Case Study
From concept to launch: a custom-built fundraising platform.
A complete Shopify build with extensive custom code for an Australian fundraising platform. Campaign management, QR codes, real-time tracking, and SEO — delivered as one coordinated project.
communiteafundraising.com.au
Fundraising platform after launch
Product collection
Product range — tea and dried fruit for charity
Context
A new kind of fundraising platform.
CommuniTea is an Australian fundraising platform that connects community with purpose. The concept: people buy tea, dried fruit, and other products — and a portion of every purchase goes directly to charity. The platform supports both organisations and individuals who want to raise money for causes that matter.
The brief was to take CommuniTea from concept to launch. That meant building a fully custom Shopify platform with campaign management, QR codes for offline tracking, real-time fundraising progress visualisation, and integrated payment solutions — plus SEO from day one.
The Challenge
Three core challenges.
Complexity
Not a standard online store
CommuniTea needed more than a Shopify store — it was a full fundraising platform. Campaign logic, organisational partnerships, dual fundraising structures (hosted and independent), QR codes, and real-time tracking all needed to be built from the ground up.
Trust
Building trust from zero
As a new platform, CommuniTea needed to communicate legitimacy immediately. Partnerships with recognised organisations like CareFlight and Beyond Blue needed to be presented credibly, and the entire purchase and donation flow needed to feel secure and professional.
Visibility
Getting found in a new niche
The platform needed organic visibility from the start. With no existing traffic or brand awareness, SEO was critical to attract organisations and individuals searching for fundraising solutions in Australia.
Strategy
Built for purpose. Powered by technology.
CommuniTea was not a redesign project — it was a from-scratch build. We treated the entire platform as one coordinated system: custom Shopify development, campaign architecture, and SEO foundation, delivered as a single project.
01
Custom Code
Campaign logic, QR codes, real-time tracking, and partner integration — built on Shopify with custom development.
02
Brand & UX
A visual identity and user experience that builds trust for a new platform in the fundraising space.
03
SEO Foundation
Technical SEO, structured data, and content optimisation to attract organic traffic in a new niche.
Execution
What we actually built.
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Phase 1
Concept & Platform Strategy
We worked closely with the CommuniTea team to map out the entire fundraising platform architecture. Every feature — campaign pages, QR codes, real-time tracking, and payout structure — was specified and planned before a single line of code was written.
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Phase 2
Custom Shopify Development
The platform was built on Shopify with extensive custom code. We implemented campaign management systems, QR code generation, real-time fundraising progress tracking, and integrated payment solutions — all within a cohesive, brand-aligned store experience.
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Phase 3
Campaign Pages & Content
We designed and built campaign pages that communicate credibility and make it easy to support causes. Each campaign received its own page with progress visualisation, storytelling, and clear calls to action. Partnerships with organisations like CareFlight and Beyond Blue were integrated with brand awareness.
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Phase 4
SEO
Technical SEO was implemented from the start to ensure the platform could be found by organisations and individuals searching for fundraising solutions in Australia. Site architecture, structured data, meta tags, and content optimisation targeted relevant search terms in fundraising and charity.
The Result
2
Campaign tracks
Hosted + Independent
4
Phases delivered
Discovery → Launch
100%
Custom-coded
No off-the-shelf theme
3
Org partnerships
CareFlight, Beyond Blue...
CommuniTea launched with a fully functional fundraising platform built on Shopify. Organisations and individuals can start campaigns, track progress in real time, and receive donations through product purchases — all within a professional, brand-aligned experience.
The platform supports partnerships with organisations like CareFlight and Beyond Blue, with hosted campaigns (keep 20%) and independent campaigns (keep 40%) — a unique dual-track fundraising system built with custom Shopify code.
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