Help needed in configuring a social network system for an NGO

Hello,

A professional advice + some work is needed for a non-profit organisation.

We are a new charitable organisation that works with children and adults who suffer from medical condition called spinal muscular atrophy. We want to set up a "patient network" so that patients and their families can discuss their experiences, share advice, etc.

It has to be mainly a discussion forum, so the Facebook is way too complex and has very poor privacy features.

We don't want to go for the traditional forum design (phpBB, VanillaForum, etc.) because these days a Facebook Wall type forum layout is easier, more ergonomic and more engaging. Ideally, we would like to have something resembling this demo: http://buzzflight.socialengine.com (only, the left sidebar should contain subforum titles, and one of the subforums has to be invitation only. "Profile" features should be reduced to the minimum but basic chat functionality would be great.

I don't know whether SocialEngine would be better here or perhaps phpFox. We have installed both (SE 4.6 and phpFox 3.7.0). phpFox seems to me like a nightmare as regards layout configuration, but I saw an "Advanced Forums" plugin that might perhaps do the job. Also, we have a shared hosting, albeit rather fast and reliable. We don't ever expect more than 100 users logged in at the same time.

If anyone would be willing to:

1. Advise what software should be used (SE? phpFox? Which plugins and templates?)
2. Provide and and/or install any necessary add-ons or layout templates
3. Devote an hour or two to fine-tune the layout
4. Perhaps optimise the site, add any speed-up code, security plugins, etc. (I have no idea what else might be needed).

We currently have very limited resources so if that can be done pro publico bono, then fantastic, we can post our thanks on our website. Otherwise, I can offer a small payment.

Thanks for any advice.

Kacper
SMA Foundation (Poland)

Выше я решил написать по-английски, конечно мы тоже говорим по-русски.

СМА Фонд (Польша)