If you'd like really cheap web hosting, try http://nearlyfreespeech.net. Write something in PHP, and you can use a SQLite database for free (just put a high timeout on write locking) or a MySQL database for $0.01/day or something. They don't support FastCGI, so any other language would require starting up a new runtime for each web request, which is pretty much a non-starter if you can't afford $16/mo (which is the prepaid limit).

If you need money for a project to get kickstarted, try Kiva or Kickstarter.

On the plus site, if 5 of you can fit onto the EC2 small instance, it's only $6/mo, if you do a spot instance with a high maximum.