Building and Designing a Donation Solution for Discord
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.
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.
