Stable donation tracking for controlled, data-accurate reporting

GetDevDone stabilized a nonprofit donation system on WordPress & GiveWP for Culture & Animals Foundation (CAF), resolved plugin conflicts and tracking gaps, and restored accurate reporting in 5 weeks without rebuilding or disrupting live donations.  

The Culture & Animals Foundation (CAF) is a US-based nonprofit organization with a 40+ year history. They provide annual grants to scholars and artists. CAF aims to appeal to individual intellect, creativity, and compassion, and build a deeper understanding of human-animal relationships and a greater respect for animal rights. 

Business challenge

As a grantmaking organization, CAF relies on its website as a core operational tool for managing donations and communicating with stakeholders. Over time, the platform became difficult to maintain, which led to:

• Unstable update cycle: Routine updates to the theme and plugins introduced new issues, making even minor changes unpredictable and time-consuming.
• Lack of system coherence: Different parts of the donation flow behaved inconsistently, creating gaps between user actions and how data was recorded and surfaced.
• Operational inefficiency: The team relied on manual checks and workarounds to maintain accuracy, increasing internal workload and reducing confidence in the system.
• Mobile experience misalignment: The donation flow didn’t reflect how users interact on mobile devices, increasing friction at critical conversion points.

CAF needed a partner who could translate technical gaps into fundraising and mission outcomes. GetDevDone surfaced the underlying issues through an accessibility-focused audit and closed them decisively.

Solution delivered

Instead of rebuilding the platform from scratch, GetDevDone focused on restoring control over the existing system. The work followed a phased rollout, with system stability and data integrity addressed first. A dedicated staging environment was introduced to test core updates across the theme, plugins, and PHP version without disrupting live donation flows.

Once the platform was stabilized, the focus shifted to usability. A selective UI update modernized key user flows while preserving cost efficiency.

In 5 weeks, the GetDevDone team delivered:

• System stabilization and foundation reset. Ensured predictable updates and long-term maintainability across the platform.
• Reliable donation tracking and flow consistency.Resolved GiveWP issues and eliminated data inconsistencies across donation flows.
• Improved accessibility and cross-device usability.Reworked layouts and responsiveness to support a consistent donation experience across devices.
• Targeted UI modernization. Updated key interface elements and replaced outdated theme logic to improve visual consistency.
• Scalable design system. Delivered a UI kit to support ongoing improvements without full redesign cycles.

Technologies & tools

• WordPress: core CMS for managing content and donation flows within a unified platform
• GiveWP: donation management, payment processing, and tracking across multiple giving scenarios
• Custom plugin configuration: conflict resolution and consistent data handling across donation flows
• HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript: frontend structure, responsive layouts, and accessible interaction patterns

Business outcomes

The website redesign and technical stabilization had a direct impact on Culture & Animals Foundation’s ability to fulfill its mission and engage with its community of donors, scholars, and artists.

Reduced risk of lost or misreported donations
Minimizing plugin conflicts and stabilizing the platform allowed for consistent donation flows, so that all contributions are accurately captured and reported.

Increased confidence in donation data and reporting
Consistent tracking and standardized donation logic improved transparency for internal teams, board members, and external partners.

Lower operational overhead
Simplified content management and donation tracking reduced the need for manual checks and reconciliation, freeing up time for fundraising and program activities.

Improved conversion across devices
An intuitive, mobile-friendly donation experience reduced friction at critical points in the user journey and supported higher completion rates.

Faster and safer platform updates
The introduction of staging and a governed release process helped the team to roll out changes without risking live production flows.