Helping more children get sponsored

Web experience   .   Lead Designer   .   Wordpress (CMS)   .    Figma   .   July – Aug 2021

Client

ERDO (Emergency Relief Development Overseas)

Sumary

Improving the child sponsorship experience and checkout flow

Results

130+ children sponsored in the first few months after launch

Overview

ERDO provides critical support to children in crisis through global aid efforts and a child sponsorship program. The existing sponsorship experience created friction for donors and lacked clarity at key steps in the journey.

Collaborating with the PM, developers, and business analysts, I helped redesign the end-to-end sponsorship experience—improving clarity, reducing friction, and strengthening storytelling throughout.

My Role

    • Contributed to end-to-end redesign (journey + checkout)

    • Designed most screens for the sponsorship experience and checkout flow
    • Created user flows and journey mapping to guide implementation

    • Aligned with PM, developers, and BAs to align on requirements and feasibility

Key Challenges

1. Cluttered Navigation

Donors struggled to find a clear path to sponsor a child due to an overcomplicated submenu structure.

2. Lack of Progress Feedback

Donors had no visibility into where they were in the process, leading to confusion and drop-offs.

3. Backend Integration Limitations

The existing system required donors to call to manage sponsorships, creating internal challenges and limits to manage donor data efficiently.

Before the redesign

Auditing the existing experience revealed friction points and opportunities for improvement:

Step 1: Entry point & Navigation

Pain point

Long submenus under “Child Sponsorship” made it difficult for donors to find clear path forward.

Opportunity

Simplify navigation and create a clear, dedicated entry point for child sponsorship.

Step 2: Sponsor a child section

Pain point

Limited context makes it hard for donors to build an emotional connection.

Opportunity

Introduce an engaging layout that highlights the child’s story and guides donors toward action.

Step 3: Checkout & payment

Pain point

Disorganized page layouts and unclear steps increased confusion and drop-offs.

Opportunity

Clarify the step-by-step flow and streamline the layout to reduce friction through checkout.

Addressing Backend Constraints

Behind the scenes, the exisiting system made donor management and reporting harder than it needed to be. Integrating Raiser’s Edge NXT (RENXT) helped support automation and improve data tracking—and influenced how we designed the sponsorship flow and backend handoff.

Rethinking the Journey

To make sure the redesign worked for different donor needs, I mapped key scenarios for first-time and returning donors.

Why it mattered:

  • Highlighted friction points and gaps in the experience
  • Informed a clearer, more engaging donor flow
  • Balanced donor needs with technical feasibility and business requirements

Bringing Vision to Life

I translated project goals and journey mapping into wireframes and high-fidelity designs—ensuring the sponsorship flow was clear for donors and feasible to build within backend constraints.

Key design decisions included:

  • A focused navigation path that prioritized child sponsorship
  • Context-rich layouts that highlight each child’s story and impact
  • Clear progress indicators to reduce uncertainty and drop-offs
  • A streamlined checkout flow that aligned with backend capabilities

Cart Page

A clear sponsorship summary that helps donor review, adjust, and proceed with confidence.

Checkout

Structured, guided forms that reduce cognitive load while capturing required backend data.

Confirmation

A clear confirmation that reinforces impact and provides next steps, building donor trust.

Impact of design

Since launch, 230+ children have been sponsored—with continued growth over time. The redesigned experience reduced friction across the sponsorship journey, improved clarity at checkout, and supported smoother donor data management for the internal team.

Visit Live Site

Lessons learned

  • Collaboration drives better outcomes 
Working closely with developers, PMs, and analysts highlighted how design intersects with every aspect of the product. Early communication helped save time and build trust.
  • Designing with emotion matters 
In nonprofit experiences, storytelling and empathetic visuals help donors connect and act.
  • Transparency builds trust 
Honest messaging about where donations go increased donor confidence and engagement.
  • Tech fluency strengthens design
Familiarity with backend systems and constraints allowed me to design solutions that were both feasible and impactful.