The Hafford Pledge
October 22, 2026 · Leonard Curri
- for nonprofits, schools, and research institutions
- $500,000
- covered on every project, at least
- 70%
Five years ago, my sister Vjosa and I talked about bringing together the best engineers we knew, to see what we could build and achieve together. Three years later, we turned that idea into Hafford.
This pledge is personal for all of us at Hafford. Our families include doctors, psychologists, university professors, teachers and scientists, and I’ve run my own animal sanctuary for ten years. Organizations like the ones they work in are the main reason we’re doing this. They gave us so much, and they’re a big part of why any of this is possible for us today, so we want to give back.
So, starting today, we pledge $500,000 of engineering work over the next seven years to nonprofits, charities, animal sanctuaries, schools, universities, and scientific institutes and labs. The organization pays a flat $3,000 per engineer per month, and we cover the rest, which is at least 70%1 of what we’d charge a paying client for the same work. Each year, we’ll publish what we’ve delivered.
It also lets us show what we build, and showcase your organization and the work you do.
What you pay and what we cover, per engineer-month
How it works
We agree on a scope with you and deliver it as we would for any client. The engineer stays part of the Hafford team, so we manage the work, review it and are responsible for the result, and you work with us as a client. Your team sets the priorities and approves what gets built. When the project ends, we hand it over, and any further work becomes a new project or maintenance.
Every project includes documentation, the migration of any existing data you need, testing, and a training session for your staff.
We ask for one person on your side who can make decisions and give the project about two hours a week.
What it costs
You pay $3,000 per engineer-month, whichever engineer is assigned, so a three-month project costs $9,000.
We cover the AI tools our engineers use while building. Your organization pays the running costs of the finished software, such as hosting and any AI or other third-party APIs it calls. Before we begin, we estimate what the software will cost to run each month so that you can budget for it. We set up hosting and API accounts in your organization’s name from the start, and you own them. Any API usage the software generates, including during testing, is billed to those accounts.
For 90 days after handover, we’ll fix anything that doesn’t work as agreed, free of charge, and we’ll fix critical security issues free for a full year. After those first 90 days, any other maintenance is billed hourly at 70% off our standard rate.
At the end of the project, we provide a letter stating the work completed and its value at our standard rate, for your records.
Who can apply
- Registered nonprofits and charities, including animal sanctuaries and rescues
- Public schools and school districts
- University departments
- Public and nonprofit research institutes and labs
Unfortunately, we can’t take on work involving patient health records or clinical systems, export-controlled research, or defense.
We give priority to projects in which one engineer can deliver something your team will use within three months, for organizations that could not otherwise afford the work.
We take on a limited number of projects each year, so we can’t accept every eligible application.
Showing the work
We’ll ask your permission to name your organization and describe the project on our site. If the project goes well, a short review or a mention in your own channels helps other organizations find us, though it isn’t a condition.
Before you apply
Any eligible organization can book one free hour with one of our engineers each year. We’ll talk through what you need, including whether custom software is the right answer at all. If an existing product would serve you better, we’ll say so.
We hold four of these calls each month. When a month is full, we offer the next available slot.
If we take on your project, we’ll prepare a scope and budget that you can attach to a grant application.
Apply
Tell us about your organization and what you would like built. We reply to every application within one business week.
Footnotes
- 1We value each project at the quote we’d give a paying client for the same work. Our commercial rates for comparable work typically start at $10,000 per engineer-month, so the share we cover is at least 70%.