Executive Summary
ROLE
UX/UI Designer
TIMELINE
7 months
TEAM
3
skills
Systems Thinking
what this was
UX/UI designer on a 4-month engagement to modernize iDonate's fundraising platform, a SaaS product used by hundreds of nonprofits to run their donor campaigns. Redesigned the giving form, which accounts for over 90% of business and is used by 71% of users. I identified, pitched, and designed a new text-to-give feature, an addition that opened a new revenue stream for the client.
what changed
88% usability score on the end-to-end prototype
100% task success rate on the redesigned giving form
91% of users would recommend the new experience
New revenue driving feature pitched by design—Text-to-give feature introduced a new donation method.
CONTEXT
Non-profits have historically lagged behind their for-profit counterparts when it comes to digital fundraising
iDonate already had a platform. We weren't rebuilding it from scratch. We were identifying the gaps that were costing their clients donations and building features that could fill those gaps—ultimately finding ways to drive business value while modernizing the platform.
the problem
Modern competitors were stealing their clients and donors.
iDonate's platform was functional but dated. Competitors were modernizing and clients were noticing. The goal was to rebuild the experience from the ground up — updated visual identity, new features, and a platform that actually felt like it belonged in the same decade as the people using it. Clients with non-profit organizations and churches needed the site that they sent potential donors to, to feel inviting. If users felt like they entered a portal to the early 2000s, they'd be less likely to input any credit card information—thus lowering donations.
our solution
Every feature was designed to give organizations more control over how they raised money — and make it easier for donors to actually give it.
The redesign wasn't about making iDonate look better. It was about identifying the specific places where the platform was losing donations — forms that felt generic, dashboards that were hard to read, and a single path to giving that didn't account for how people actually donate. Each feature addressed one of those gaps directly.
"
I love that it's less clicking to get to what I need. In the current platform I sometimes click through many menus to get to completion. Much cleaner than the current platform.
— A current user during moderated user interviews
Outcomes
+ Increase in mobile donations
By optimizing the donation forms for mobile, iDonate saw an uptick in the amount of overall mobile donations.
Recommended by 91% of users
91% of users would recommend iDonate's new experience
88% usability score
88% usability score on the end-to-end prototype
the donation form
A customizable giving form that organizations could make their own.
The giving form drives over 90% of iDonate's business. The old version was generic by design — one form, one look, for every organization. The redesign gave fundraisers a full element library to build with: images, video, goal meters, interactive polls, custom fields, and more. Organizations that wanted full control had it. Those that didn't could start from a template. Either way, the form felt like it belonged to them — not to the platform.
DASHBOARD
A centralized view of every campaign, built to be read at a glance.rganizations could make their own.
The rebuilt dashboard gave organizations a clear picture of everything happening across their campaigns — how many were active, how close each one was to its goal, and how donations were being distributed across channels. The donut chart breakdown made it immediately clear which giving methods were performing and which weren't, without having to dig into individual reports.
Revised Dashboard
goal meters
Turning a number into something donors could visualize.
Before, progress toward a fundraising goal was displayed as a number. That works, but it doesn't move people. Goal meters gave organizations a visual, configurable way to show donors exactly how close they were to the finish line — attached directly to the giving form, where it could do the most work. Visual style, goal amount, and end date were all adjustable, so it fit the campaign rather than the other way around.
Added ability to include visual graphs of progress toward goal on the donation form.
text to give
Removing the barrier between the moment someone wants to give and the moment they actually do.
The platform's only donation path required logging into a portal — a significant ask for someone ready to give in the moment. Having seen text-based giving work in church settings, the feature was identified, pitched, and designed to bring that same low-friction model to iDonate's clients. First-time donors complete a quick setup through a link. Every donation after that is a single text.
Implementing text command controls that initiate the donation.
Giving organizations control of the auto-responder messages that send to a donor.
reflections
What I learned
Don't force autonomy onto everyone.
We had many organizations wanting autonomy and customization. But, we also had several that didn't feel comfortable with the increased level of customization. In order to prioritize the needs of both, we had to keep the redesign feeling authentic to the brand and not force customization by providing templates for non-power users.
Design systems make or break your efficiency.
We invested heavily in building a solid design system early on, and it paid off throughout the entire project. Because the components, patterns, and styles were all established and scalable, we could move from concept to solution quickly without sacrificing quality. The client consistently praised our speed to delivery.
