SPARKS

Inspiration

Our inspiration for this project came from the opportunity to support Nature's Edge Wildlife and Reptile Rescue (NEWRR), a nonprofit dedicated to wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. Learning about their challenges—relying on manual processes for donations, animal intake, and adoption—motivated us to create a digital solution that would streamline their operations, allowing them to focus more on their mission of rescuing and rehabilitating animals.

What it does

Our project offers a cloud-based platform designed specifically for NEWRR. It automates donation tracking, generates customizable thank-you cards, and manages digital forms for animal intake and adoption. This system centralizes data, enhances communication with donors, and simplifies the administrative workload for the team, enabling them to engage more efficiently with stakeholders.

How we built it

We developed the frontend using React and styled it with Bootstrap for a clean, user-friendly interface. The backend was built with FastAPI and uses PostgreSQL for database management, ensuring smooth data handling. The system is hosted on Railway, providing a scalable cloud infrastructure to manage donations, forms, and communications securely.

Challenges we ran into

One significant challenge we encountered was the inability to successfully integrate a donation management system with third-party services such as GiveButter and PayPal Donations. The primary reason for this is that most of these services require details that we are currently unable to provide, such as bank account numbers and license IDs. To address this issue, we have temporarily developed a mock-up to illustrate how the donation transaction process would look.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The solution we developed is the core of our project, and we're proud of its functionality. While not without its limitations, it effectively addresses the key challenges faced by Nature's Edge Wildlife and Reptile Rescue, especially considering we built it within a short timeframe. With further refinement, we believe this system can be optimized even more, and we look forward to improving it as we continue to collaborate with Nature's Edge.

What we learned

Through working with Nature's Edge Wildlife and Reptile Rescue, we gained valuable insights into the challenges faced by nonprofit organizations in managing their operations with limited resources. Understanding the complexities of donation tracking, animal intake, and adoption processes helped us better tailor our solution to their needs. It was a rewarding experience to develop a system that has the potential to streamline their workflow and enhance their ability to focus on their mission of wildlife rescue and rehabilitation.

What's next for SPARKS

Moving forward, we aim to fully integrate third-party donation management systems like GiveButter or PayPal once the necessary details are available. We also plan to enhance the platform by adding more automation features, such as AI-driven donation trend analysis and personalized donor outreach. Ultimately, we hope to continue collaborating with NEWRR to optimize the system and further support their incredible work in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation.