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Case study · Nonprofit · Animal welfare

Cat Family Foundation — a second chance for every feral.

A story-first website for a Johannesburg NPO caring for feral cat colonies across the Greater JHB area — Trap-Neuter-Return, kitten rescue, fostering, vet care and adoption. Donation flow, adoption gallery and volunteer sign-up, all on a fast static build.

ClientCat Family Foundation
SectorNonprofit · Animal welfare
ServicesBrand system, website, SEO
LocationGreater Johannesburg
catfamilyfoundation.org.za
The brief

A nonprofit site that earns the donation.

Cat Family Foundation is a registered PBO (930082254) run by three full-time staff, caring for feral cat colonies across Greater Johannesburg since 2020. They needed a site that did the fundraising heavy-lifting — explain what Trap-Neuter-Return actually is, show the cats in their care, make donating (once or monthly) frictionless, and give volunteers, fosterers and adopters a clear next step.

The challenge

Rescue sites are usually overwhelm and guilt.

Most animal welfare and rescue NPO websites make the same mistakes — wall-of-text mission statements, harrowing photography, no clear donation ask, an adoption process that reads like a maze. Donors bounce, volunteers can't find a way in, and the actual cats stay invisible behind the fundraising copy.

The approach

Story first. Cats second. Fundraising machinery underneath.

We started with the founders and the volunteers — the people trapping cats at 5am and bottle-feeding orphans at midnight. Then a light, warm brand system that respects the seriousness of the work without leaning on shock. Then a site built like a fundraising tool: fast, clear, mobile-first, and pointed at three CTAs (donate, adopt, volunteer) from every screen.

  1. 01 · Story capture & positioningFounder interviews, volunteer voice notes, colony visit — real photography, real cats, real language. No stock imagery, no charity-speak clichés.
  2. 02 · Brand system + hand-coded static siteWarm palette, editorial typography, tone that reads as calm and competent — then a hand-authored static site in vanilla HTML/CSS/JS. No CMS to maintain, no plugin fees eating donation revenue.
  3. 03 · Fundraising flow & local SEODonation forms wired to their payment processor, Section 18A receipt automation, structured data for a nonprofit organisation, and copy targeted at "cat rescue Johannesburg" / "TNR" / "adopt a kitten Randburg".
The result

A rescue site that brings donations in.

Cat Family Foundation's site now does what a nonprofit site is supposed to do — introduce the work, show the cats, make giving obvious. The donation flow is one screen. The adoption grid has a name and story for every animal. Volunteer, foster and trap-rental applications each have their own page, so no one gets lost.

3 Ways to help

Donate, adopt, volunteer — each with its own dedicated flow instead of one overloaded form. Every path optimised for its own audience.

100 Lighthouse score

Perfect scores on Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices and SEO — donation pages load in under a second on 3G.

0 Ongoing platform fees

Hand-authored static site — no CMS licence, no plugin subscriptions, no page-builder tax eating donation revenue every month.

Stack & services

The smallest possible stack. Zero recurring fees.

An animal welfare NPO shouldn't be paying platform tax every month. We shipped hand-authored HTML/CSS/JS — faster, cheaper to host, and every rand of donation revenue goes to the cats instead of a SaaS subscription.

FrontendVanilla HTML/CSS/JS FontsWarm editorial pairing HostingStatic · CDN-fronted DonationsPayment processor integration TaxSection 18A receipt flow SEOSemantic HTML + NGO schema AnalyticsPrivacy-safe stats · POPIA-ready GoogleGoogle Business Profile PerformanceSub-1s LCP · 100 Lighthouse HandoverDocs + volunteer content guide
Common questions

What people ask us about nonprofit websites.

How much does a nonprofit / NPO website cost in South Africa?
Every boutique NPO website — donation flow, adoption or programme pages, volunteer sign-up, local SEO — is quoted after a short brief call. Brand-system depth and page count move the number. Nonprofit rates available for registered PBOs — ask us. Fixed price up-front, every scope item documented.
Do you offer discounted rates for registered NPOs and PBOs?
Yes. Registered nonprofits (PBOs / NPOs / Section 21 companies) get a nonprofit rate — usually 25–40% below our commercial pricing. We ask for your PBO / NPO registration number and take a look at the cause. Cats, dogs, kids, mental health and reproductive health always get a warm welcome.
Can you integrate a South African donation payment processor?
Yes. We integrate with the major SA payment processors (PayFast, Yoco, Peach, Stripe South Africa) and set up recurring giving, once-off donations and Section 18A receipt automation. If you already have a preferred processor, we work with it — no lock-in.
Do you handle Section 18A tax certificates?
Yes. We wire the donation flow so every qualifying donation triggers a Section 18A receipt with the correct PBO reference, donor details and SARS-required fields. Receipts go to the donor's inbox automatically — no manual admin.
Can you build the brand identity alongside the website?
Yes — and we recommend it for a nonprofit. Building the brand system and the site in the same engagement is faster, cheaper and keeps everything cohesive. You get a working brand book at the end that runs the site, social posts, donation appeals and volunteer materials.
Do you work with animal welfare and rescue organisations outside Johannesburg?
Yes. We build websites for animal welfare NPOs, wildlife sanctuaries and community rescue groups across South Africa — Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria, Stellenbosch, plus UK and EU nonprofits. Everything's remote-friendly, delivered on a shared workspace, with weekly demo calls.
Start a project

Running a nonprofit or animal welfare organisation? Let's build it right.

Tell us what your current site isn't doing and we'll come back with scope, price and a plan. Registered PBOs get our nonprofit rate.