Reinventing philanthropy

Since 1973, the McGill University Health Centre Foundation has raised millions of dollars in donations to support the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). These donations help fund care and advance medical research.

In 2020, the Foundation launched its Dream Big Campaign, with the goal of raising $200- million before 2028. This ambitious objective needed a platform to match. The platform had to contribute directly to the campaign by reaching out to the cause’s supporters, patients and their families, and healthcare professionals. The client also wanted to improve every step of its conversion funnel, so we designed a site to help improve awareness, stimulate interest in the Foundation’s impact, increase the overall donor base and average donation amount, and maintain and grow the donor community.

To reach its goal of raising $200-million in charitable donations between 2020 and 2028, the McGill University Health Centre Foundation created a digital platform that takes a new approach to philanthropic campaigns.

Early in the project, we realized the big problem with donations: the perception that a small amount can’t make an impact, since it feels like a drop in the ocean. People are generally more compelled by things that are tangible and specific than those that are vague and generic. And when it comes to donating, people like to see exactly where their money is going.

A simple, efficient user experience helps us deliver on transparency through content, conversion funnel optimization and progress tracking.

Like crowdfunding platforms, donors can choose to support specific research projects instead of giving to the overall foundation. To that end, each project has a distinct page detailing information about the project, how MUHC plans to use the money and how it has been used so far.

To make conversion seamless, there are donation widgets on each project page. They are linked to the donation engine and automatically designate the money to the specific project users are viewing, making it clear that they can give specifically to that cause.

Since we wanted to make donations tangible, progress for each project can be tracked on each page in real time thanks to the connection to multiple APIs. Through a simple progress bar, users can follow the progress of projects as well as the $200-million overall goal.

This innovative, more transparent approach encourages greater commitment from donors and sets the Foundation apart from others. It helps donors develop a personal connection with projects and causes that they care about, and makes them feel like their donation is making more impact by dividing a big goal into smaller ones..