Last updated: 2026-01-25

For most U.S. nonprofits, the most practical setup is to use StreamYard as the production studio for virtual events, then plug it into simple registration pages, donation tools, and your existing website or social channels. If you run very large, complex multi-day conferences, you can layer Zoom Events or Webex Events on top while still using StreamYard to keep production simple.

Summary

• StreamYard is a browser-based studio that helps nonprofits run polished, reliable broadcasts with guests and branding, without downloads for speakers.
• Zoom Events and Webex Events add event hubs, ticketing, and multi-day agendas, but they’re heavier and usually priced/licensed more like enterprise software.
• Most fundraising livestreams, town halls, and education events don’t need a complex “all-in-one” event suite; they need dependable video, easy guests, and good recordings.
• A hybrid stack — StreamYard for production, plus your existing CRM, donation tools, and landing pages — keeps costs low and workflows familiar.

What does a virtual event platform actually need to do for nonprofits?

Nonprofits don’t wake up thinking, “We need another piece of software.” You’re trying to raise more money, deepen relationships, and report impact — often with a small staff and volunteers.

For that reality, a virtual event platform needs to:

• Be fast for staff and volunteers to learn
• Let non-technical speakers join easily, with no surprises
• Deliver clean, stable video and audio
• Make it simple to add your branding and mission visuals
• Produce recordings you can reuse in campaigns and reports

StreamYard focuses on that production layer. It runs in the browser, lets you invite guests with a link, control mic and screen audio independently, and apply branded overlays and layouts live so your event looks intentional, not improvised. (StreamYard support)

In practice, nonprofits then connect this studio to where their community already is: YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, their website, or an event hub.

Why is StreamYard a strong default for nonprofit virtual events?

StreamYard tends to fit how nonprofit teams actually work:

• Guests don’t install anything. Speakers and honorees join from a browser link — feedback we hear constantly is that it “passes the grandparent test,” which matters when you’re inviting donors, board members, or beneficiaries.
• Simple, confident control. You can control camera, mic, screen shares, and layout with obvious buttons. Multiple producers can collaborate in the same studio, which helps when staff or volunteers share show-running duties.
• Professional look without a production team. You can apply logos, overlays, and backgrounds live, and even show lower-thirds or sponsor graphics so the event feels aligned with your brand and partners. (StreamYard support)
• High-quality recordings for reuse. StreamYard provides HD recordings and multi-track local recording suitable for post-production, including 4K UHD and 48 kHz WAV audio on supported setups. That makes it realistic to turn a virtual gala into dozens of clips for social, email, and grant reports.
• Landscape and vertical from one session. With Multi-Aspect Ratio Streaming (MARS), you can broadcast both landscape and portrait from a single studio session, so desktop viewers see a traditional stream while TikTok/Reels-style viewers get vertical video natively. (StreamYard support)

Most U.S. nonprofits don’t have an in-house broadcast engineer. They need something they can configure over the phone with a volunteer — and that’s the level of simplicity we optimize for.

How do StreamYard’s costs compare with Zoom Events and Webex Events?

Virtual event budgets matter, especially when donors expect you to steward every dollar.

StreamYard uses a free plan plus tiered subscriptions, and pricing is per workspace rather than per user. That’s very different from per-seat pricing, where every staff account adds recurring cost. Our Core and Advanced plans are designed to be cost-effective for small teams that collaborate from one shared studio.

By comparison:

• Zoom Events requires a Zoom license plus an Events license, with attendee-based tiers and some pay-per-attendee models. Exact pricing often involves contacting sales or purchasing from within your Zoom account, and high-capacity or single-use webinar options can add separate costs. (Zoom)
• Webex Webinars and Events list a public price for a 1,000-attendee webinar license and then move to "contact sales" for larger tiers and full Webex Events access. Higher capacities (3,000, 5,000, 10,000, 10,000+) sit behind that enterprise-style conversation. (Webex pricing)

For many nonprofits, that enterprise-style licensing is overkill. Using StreamYard as your studio and pairing it with tools you already pay for (CRM, donation forms, email) typically keeps the tech stack leaner.

When should a nonprofit consider Zoom Events instead?

There are real scenarios where Zoom Events can make sense:

• You’re already standardized on Zoom Workplace.
• You’re running multi-day, multi-track conferences with formal registration and tickets.
• You need built-in lobby networking, attendee directories, and in-hub chat.

Zoom Events adds branded hubs, ticketing, and multi-session scheduling, on top of Zoom Meetings/Webinars. It can handle virtual events for dozens up to very large audiences, and Zoom also offers single-use webinar packages that can host up to 1 million attendees in the U.S. when capacity is the top priority. (Zoom)

The tradeoff is complexity and licensing overhead. Building an event hub, configuring tickets, and navigating enterprise billing is more work than setting up a simple StreamYard broadcast with a registration page on your website or a platform like Eventbrite.

A practical pattern for nonprofits is:

• Use StreamYard as the studio (overlays, speaker management, multi-aspect streams).
• Deliver that feed into a Zoom Webinar if you truly need Zoom’s registration and massive capacity for a flagship annual conference.

You keep your production workflow consistent while using Zoom only where it adds unique value.

Where does Webex Events fit for nonprofit virtual events?

Webex Webinars and Webex Events tend to live in larger organizations with existing Cisco/Webex deployments.

Webex Webinars offers “unlimited webinars” on licensed tiers, with registration pages, automated emails, and options for live, simulive, and on-demand experiences. Higher tiers include attendee capacities from 1,000 up to 10,000+ and can support up to 100,000 attendees on some licenses. (Webex help)

Webex Events, bundled with select enterprise options, adds features like in-person check-in, badge printing, mobile event apps, multi-track agendas, and sponsor monetization tools. (Webex pricing)

If your nonprofit is part of a larger institution — a university, health system, or nationwide network that already licenses Webex — it may be logical to use those hubs for registration and attendance. StreamYard still fits in as the studio that feeds your plenary sessions or keynotes into Webex, keeping on-screen production consistent across channels.

How should nonprofits think about fundraising-specific needs?

Fundraising isn’t just about being live; it’s about giving people a clear, low-friction path to act in the moment.

A typical nonprofit virtual fundraiser might combine:

• StreamYard as the studio.
• A donation form or pledge form on your website.
• A simple registration or watch page (could be a CMS page, event platform, or even a private YouTube link).
• Optional overlays or crawlers that highlight giving URLs or QR codes.

Because StreamYard supports custom RTMP destinations and multistreaming on paid plans, you can broadcast the same event into multiple places — Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and a custom player — which increases surface area for donations without fragmenting your production. (StreamYard support)

Many nonprofits already have fundraising tech — CRMs, donation pages, peer-to-peer tools. Treat StreamYard as the storytelling engine that brings those tools to life, rather than replacing them.

What we recommend

• Use StreamYard as your default studio for town halls, fundraisers, education sessions, and partner spotlights.
• Plug StreamYard into the tools you already have — your site, CRM, donation forms, or, when needed, a Zoom/Webex webinar for registration or extreme scale.
• Reach multiple audiences at once by multistreaming to social plus a branded landing page, instead of forcing everyone into a single proprietary hub.
• Move up to heavier event suites only when the problem demands it — like multi-day, multi-track conferences — and keep StreamYard at the center of your production so staff and volunteers stay in a familiar, simple workflow.