The Project Outline
They needed a custom software solution to streamline their volunteering application process. They sought to transform their volunteering pipelines, previously managed through spreadsheets, into an efficient and automated system.
The Tech We Used
The technical infrastructure integrates several leading technologies to create a dynamic and scalable web solution. The application is hosted on AWS, utilising EC2 instances for scalable compute capacity and SES for reliable emailing services. The back end was built with Laravel, a popular PHP framework that powers the API and all backend tasks, providing efficient and secure server-side operations. The front end was developed using Next.js, a React-based framework known for its server-side rendering and excellent performance, generating a responsive and dynamic user interface. Nginx was configured to support dynamic subdomain hosting for managing multiple corporate portals. This allows administrators to create new corporate entities and specify unique subdomains for each, which Nginx dynamically serves, ensuring that each subdomain seamlessly points to the appropriate corporate portal. In essence, the set-up built provides a combination of scalability, flexibility, and performance.
The Outcome for Volunteering WA
The implementation of our custom software solution had a significant impact on Volunteering WA. One of the most notable outcomes was reduced administrative overhead, allowing their team to spend less time on routine tasks. By consolidating and centralising their data, we enabled them to manage their operations more efficiently and accurately.
Our solution optimised their communication processes, eliminating much of the back-and-forth emailing that previously consumed valuable time. Additionally, we modernised their external pages with contemporary UX/UI designs, which curated their platform's visual appeal and usability. This improved the onboarding process for new volunteers and created opportunities to integrate other volunteering organisations easily. Ultimately, the volume of volunteering work increased, amplifying their positive impact on the community.
The Outcome for the End User
The benefits were substantial for the end users—volunteers and prospective volunteers. Thanks to the upgraded booking process, they can now access more volunteering opportunities. By making navigating the platform and finding suitable volunteering roles easier and more enjoyable, the overall user experience has improved significantly. This revamp provided greater visibility to a broader audience, attracting more volunteers and expanding the reach of Volunteering WA's initiatives, which can now strengthen the community impact by connecting more people with meaningful volunteering opportunities.
By addressing Volunteering WA's organisational needs and volunteers' user experience, our custom software solution has paved the way for more effective and widespread volunteering efforts, reinforcing the agency's mission to promote and support volunteerism throughout Western Australia. But not only! Other organisations, such as Volunteering Queensland, are now using the app, highlighting its success.