GREEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif., — After six years of partnership, Assuaged Foundation, a nationally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit led by a 100% service-connected disabled U.S. Marine Corps veteran and his caregiver wife, is warning small businesses, nonprofits, and veteran-led organizations about what it calls “a dangerous and exploitative pricing model” used by HubSpot, a globally dominant CRM and marketing software company.

In 2019, Assuaged received a 90% military discount to adopt HubSpot. Grateful for the opportunity, the nonprofit committed—investing over $100,000 in its first year with support from HubSpot platinum partner HubSnacks. Their website was selected for HubSpot’s DEMO Days, but COVID cancellations erased that opportunity. The investment left the nonprofit in post-pandemic debt, but the team pressed on to train marginalized college students in SEO, digital marketing, and public health content creation through a virtual internship program.

That promising start soon turned into a financial trap.

“We were unknowingly roped into tiered packages with features we didn’t use,” said Cynthia Cherise Murphy, co-founder of Assuaged. “We only needed the meeting scheduler from the Sales Hub—but had to pay for the full package. Every 1,000 CRM contacts cost us another $50 to $100.”
As HubSpot’s pricing and structure evolved, Assuaged’s dependency deepened. Despite using only a portion of the platform, they had to absorb rising costs. Even after negotiating a 75% nonprofit discount, they still spent $36,392.16 between 2019 and 2025. Without discounts, costs would have exceeded $150,000. HubSpot rejected downgrade requests and locked the nonprofit into two-year contracts.

“We paid $2,100 per quarter—often with personal and family funds,” Murphy said. “When we tried to leave, we were told we were bound by contract.”
By 2025, the site had over 50,000 monthly visitors and 1,300+ blogs—but the cost was unsustainable. Assuaged rebuilt on Shopify for $9/month using the same backend structure. The full rebuild cost only $300, reducing overhead by over 90% and restoring grant eligibility.

“We were denied grants—including from the Robert & Toni Bader Charitable Foundation—because our expenses were too high,” said Tamifer Lewis, Executive Board Member.
“I’ve never been impressed by HubSpot,” added Crystal Rylowicz, Executive Director of Practicums. “It’s costly, slow without custom coding, and constantly changing. I’ve learned more from Canva and LinkedIn Learning.”
Since 2017, Assuaged has supported over 1,000 students with remote mentorship, celebrity-led guidance, and job placement. Their program is endorsed by universities, government agencies, and industry leaders.

“Tech platforms claim to support nonprofits, but many trap you in overpriced, bloated systems,” Murphy warned. “Don’t mistake discounts for long-term support.”
Thane and Cynthia Murphy continue to fund the nonprofit while raising a young family. They recently welcomed their six-month-old baby niece, Skyla, from foster care—joining their 20-month-old daughter, Novalee Rose.