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BACKUP & DISASTER RECOVERY FOR NONPROFITS
Your Files Are Backed Up. Your Recovery Plan Has Never Been Tested.

Scottship Solutions builds backup and disaster recovery programs for nonprofits: tested offsite backups, ransomware recovery planning, defined recovery time objectives, and staff runbooks so your mission keeps running when systems fail.

THE NONPROFIT REALITY
68% of organizations that suffer a significant data loss shut down within 18 months — nonprofits are not exempt.A Backup Confirmation Email Is Not A Recovery Plan.

Most nonprofits run on autopilot for years with no incident — until they don’t. These are the four conditions creating invisible risk right now.

Untested Backups Fail Silently

The average organization hasn’t verified a restore in 18+ months. Backup jobs report success, but corrupt files only surface when your team tries to recover during a crisis (Industry avg: 18+ months without a test.)

Ransomware Encrypts Your Backup Too

Modern ransomware attacks wait 21 days before triggering — long enough to replicate into every backup snapshot. Without immutable, air-gapped copies, your backups offer no protection (Avg ransomware dwell time before triggering: 21 days.)

No RTO Means No Recovery Timeline

Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the board’s answer to ‘how long until we’re back online?’ Without a defined RTO and tested runbook, that question has no honest answer (Only 14% of nonprofits have a written, tested RTO.)

Downtime Costs More Than Prevention

A single day of IT downtime costs nonprofits between $8,000 and $23,000 in staff hours, donor trust, and program disruption — more than a complete DR implementation (FEMA data: 40% of small organizations never reopen after a disaster.)

THE FRAMEWORK
Recovery Architecture, Not Just Backup Storage.

The question is never ‘are we backed up?’ It’s ‘can we recover, how fast, and can we prove it?’ We build the infrastructure and documentation to answer that question under pressure.

Backup Architecture Design

We design and deploy a 3-2-1 backup strategy: 3 copies of your data, 2 different media types, 1 offsite. We configure automated jobs, retention policies, and immutable storage to survive ransomware.

Disaster Recovery Planning

We write the runbooks your team needs to execute recovery without external dependencies. Every procedure is documented, role-assigned, and tested before delivery.

Recovery Testing & Validation

Every engagement ends with a live recovery drill. We simulate failure scenarios, execute the runbook, and document your actual RTO — so your board has verified evidence, not assumptions.

WHAT YOU RECEIVE
A Written Deliverable That Survives the Next Disaster.

We don’t hand over a subscription and a dashboard. You receive a documented, tested recovery infrastructure your team can execute — with or without us in the room.

3-2-1 Backup Architecture

A configured, automated backup system with three copies across two media types with one offsite or air-gapped copy. Retention policies set. Immutability enabled.

Written Recovery Runbook

A step-by-step recovery document for each failure scenario: ransomware, hardware failure, accidental deletion, and cloud outage. Role-assigned. Tested. Board-ready.

Documented RTO & RPO

Your Recovery Time Objective and Recovery Point Objective defined in writing, based on your actual systems and tested restore speeds — not vendor estimates.

30-Day Post-Deployment Support

Thirty days of monitoring, adjustment, and access to our engineers. We resolve any issues that surface during the first operational month at no additional cost.

HOW IT WORKS
From First Call to Tested Recovery in 90 Days

Step 1 — Infrastructure & Risk Assessment

We spend 45–60 minutes mapping your current backup configuration, data classification, and recovery dependencies. We identify every single-point-of-failure that would block recovery.

Step 2 — Architecture & Runbook Design

We design your 3-2-1 backup strategy and write the full disaster recovery runbook. Every step is documented, role-assigned, and reviewed with your operations lead before deployment.

Step 3 — Deploy, Test & Certify

We configure and deploy the backup architecture, execute a live recovery drill, and deliver a signed Recovery Certification. Your board has verified evidence — not assumptions.

VENDOR NEUTRALITY
We Don’t Sell Backup Products.
We Engineer Recovery Outcomes.

Most backup vendors earn margin on storage tiers and license upgrades. Their incentive is consumption, not recovery.

At Scottship, we charge a fixed fee for a defined outcome: a tested, documented recovery architecture that passes a live drill. We have Zero vendor relationships with backup platforms or cloud storage providers. No commissions. No referral fees. No upsells.

If a cheaper platform solves your problem, that is exactly what we will recommend. Our only loyalty is to your recovery time.

CASE STUDY
A 72-Staff Nonprofit Discovers Their Backup Had Never Actually Worked.

The Challenge

Three-year-old backup jobs showing 'Success' in the dashboard. No restore had ever been tested. After a ransomware event froze 4 offices, the backup set was found to be corrupt. Third-party recovery cost: $22,000. Downtime: 4 days. Donor database: partially unrecoverable.

The Result

After Scottship deployment: live recovery drill completed in 2 hours 47 minutes. Zero data loss on all critical systems. Written Recovery Certification delivered. Board approved revised cyber insurance policy with full DR documentation. $22,000 recovery cost: eliminated.

The Solution

3-2-1 architecture deployed across 3 offices: local NAS + Azure Blob immutable snapshots + weekly offsite rotation. 30-day immutability window. Full recovery runbook written and role-assigned. Live drill executed Week 9. Signed Recovery Certification delivered to board Week 10.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What Nonprofits Ask Before Starting a Backup & Disaster Recovery Assessment

What is the difference between data backup and disaster recovery for a nonprofit?
Data backup is the process of copying and storing your files so they can be restored if lost. Disaster recovery is the broader plan for how your nonprofit continues to operate when systems fail, including who does what, which systems get restored first, and how long that restoration should take. Most nonprofits have a backup solution but no tested recovery plan. Scottship Solutions builds both: the technical infrastructure and the operational runbook your team needs to actually use it.
A nonprofit disaster recovery plan starts with identifying your most critical systems and data, defining recovery time objectives for each, mapping the steps your team takes when those systems go down, and documenting who is responsible for each step. The plan is only as good as its last test. Scottship Solutions builds disaster recovery plans for nonprofits and conducts tabletop exercises with your team so staff know exactly what to do before a crisis occurs, not during one.
Nonprofits should test their recovery systems at least twice a year for critical data and annually for full system recovery scenarios. A backup that has never been restored is a backup you cannot rely on. Common testing approaches include restoration of a specific file set, database recovery to a test environment, and a full tabletop walkthrough of the disaster recovery plan. Scottship Solutions includes scheduled testing as part of every managed backup and recovery engagement.
The highest-priority data for nonprofit recovery planning includes donor and constituent records, grant documentation and financial records, program outcome data, board and compliance documents, and staff access credentials. Some of this data also carries regulatory obligations, particularly for organizations that handle healthcare or financial information. Scottship Solutions maps your data by criticality and recovery requirement before designing any backup architecture.
Immediately after a ransomware attack, nonprofits should isolate affected systems from the network, contact your IT provider or managed security partner, notify your cyber insurance carrier, and avoid paying any ransom demand before consulting with a recovery specialist. Having a tested backup and a documented incident response plan determines whether you recover in hours or weeks. Scottship Solutions provides incident response support and builds the pre-attack preparation that makes recovery manageable.

Fixed Price

One flat engagement fee. No hourly billing, no scope creep, no surprise invoices.

90-Day Delivery

Deployed, tested, and documented in 90 days — or we keep working at no additional cost.

Zero Vendor Fees

We earn nothing from storage providers or cloud vendors. Our recommendation is always based on your architecture and budget.

30-Day Support Included

Thirty days of post-deployment support with direct engineer access — included in every engagement.