DOS Community is an intelligent charity platform by the Dara foundation. ANIART built it from scratch: a place where charity means not just money but also time, knowledge and skills, and where people ready to help find those who need that help.
Context: charity is broader than donations
The Dara foundation started from a simple but powerful idea: help isn't only about finances. Someone can give money, someone their time, someone professional skills or knowledge. So that this energy doesn't get lost, they needed a venue that connects help requests with the people ready to fulfill them.
The special requirements of a social project
A social platform plays by different rules than commercial e-commerce. Here transparency comes first, along with simplicity for users of any age and experience, and a minimal cost of ownership: every saved hryvnia should go to the cause, not to infrastructure.
The challenge: connect those who help and those who need it
The core task was to build a clear cycle: a person creates a help request, the community sees and responds to it, and the foundation oversees quality and relevance. All of it — as simple as possible, so that anyone can use the platform, not just "advanced" users.
| Role | What they do on the platform |
|---|---|
| Someone who needs help | Creates a request and receives responses from the community |
| Volunteer | Responds with time, knowledge and skills |
| Donor | Backs requests with resources |
| Foundation team | Moderates requests and nurtures the community |
Approach: simplicity as the main requirement
We deliberately kept the product simple: the fewer steps between the intent to help and the help itself, the more people make it to the end. Every scenario was designed to be clear without instructions, while administration stayed manageable for the foundation's small team.
- Designed the full cycle: registration → help request → responses to it.
- Created account areas for volunteers and donors.
- Connected push and SMS notifications about new requests and community events.
- Gave the foundation team request moderation tools.
- Built the platform from scratch and continue to support it.
What the foundation got
Help cycle
From registration to responding to a request — clear and transparent for everyone.
Member accounts
Separate roles for volunteers and donors, each with their own scenarios.
Notifications
Push and SMS about new requests and events — the community stays engaged.
Moderation
Tools for the foundation team to keep request quality and relevance.
Architecture and technology
The platform runs on a PHP and MySQL stack with push and SMS notifications to keep the community engaged. The architecture was designed for a low cost of ownership and simple administration by the foundation's small team.
Result
The Dara foundation got a working digital tool for growing its community of givers. For us this is one of those projects done with the heart: here technology converts directly into help for people. We continue to support the platform.
Running a social or charity project and looking for a technical partner? Browse our other projects or get in touch.
