Northern Sydney Independents · Stack App Briefs
01 / 06
Reference
The NSI Stack, app by app
A one-card brief for each platform that costs money to run — what it's for, the plan NSI is on, what it costs, and the one thing to watch. Swipe through with the arrows or arrow keys.
Google WorkspaceSquarespaceHubSpot StarterCanvaAgoraPulse vs Buffer
Core run-rate at three campaigns: ≈ A$269/mo (before social management)
Identity & productivity
Google Workspace
The identity spine of the whole stack — every platform login is a Workspace email. Also Gmail, Drive, Sheets, Forms, My Maps and Docs on the northernsydneysindependents.com.au domain.
Plan
Business Starter, billed annually. One seat per campaign (willoughby@, northshore@…) plus NSI parent + systems-admin seats.
Cost
A$9.90/seat/mo ex-GST · ~A$10.89 inc
In the stack
Logins for every tool, and the engine behind the doorknock workflow (My Maps → Sheets → Forms) and the Gemini listening-post analysis.
Watch
Offboarding: suspending a Workspace user does not auto-revoke the other platforms. 30GB pooled storage on Starter can get tight.
Website
Squarespace
One public website per campaign tenant, hosting the embedded HubSpot forms and the donation paths. GA4 is wired in natively.
Plan
Core, billed annually. One site per tenant — this cost multiplies with every campaign.
Cost
A$28/site/mo (annual)
In the stack
HubSpot forms embedded via legacy code blocks (white-text CSS override); Stripe + the Squarespace Donations module both live. Core means 0% Squarespace transaction fees — only Stripe card rates apply.
Watch
Two donation paths (Squarespace Donations vs HubSpot/Stripe form) need reconciling. Edit pages from inside the editor, not by URL.
CRM
HubSpot Starter
The single NSI-level contact database. Contacts are tagged by Campaign — one instance serves every tenant. It should never send email; Mailchimp does.
Plan
Starter (portal app-ap1). Hold it CRM-only — flag contacts non-marketing so the marketing-contact charge stays at zero.
Cost
~US$20/mo base (~A$31)
+ ~US$50 per extra 1,000 marketing contacts — the cost you avoid by not sending from here.
In the stack
Capture hub for all forms + Eventbrite; Mailchimp engagement (opens/clicks) syncs back natively. WhatsApp labels mirror HubSpot, never the reverse.
Watch
Every contact is currently flagged marketing — fix that now. Workflow branching (e.g. electorate assignment) needs Professional, ~9 months out.
Design
Canva
One NSI Teams account with a separate brand kit per campaign. Volunteers get Member access to their own campaign's kit only.
Plan
Canva Teams, billed annually. Three-seat minimum, so US$30/mo is the practical floor however few designers you start with.
Cost
US$10/seat/mo · ~US$30 floor (~A$47)
In the stack
Holds the NSI palette + per-campaign accent kits (gold / sky blue / lime). Teams unlocks 100 brand kits and approval workflows.
Watch
Per-seat cost stacks past ~10 users. Canva's own scheduler is weak — schedule via Buffer/AgoraPulse. Check nonprofit eligibility — may be free.
Social management — the decision
AgoraPulse vs Buffer
Both publish to your full channel set including BlueSky and Threads, so coverage is a tie. The split is the pricing model and how cleanly each isolates a campaign's brand.
AgoraPulse
per user
~A$465/mo · 3 leads + add-on profiles
- True brand isolation: per-tenant folders, permissions, guest approvals
- Unified inbox + ROI reporting
- Fits the role design best
Buffer
per channel · users included
~A$116–233/mo · Essentials–Team
- ~⅓ the cost; team seats included
- Covers BlueSky + Threads; clean scheduling + basic inbox
- Weaker per-brand access walls
Decide on access control, not channels. If scoping each lead to only their own tenant (and a unified inbox + stakeholder reporting) is worth ~3×, AgoraPulse earns it. If the need is just "schedule reliably and cheaply," Buffer Team does it for a third of the price.
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