Case Study

UI/UX Design

Roar4Widener 2025: A Case Study in Resilient Fundraising Amid Economic Uncertainty

In the spring of 2025, nonprofit organizations across the United States faced one of the most challenging fundraising environments in recent memory. Charitable giving was on the decline, donor-advised fund contributions plummeted over 20% (Chronicle of Philanthropy), and major institutions were laying off hundreds due to slashed government funding. At the same time, extreme stock market volatility—driven by policy uncertainty and tariff turmoil—shook donor confidence, with the Dow Jones falling nearly 4% in a single day and the S&P 500 seeing some of its largest intraday swings since 1987 (Reuters). Despite these headwinds, Widener University partnered with KDG to launch a day of giving that not only defied the odds but set new records in donations and engagement.

Coming Soon

The Coming Soon page featured a countdown timer, an email capture form, and a calendar integration. 

Automated Campaign Transitioning

A time-based system provided automatic page transitions without manual input.

Admin Panel

Widener's staff gained the ability to view signups, create and manage challenges, adjust donation goals, update live campaign messages, and track referral traffic and donations in real-time.

Defying a Downturn

  • Roar4Widener was previously supported by an outdated platform from another vendor, which posed several limitations that hindered the university’s ability to run an engaging and seamless campaign. The system offered minimal flexibility, preventing real-time content updates during the event, and lacked tools for self-managing challenges, donor incentives, or other dynamic features. Any updates or transitions between pages had to be done manually, often requiring staff time to be dedicated to keystroke entry to maintain public-facing totals. Additionally, the platform did not include a robust admin panel, making it difficult to track donations or monitor donor engagement effectively. 

  • Adding to these technical hurdles, the broader economic environment presented unprecedented challenges. March and April 2025 were among the most volatile periods for fundraising in recent memory. U.S. charitable giving was trending downward, with a shrinking donor base and many nonprofits experiencing steep declines (AFP Fundraising Effectiveness Project). Simultaneously, violent swings shook the stock markets — with the Dow dropping nearly 4% in a single day — driven by uncertainty surrounding tariffs and erratic economic policies (Reuters). This climate made donor engagement and fundraising success extraordinarily difficult across the nonprofit sector. 

  • To elevate Roar4Widener and the donor experience despite these headwinds, Widener needed a flexible, automated solution that could handle donations, run engagement challenges, and adapt throughout the 24-hour event—all without requiring constant technical intervention. 

This year’s success demonstrated how smart technology can amplify donor engagement and fundraising results. A streamlined page, real-time updates, visible progress totals and engaging competitions made the website easy to navigate, prioritized the ability to make a gift, and created an element of fun that resonated with our audience. KDG has given us the ability to add features like bonus codes that increased a donor’s impact and maximized challenge funds was the perfect example of coding that makes a tangible difference in the donor experience.

Ivy Lane
Executive Director, Annual Giving and Advancement Services
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Solutions

Coming Soon Page

Countdown timer, email capture form, and calendar integration.

Donate Page

Donation forms, fund descriptions, live leaderboards, progress tracking, active challenge displays, and social media sharing. 

Thank You Page

Post-event acknowledgment, final statistics, and continued donation options.

Automated Campaign Transitioning

A time-based system provided automatic page transitions (Coming Soon, Live Campaign, Thank You) without manual input.

CRM & Referral Tracking Integration

Each donor received a unique referral link to track and reward additional donations. Early signups were collected for pre-campaign email marketing using exportable CSVs.

Admin Panel

The staff at Widener gained the ability to view coming soon signups, create and manage challenges, adjust donation goals, update live campaign messages, and track referral traffic and donations in real-time.

Exploring Key Features in Action

Full, live control over campaign messages, goals, and challenges without needing technical support.

Full, live control over campaign messages, goals, and challenges without needing technical support.

Email capture and calendar integration for users to set a reminder for the campaign.

Email capture and calendar integration for users to set a reminder for the campaign.

Pages transition automatically based on predefined campaign timings.

Pages transition automatically based on predefined campaign timings. 

Real-time updating leaderboards, progress bars, and donor feeds.

Real-time updating leaderboards, progress bars, and donor feeds. 

On-the-fly creation and management of donation incentives and competitions.

On-the-fly creation and management of donation incentives and competitions. 

Incentivized social sharing via unique donor links.

Incentivized social sharing via unique donor links.

Results

KDG's collaborations with Widener has delivered clear results:

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Reduced Manual Intervention

Automated page transitions reduced operational friction and eliminated the need for constant manual upkeep and internal link redirects.

Active Engagement

Real-time leaderboards and well-planned challenges kept donors actively engaged.

Built Excitement

Early registration efforts helped build excitement before the day began, driving a strong wave of initial contributions.

Organic Outreach

Referral tracking and incentive programs fueled organic outreach, dramatically expanding the event's reach.

Breaking Records

1,045 donors made more than 1,500 gifts, totally more than $217k; setting new records for total donors, gifts, and dollars raised during Roar4Widener.

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