Building and Designing a Donation Solution for Discord

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Discord Communities That Have Installed Donate Bot
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Introduction to Discord

Released in 2015, Discord is a web-based communication app that quickly became a popular tool for gamers and has evolved into a full-fledged service for anyone looking to chat or find community online.

Today, Discord boasts over 150 million active users and is used by everyone from local hiking clubs, to artists, to study groups.

Discord users can participate in voice and video chats, send private messages, and take part in communities, which are called “servers” on the platform.

Imagining Donate App, powered by ChangeUp

In April, 2022, ChangeUp was honored to work directly with executives at Discord to design and implement a bespoke donation solution that–18 months later–has been installed on over 10,000 Discord communities.

Discord users are some of the most passionate and engaged people on the internet. Before 2022, there had never been a way to donate to charity on the platform.

When the ChangeUp team met Laura Danforth, Director of Global Partnerships at Discord, it quickly became clear that activating donations on Discord would require a bespoke solution.

In the initial stages of our collaboration, the ChangeUp team envisioned a native integration within Discord’s existing ecosystem to streamline the donation process. However, Discord’s plans to launch a new App Store presented a unique opportunity to rethink our approach. Embracing this shift, we were asked to integrate our donation technology as a Discord bot – which we called “Donate App, Powered by ChangeUp” – aligning with Discord’s strategic vision for enhancing user engagement through their upcoming App Store.

This approach allowed us to leverage the full potential of Discord’s platform, offering a solution that not only fits seamlessly into the user’s experience but also would stand at the forefront of Discord’s new and exciting App Store launch.

Building as a bot for the App Store offered several advantages:

Enhanced Visibility

Positioned within the inaugural class of the App Directory, Donate App gains immediate visibility among Discord's expansive user base, driving adoption and impact from day one.

Scalability

As a bot, Donate App can effortlessly scale across servers as needed, reaching millions of users and amplifying the potential for charitable contributions.

Innovation

This approach allowed us to explore and innovate within Discord's evolving platform, creating a bot that is not just a tool for donation but a model for how apps can foster community engagement and philanthropy in digital spaces. As we were planning the bot it became very clear that many of the same methods we were iterating on for Discord could easily be applied to other community spaces.

Ultimately, the development of the Donate App represents a harmonious blend of ChangeUp’s mission to facilitate seamless donations and Discord’s commitment to expanding its app ecosystem. It showcases our flexibility in adapting to platform-specific requirements and our dedication to creating impactful, user-centric solutions.

Ultimately, the teams aligned around a feature set for “Donate App.” The application would allow Discord server admins to create charity campaigns and harness the strength of their members to get behind causes they care about.

Charity Vetting and Curation

Discord is known for partnering with non-profits that speak to their communities, particularly in the areas of mental health and suicide prevention.

While ChangeUp powers donations to over 1.5 million 501(c)3s in the United States, Emmy Negrin, Head of Inclusion, Diversity, and Purpose at Discord requested a much smaller, highly curated charity database for Donate App.

The ChangeUp team worked hand-in-hand with Negrin to establish 12 charity categories that reflect vitally important issues like LGBTQIA+ rights, climate change, mental health awareness, and more.

Human Rights Watch

National Center for Transgender Equality

Amnesty International

NAMI

RAICES

ACLU

BEAM (Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective)

StrongMinds

Brain & Behavior Research Foundation

The Jed Foundation

Treatment Advocacy Center

Child Mind Institute

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST)

Technovation

StackUp

Games for Love

Charity Gaming

The Esports Foundation

Good Days Foundation

St. Jude

Alzheimer's Association

National MS Society

Susan G Komen

Planned Parenthood

The Innocence Project

Race Forward

Equal Justice Initiative

ACLU

Latino Justice

Asian Americans Advancing Justice

Oceana

Sierra Club

Heal the Bay

Earth Day Network

Clean Air Task Force

Rainforest Alliance

Ali Forney Center

Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice

Point Foundation

SAGE

It Gets Better

Human Rights Campaign Foundation

MADRE

She's the First

Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund

Equality Now

Young Women Freedom Center

Global Fund for Women

Generation USA

City Harvest

World Food Programme

Heifer International

Action Against Hunger

The Hunger Project

Year Up

Build Africa

ProLiteracy

Scholarship America

CAMFED

Room to Read

Vegan Outreach

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Farm Sanctuary

Best Friends Animal Society

K9 for Warriors

The Marine Mammal Center

World Central Kitchen

Nova Ukraine

International Medical Corps

GlobalGiving

Refugees International

Doctors Without Borders

One of the most popular categories features causes specific to technology and gaming initiatives, including Black Girls Code.

Donate App only hosts charities that the Southern Poverty Law Center has cleared. Organizations that appear on the non-profit’s watchdog extremist list are automatically excluded.

Launch and Adoption

Donate App for Discord launched in late 2022 has been installed on 5,000+ servers.

Donate App has also been a popular tool for acclaimed artists, including Imagine Dragons and Lindsey Stirling, to facilitate large-scale Giving Season fundraising campaigns.

Recently, Discord debuted its App Directory, and Donate App was included in its inaugural class.

Unlock the power of your community with ChangeUp's Donation technology. See how we can transform engagement into action on your platform. Book a demo today or contact our partnerships team!

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