How We Built a Charity Donation Platform in 8 Weeks

When As-Subah Outreach came to us, they had a problem that's common among UK charities: generous donors, zero online infrastructure. Every donation came through bank transfers or in-person collection. Recurring giving was tracked in spreadsheets. There was no way for supporters to create fundraiser campaigns.

They needed a full donation platform — and they needed it fast. Here's how we built it.

The Challenge

As-Subah Outreach (charity reg 1180159) operates across 5 countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Gambia, and Palestine. They run food distribution, water well projects, education programmes, and livelihood support under a 100% donation policy.

Their digital infrastructure didn't match their ambition:

• No online donation system — all giving via bank transfer or in person
• No way for supporters to create and share fundraiser campaigns
• Admin team had zero visibility into donation data
• Recurring giving (monthly Sadaqah, Zakat) tracked manually in spreadsheets
• No automated receipts or donor communication
• Mobile experience was poor — most donors browse on phones

Our Approach

We didn't just build a website — we built the operational backbone of a charity. Every feature was designed around one question: does this make it easier for someone to give?

The Tech Stack

• Frontend: React 18 + Vite + TypeScript + Tailwind CSS + shadcn/ui
• Backend: Express + TypeScript + MongoDB
• Payments: Stripe (cards, Google Pay, subscriptions) + PayPal
• Deployment: Vercel (frontend) + Railway (backend)

Week-by-Week Breakdown

Weeks 1-2: Foundation Set up the monorepo, database schema, authentication system (dual auth for donors and admin), and Stripe integration. By end of week 2, we could process a test donation end-to-end.

Weeks 3-4: Fundraiser System Built the fundraiser campaign creation flow. Any registered user can create a campaign that auto-publishes with its own page, progress bar, donor count, and shareable link. Milestone emails fire at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%.

Weeks 5-6: Admin Dashboard Full campaign management dashboard — track donations by campaign, view donor lists, export reports, manage active campaigns. Real-time stats: total raised, donor count, average donation, recurring vs one-off breakdown.

Weeks 7-8: Polish & Launch Mobile optimisation, email templates (receipts, welcome emails, campaign updates), load testing, and deployment. We launched on a Thursday and the first donation came through 4 hours later.

What We Built

Payment Infrastructure

Full Stripe integration — card payments, Google Pay, and recurring subscriptions. PayPal as a second gateway. Webhook handlers process every transaction in real-time and update donor records, campaign totals, and admin dashboards instantly.

Fundraiser Campaign System

Campaign creation with auto-publish, progress bars, shareable links, milestone emails, and weekly digests. The admin gets notified of every new campaign.

Admin Dashboard

Role-based access with donor vs admin portals. Real-time donation tracking, campaign management, donor lists, and CSV exports.

Donor Experience

Clean, mobile-first donation flow. Choose a cause, pick an amount, pay with Stripe or PayPal, get an instant receipt. The whole flow takes under 60 seconds.

Results

The platform went live and immediately changed how As-Subah operates:

• Online donation system live and processing gifts 24/7
• Fundraiser campaigns active with supporters sharing links
• Stripe + PayPal both processing successfully
• Admin dashboard giving the team real-time visibility for the first time
• Recurring giving now automated — no more spreadsheets

Lessons Learned

1. Start with the payment flow. Everything else is secondary to "can someone give money?"
2. Dual auth is worth the complexity. Donors and admins have very different needs.
3. Milestone emails drive engagement. Fundraiser creators stay motivated when they see progress.
4. Mobile is everything. 78% of donors in this demographic browse on phones.

Want Something Similar?

Whether it's a charity platform, a membership site, or a custom web application — we build full-stack products that work. Get in touch and tell us what you need.