all these comments are all like saying "i think it would be better if electricity conducted faster through plastic than copper" - regardless of your reasoning of where is the "better" place to start, the reality is if you spend time talking to non-technical folks they don't give a hoot about servers and databases, they get excited about the possibility of just building something. after they've built something simple, and overcome the hump of seeing all of this as magic, they are ready to dig into everything else.

spend time talking to your customers before prescribing solutions to their ills - it applies to startups as well as social good projects.