Why I want to design websites for charities
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I had a very privileged lockdown in my flat in Southern France. But every night when I clapped for health professionals from my balcony, I couldn’t help but question my own contribution to society. I don’t mean to be melodramatic about it, but honestly, it wasn’t much.
I always thought someday I’d work in the humanitarian sector. But when I’d be older, stronger and more mature. A bit like when you don’t feel like having children because you don’t know enough about life. But with this pandemic, I realised there was no time to waste to support the causes I believe in. And chances are when I reach 50 years old, I’ll be exhausted.
Choosing organisations to support
First, I looked for organisations to support. This is no heroic move, you can get tax relief matching up to 75% of your donation. And since you’re going to pay taxes anyway, why not decide where this money is going?
One of the things I care most about is access to education. So I decided to sponsor a student in Cambodia via Happy Chandara and another one in Ethiopia via Un Enfant Par La Main.
One could argue there is misery in France and that I didn’t need to go that far to find people to help. Travelling has trained my mind to focus on faraway lands over my own neighbourhood. But the social system we have in France, however limited and imperfect it may be, is simply non-existent in the countries I chose.
The UX challenges charities are facing
I’m not sure I decided to give money to the organisations who most needed it. But on some websites, I faced some obstacles that I couldn’t be bothered to overcome. I chose simplicity, safety and clarity instead.
The charities I decided not to donate money to all shared the same issues:
- The homepage featured blog articles from years ago, at best. That made me question whether the organisation was still active at all.
- They didn’t explain how my donation was going to be used. As a potential donor, I want to know how you’re going to spend my money. Is it a mosquito net? School books? Food? If that is more complicated than this, can you educate me on this?
