Case study · Non-profit
Volunteers scheduled, donations flowing
Charities rely on volunteers and donors, but often manage both with forms, spreadsheets and third-party pages. This is how we built a platform where volunteers sign up and book shifts and supporters give online, with everything connected to the CRM.
Project overview
Volunteering and giving in one platform.
- Industry
- Non-profit
- Client
- Confidential
- Solution
- Volunteer and donation platform
- Platform
- Web
- Timeline
- 12–18 weeks
- Team
- 5 people
- Payments
- One-off and regular giving
- Integration
- CRM
- Accessibility
- WCAG 2.2 AA
Expected business outcomes
What the client set out to achieve
Admin time and supporter engagement are the measures.
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40–60%
Less volunteer admin
Volunteers sign up, complete checks and book shifts themselves.
Target range for coordinators
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Owned
Supporter data
Donations and volunteering recorded in the charity's own CRM.
Instead of third-party platforms
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Easier
Regular giving
Supporters manage their own giving online.
Where regular giving is offered
Business challenges
Where the client started
Good causes, fragmented tools.
Volunteers
Sign-up forms and email chains.
Shifts
Rotas in spreadsheets.
Donations
Third-party giving pages that keep the data.
Supporters
No single account for volunteers and donors.
Coordinators
Hours spent on admin instead of people.
Proposed solution
What the platform covers
One account for everyone who supports the charity.
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Volunteer sign-up
Applications, checks and onboarding online.
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Shift booking
Opportunities and shifts booked by volunteers.
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Online giving
One-off and regular donations with tax declarations.
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Supporter accounts
One account for volunteering and giving history.
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CRM integration
All activity recorded in the charity's CRM.
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Impact reporting
Volunteer hours and donations by programme.
Project requirements
What the client asked us for
The request was to reduce admin. The design gives every supporter one account and keeps data in the charity's own CRM.
Accessibility is essential, because supporters include people of all ages and abilities.
What the project had to deliver
- 01Self-service volunteering
- 02Online giving
- 03One supporter account
- 04Data owned by the charity
Key challenges & considerations
What made it harder, and what we did
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Background checks for some roles
What we did
Background check status was tracked per role, and unchecked volunteers could not be scheduled.
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Tax declaration rules
What we did
Tax declarations were captured at donation, in line with the rules.
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Volunteers with limited digital confidence
What we did
The design was tested for accessibility with real volunteers.
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Small internal teams
What we did
Content and rotas were editable by staff without a developer.
What we watched for
- Keep the charity's data in its own CRM
- Design for accessibility
- Automate volunteer admin first
- Keep content editable by staff
Development process
Volunteers first, then giving
Each release removes a manual process.
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Discovery
Volunteer and donor journeys mapped.
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Volunteering
Sign-up and shifts launched.
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Giving
Donations and regular giving added.
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CRM
Integration and reporting completed.
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Handover
Staff trained to manage opportunities and content.
Technology stack
Accessible web platform
Simple, inclusive and connected.
Front end
- React or Next.js
- TypeScript
- Accessible design system
Back end
- Node.js or .NET
- PostgreSQL or SQL Server
- REST / GraphQL APIs
Cloud
- Azure or AWS
- Managed databases
- CDN
Quality
- Automated tests
- CI/CD
- Monitoring and alerts
Quality assurance & deployment
Tested every sprint, released without drama
Testing ran alongside the build, not after it. Every feature was checked against its acceptance criteria in the sprint it was built in, and releases went through an automated pipeline.
- Automated unit and API tests, run on every change
- Code review by a second engineer before anything was merged
- Feature testing against written acceptance criteria
- Cross-browser and responsive checks on the agreed devices
- Security checks on access, sessions and data handling
Deployment
- 01CRMIntegration and reporting completed.
- 02HandoverStaff trained to manage opportunities and content.
- 03Automated release pipelineThe same build moved from staging to production, with a tested rollback.
- 04Monitoring and warrantyError and uptime monitoring from day one, and six months of free bug fixing.
Final deliverables
More time for people, less for paperwork
Volunteers sign up and book shifts themselves, supporters give online and manage their giving, and everything is recorded in the charity's CRM.
Coordinators spend their time with volunteers instead of spreadsheets.
- Volunteer self-service
- Online giving
- Unified supporter accounts
- Impact reporting
Handed over to the client
- 01Production applicationDeployed and monitored
- 02Source codeIn a repository the client can access
- 03Technical documentationArchitecture, setup and deployment
- 04Test suite and pipelineSo later changes stay safe
- 05Six-month warrantyFree bug fixing after delivery
Success metrics
How success is measured
| Measure | Outcome | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|
| Less volunteer admin | 40–60% | Target range for coordinators |
| Supporter data | Owned | Instead of third-party platforms |
| Regular giving | Easier | Where regular giving is offered |
Verified reviews
What clients say about our web development work
Verified reviews from our clients on the same kind of work, published on Clutch.
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Web Development
Custom Web Development for a Software Solutions Company
We can rely on them to handle almost any task with confidence, as they consistently deliver good results.
Casper Hougaard Jensen
CEO & Co-Founder, Iterator IT Jul 2021 – Sep 2022
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Web Development
Web & Mobile App Development for a Software Development Company
They efficiently organized tasks and deliverables while promptly addressing questions.
Damien Retzinger
Founder, Graycore Jun 2021 – Feb 2023
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Web Development
Website Development for a Software Engineering Company
They have a broad understanding of different technologies.
Eugene Bosikov CEO, Ezibeline LLC Mar 2022 – Ongoing Verified review on Clutch (Eugene Bosikov, opens in a new tab)
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