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.
THE 5-MINUTE VERSION
DISCOVERING THE WHO, WHAT, WHY
Understanding the landscape
Transparency-focused platforms
e.g. Charity Navigator
✓✓ Trust and verification
✓✓ Broad cause coverage
✗✗ Emotional storytelling
✗✗ Engaging user experience
Engagement-focused platforms
e.g. Share The Meal
✓ Trust and verification
✗✗ Broad cause coverage
✓ Emotional storytelling
✓✓ Engaging user experience
Individual fundraiser platforms
e.g. Ketto, GoFundMe
✗✗ Trust and verification
✓✓ Broad cause coverage
✓✓ Emotional storytelling
✗ Engaging user experience
THE OPPORTUNITY
A solution that bridges these three worlds: emotional storytelling, broad cause coverage, and organizational legitimacy—no platform does 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.
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.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
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.
I usually find stuff to donate to on social media…i have to feel emotionally connected to it
Social
Tech-savvy
Empathetic
Efficient
Decisive
Wants quick, bite sized information on the impact of their donations
How do i find donation opportunities
easily?
Doesn't have time to research and verify organisations
Likes donating digitally
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
IDEATING THE SOLUTION
Design directions born from insight
Four core themes emerged directly from the research to guide the development of the core features:
1.
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.)
2.
Younger donors were often short on time to do thorough research on organisations.
Simple tier-based verification system that immediately indicates organisation legitimacy
3.
Users wanted to see the human impact of their donations through visual storytelling.
Bite-sized, visual impact updates that resemble a social media feed
4.
Users wanted to be able to make their donations seamlessly and digitally.
+
Dashboard to track impact over time
Digital donation portal with multiple payment options
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 in navigating questions like:
THE IDEATING PROCESS
DESIGNING THE EXPERIENCE
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.
Too cutesy/pretty? Is it strong enough to cause people to want to donate their money?
Feels more impactful and legitimate - balances warmth with credibility.
Extends beyond the frame
Drop-like symbol
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.
DECISIONS AROUND DESIGN
TESTING AND ITERATING
Evaluating (and iterating) the solution
Testing with 5 users aged 18-40 provided strong validation for both the concept and usability of the platform.
Therefore, the parts of the application that needed work were not around usability or navigability, but rather how to enhance emotional connection, discovery, and comprehension of some of the features.
1.
Organisation profiles felt formal and impersonal, missing the emotional connection users needed to engage fully.
Donor testimonials
C
A
Added founder information to give a human face to the organisation
B
Included video content of the organisation's activities
C
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.
A
Added location filtering to the general search page for those who prioritised regional search over cause search
B
Included location information in organisation previews
C
Added location filters WITHIN causes to enable more granular discovery
A
Regional filters
on 'Discover' page
3.
The difference between ‘General Updates’ and ‘Milestone Updates’ wasn't clear to users, causing confusion when browsing organisation activities.
A
Redefined 'General Updates' to ‘Organisation Updates’ - covering internal developments like partnerships and team changes
B
Changed 'Milestone Updates' to ‘Impact Stories’ - showing direct impact of donations received
A
B
Example 'Impact
Stories' post
Example 'Organisation
Updates' post
4.
Users assumed donations to an organisation automatically went towards its active fundraisers, not realising these were separate donation opportunities.
A
Added a step to the donation process that presents both options—specific fundraisers and general organisational support—making it clear these are separate opportunities
B
Outlined what 'organisation support' entails to create transparency
C
Added a caveat to specify the importance of both types of donations
Active fundraisers on organisation profile page
WHAT TESTING SAID
REFLECTING ON THE PROCESS
Addressing the market gap
Based on the feedback provided, users see Small Drops as a platform that bridges the gap by:
1.
Offering broad cause coverage without being overwhelming
2.
Combining rigorous transparency with compelling storytelling
3.
Using modern engagement methods that work for younger donors
Final thoughts
This project pushed me in ways I didn't expect. Here's are three key things that stuck with me:
Research across different age groups can be crucial
Aesthetic choices should serve functional requirements
Trust requires transparency and emotion
The biggest thing I'd change? Being more intentional about my design direction from the start. I didn't fully consider how crucial the visual design would be for this type of product, which left me quite lost during the design phase and required significant changes later on. I'd also test the final product with non-profits themselves to validate whether the kind of commitment this platform requires is actually feasible for them to maintain. Most importantly, I'd involve people who don't donate at all to test whether Small Drops could actually convert non-donors rather than just improve the experience for people already inclined to donate.
