Vardot Partners with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency to Elevate Their Digital Presence

Drupal open-source web solutions provider, Vardot, is working with the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to improve their digital presence and enable them to become more effective in their missions.

Vardot, through this partnership, aims to strengthen their digital assets, including the implementation of a new donations platform to collect vital funds to aid people displaced by conflicts or natural disasters.

Due to the importance of the organization's work, the donations platform must be robust, easy-to-use, error-free, and flexible. The system must also help increase conversion rates and the number of donations across 9 countries and 10 languages, while seamlessly integrating with the organization's other software.

The upgraded system allows the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to launch campaigns quickly, buying enough time to conduct life-saving humanitarian operations around the world. To date, more than 900 campaigns have been launched across various global regions, with more than $11.5 million processed through the platform, which harnesses Vardot's Varbase, Drupal Commerce, and Layout Builder products.

The donation platform allows the organization's teams in different countries to launch their own campaigns locally and raise funds quickly from online donations, all on a unified system. It has a geotargeting function, which allows targeting of specific markets, automatically redirecting visitors based on their location. It also allows multiple countries to be grouped together into specific regions.

According to Vardot, the new Drupal-based system reduces the time to build, design, and publish campaigns by 63%. This is especially important because the organization relies on donations to fund its supplementary appeals, which are outside of the annual budget and addresses unexpected emergencies.

According to Vardot Co-founder and CEO, Mohammed Razem, utilizing open-source software is a massive help for international humanitarian organizations, as it allows them to invest more in innovation rather than buying expensive software licenses.

"We're democratizing software for our clients," Mohammed says. "By using open-source software such as Drupal, they are no longer locked to a single large vendor. This is also in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and more governments and international organizations are making the shift to open source, as they are increasingly recognizing its benefits."

Mohammed added that an improved digital presence allows humanitarian organizations to become more visible, especially in today's fast-paced environment where there is a lot of information competing for limited attention. An easy-to-use and seamless donation platform ensures a steadier inflow of funding that is vital for continued operations.

"Working with an international refugee organization where we help them gather donations and conduct life-saving interventions, is a huge honor for us," Mohammed says. "Donations are the lifeblood of any humanitarian organization, and the fact that we were able to significantly improve their ability to raise funds will always be a source of pride for our company. This partnership has opened doors for us, and we have since worked with several non-profit and non-governmental institutions to strengthen their digital presences and allow them to reach a larger number of people."