Platform design & MVP development

Fundraising in the digital age.

Development of a fundraising platform for breakthrough solutions to pressing social and environmental issues

Rapid design and delivery

Successfully launched ahead of the deadline within 3 months of project kick-off.

International rollout

Multiple iterations since 2019, launching in new markets, incorporating improvements and added functionality.

Immediate impact

2,000+ philanthropic donations within the first months of launch; within days we collected millions in support of Ukraine’s emergency relief.

overview

what. we did for UBS Optimus foundation

We were approached by the UBS Innovation Lab to refine the platform’s concept, crafting the design and implementing it. We consulted the team to define the digital product development roadmap and realistic scope. Subsequently, we developed a digital platform to collect donations.

customer

Who is UBS Optimus foundation?

The Innovation Lab is part of UBS, the largest wealth management firm in the world. The Global Wealth Management Innovation Lab explores trends and developments in the wealth management space.

Wealth distribution – The UBS Optimus Foundation is a grant-making foundation that offers UBS clients a platform to use their wealth to drive positive social and environmental change.
Impact – The foundation supports causes related primarily to health, education, and child protective systems. They also tackle environmental degradation and climate change.
World class governance – The foundation is linked to a global wealth manager staffed with UBS’s philanthropic experts.

Challenges

Modern fundraising

The Optimus Foundation wanted to optimize their fundraising system, simplifying the user experience through modern digitalisation.

Speed to market

This was a time sensitive project initiated only 3-months before the scheduled launch of UBS’s Global Giving Campaign in 2019.

Product roadmap

The platform’s broad functionality presented challenges to a timely delivery. Success meant revisiting the project’s scope with stakeholders and buy-in, developing in iterations.

Goal

Our main target

Build UBS a digital platform capable of collecting donations for the various causes they feature

Summary

How we did it

what. delivered a web-based platform that listed UBS’s current causes, giving donors access to send funds. The platform supports the creation of new fundraisers, displays a feed, featuring donor activity, and continually updates projects to increase engagement.

We collected UBS’s requirements, defined the scope,and conceptualized each user’s journey. While we worked on implementing the MVP and design, Innovation Lab concentrated on UBS’s internal processes, ensuring the MVP development remained in compliance.

The MVP successfully launched on time, allowing people to donate to projects or start fundraisers visitors could promote to their friends. In the months preceding the launch over 2,000 donations were made, totalling more than CHF 500,000.

Insights and learnings were collected to further iterate and improve the platform. Based on these, and new ideas, we added additional capabilities and got the platform ready for a release in Switzerland and the US.

Since the public launch, we have ensured the reliable operation of the platform through our SLA, and have continuously evolved it by adding impact projects to the platform and adding Singapore to the supported countries.

testimonials

what. clients say

“We worked with what., because we appreciate a lean, tight-knit collaboration with a partner capable of improving the digital donor journey. They delivered rapidly, managing to navigate our corporate environment and keep all stakeholders involved.”

Martin Meyer

Head of the Global Wealth Management Innovation Lab