biggest challenge isn't technical at all.
That's why we start with the problem rather than the product.
If we can help, we'll help.
If we can't, we'll say so.
And if we think there is a better solution somewhere else, we'll point you in that direction.
8. Our Broader Commitment
Impact Access is one part of a wider approach to responsible technology.
We believe digital infrastructure should:
Serve people.
Consider its wider impact.
Respect privacy and trust.
Reduce unnecessary complexity.
Create lasting value.
And where technology can help people and organisations do meaningful work more effectively, we want to explore what is possible.
Interested in Impact Access?
If you're working on a social, environmental, community, or other meaningful initiative and believe digital infrastructure could help, we'd like to hear about it.
Tell us:
Who you are
What you're working on
Who benefits
What challenge you're facing
What you think technology could help with
You don't need to have the technical solution figured out.
Start with the problem. We'll explore the possibilities together.
#BeTheChange #ForPeopleForPlanet