The story behind Big Nest

I’m Ben Downey, a parent who needed better tools for my own kids’ school. Big Nest started as a simple way to help parent–teacher groups get more done without the overwhelm.

Back in 2019, our PTG was paying $600/year for a clunky WordPress site. Despite the price tag, it didn’t fit oru parent–teacher group actually operated.

I realized that parent groups aren’t traditional organizations. No one signs up to run a nonprofit — they sign up to make their community better. But most tools assume volunteers have hours to learn new systems every year, whether it’s WordPress, Mailchimp, or fundraising software.

So I built Big Nest to make things easy for everyone involved — parent leaders, volunteers, teachers, and families — using sensible defaults and proven approaches from other schools.

My own kids have benefited from a strong parent group, and I love helping other schools see the same rewards: more support for teachers, less burnout for volunteers, and better experiences for students.