Small Drops
Bridging the generational gap in charitable giving in India
Timeline
6 weeks
Industry
Non-profit
Platform
Mobile application
Services
Content
The problem
Like many people I'd spoken to, I wanted to donate and make a real difference, but had no idea what was actually useful or how to create genuine impact. So I just... didn't donate at all.
This problem is part of a larger global crisis in charitable giving where potential donors are stuck in analysis paralysis—wanting to help but lacking the tools, transparency, and guidance to feel confident their contributions will create meaningful change.
The solution
A mobile platform that makes charitable giving as intuitive as scrolling on social media, while providing the transparency and impact tracking that donors desperately need.
Small drops connects younger, socially-conscious individuals with verified charitable organizations through personalized discovery, bite-sized impact updates, and seamless donation experiences.
My initial hypothesis: People like me want a platform where they can track their charitable impact in tangible ways. If I solve the 'what happens after I donate?' question, I can unlock an audience of potential donors who are currently blocked by uncertainty.
Understanding the landscape
Before diving into user research, I analyzed charitable platforms both in India and internationally to understand how they approached donor engagement:
Transparency-focused platforms (like Charity Navigator) create trust but miss the emotional storytelling that creates real connection.
Well-executed apps (like ShareTheMeal) keep users engaged but are narrowly focused on only one type of cause e.g. hunger.
Most platforms prioritize individual fundraisers over established non-profits, creating trust and legitimacy concerns.
There is a clear opportunity for a solution that provides wide reach across causes, balances engaging storytelling with organizational trust, and streamlines the entire giving experience from discovery to impact tracking.
Success requires bridging three worlds: organizational legitimacy, emotional storytelling, and broad cause coverage. No platform has all three.
The AHA moment
I interviewed 9 participants - 6 donors and 3 non-profits - to understand both sides of charitable giving. After interviewing my first participant over 40, a pattern emerged that changed everything. I immediately pivoted my research strategy, intentionally seeking out additional older donors for comparison.
Older donors (40+)
Prefer long-term, structured philanthropy
Foster personal connections, in-person visits
Want formal impact reports and documents
Use traditional donation methods (cash, in-kind)
Younger donors (18-40)
Emotionally-led, discover causes through social media
Time-constrained but more trusting
Want bite-sized visual updates
Need seamless digital donation methods
Till now, non-profits had built their entire engagement strategy around older donors, creating a fundamental misalignment with younger donors' expectations. It wasn’t just about tracking impact - younger donors didn't even know where to start. They didn't know what causes to donate to, how to evaluate organizations, or even how to begin.
My new hypothesis: The charitable giving "problem" might actually be a generational design problem— built for one generation's preferences while inadvertently missing another's entirely.
Reframing the problem
The research revealed my true target: tech-savvy, socially-conscious individuals aged 18-40 who wanted to make meaningful charitable contributions but lacked time for extensive research.
How might we connect younger, socially conscious individuals with causes they value while satisfying their needs for trust, meaningful impact, and efficiency?
Design Directions Born from Insight
Four core principles emerged directly from the research to guide the development of the core features:
Users were emotionally-driven to donate but had no consistent way of finding organisations.
Personalized discovery of non-profits based on causes (e.g. hunger, education, animals etc.)
Younger donors were often short on time to do thorough research on organisations.
Simple tier-based verification system that immediately indicates organisation legitimacy
Users wanted to see the human impact of their donations through visual storytelling.
Bite-sized, visual impact updates that resemble a social media feed
Users wanted to be able to make their donations seamlessly and digitally.
Digital donation portal with multiple payment options + dashboard to track impact over time
With the core features defined, I mapped out user flows to understand how younger donors would move through the discovery, evaluation, and donation process. The flows themselves seemed simple, but the complexity was hidden.
How do you personalize discovery without overwhelming users with choice?
How do you communicate organizational verification in a digestible way that builds trust?
How do you deliver impact information that builds trust while remaining engaging?
I then translated these flows into lo-fi sketches, exploring different ways to balance discovery, verification, and impact tracking.
Each feature directly addresses a specific barrier that keeps younger donors from giving—from discovery paralysis to trust concerns to impact uncertainty.
Finding the brand's voice
The name came from the timeless saying "small drops of water make the mighty ocean." The logo depicts an abstract drop extending into a line representing the ocean, flowing beyond the circular frame to symbolize how small contributions create infinite collective impact.
Drop-like symbol
Extends beyond the frame
Resembles an 's'
My initial instinct was to pursue a hand-drawn, pastel approach to communicate warmth and emotional connection. But as I progressed, the design felt too 'cutesy' to communicate the trust and legitimacy users needed when making financial decisions. The final design evolved to balance approachability with credibility.
Visual design choices needed to go beyond aesthetics and serve functional requirements, especially in a product where money is involved.
Validating (and iterating) the solution
Testing with 5 users aged 18-40 provided strong validation. They immediately identified Small Drops as a unique market solution that made discovering and donating to non-profits seamless. The tiered verification system and bite-sized updates enhanced platform legitimacy, while the dashboard and impact tracking motivated continued giving.
However, there were a few iterations that needed to be made to enhance emotional connection, discovery, and comprehension of the features.
1.
Organisation profiles felt formal and impersonal, missing the emotional connection users needed to engage fully.
BEFORE
AFTER
Included video content of the organisation's activities
Added founder information to give a human face to the organisation
Added donor testimonials for social proof and human connection.
2.
Users wanted the option to support causes in specific regions but could only filter by cause, limiting their ability to find organisations in their areas of interest.
BEFORE
AFTER
Included location information in organisation previews
Added location filtering to the general search page for those who prioritised regional search over cause search
Added location filters WITHIN causes to enable more granular discovery
3.
The difference between ‘General Updates’ and ‘Milestone Updates’ wasn't clear to users, causing confusion when browsing organisation activities.
BEFORE
AFTER
Redefined 'General Updates' to ‘Organisation Updates’ - covering internal developments like partnerships and team changes
Changed Milestone Updates to ‘Impact Stories’ - showing direct impact of donations received
4.
Users assumed donations to an organisation automatically went towards its active fundraisers, not realising these were separate donation opportunities.
BEFORE
AFTER
Added a step to the donation process that presents both options—specific fundraisers and general organisational support—making it clear these are separate opportunities
Outlined what 'organisation support' entails to create transparency
Added a caveat to specify the importance of both types of donations
Users needed both emotional connection AND practical control—they wanted to feel moved by causes while maintaining agency over where and how their donations were directed.
Addressing the market gap
Small Drops successfully bridged the identified gap by:
Combining rigorous transparency with compelling storytelling
Offering broad cause coverage without creating overwhelming choice
Using modern engagement methods that resonate with younger donors
DISCOVER
DONATE
UPDATE
TRACK
3 things I took away
1.
Research across different age groups can be crucial
What initially seemed like a broad charitable giving problem revealed itself to be a specific generational disconnect. Without testing the age hypothesis, I would have created a solution that tried to serve everyone but satisfied no one.
2.
Design evolution is necessary:
My original hand-drawn, pastel approach aimed for warmth but undermined the trust users might need for financial contributions. Aesthetic choices should serve functional requirements, not just general design preferences.
3.
Trust requires both transparency and emotion
While I initially focused heavily on legitimacy through verification systems, testing showed users also needed human connection. Adding founder stories and testimonials proved that trust-building requires both credible information and emotional engagement.