---
id: nonprofit-givedirectly-design-en
service: GiveDirectly
website: https://www.givedirectly.org
category: nonprofit
document: DESIGN.MD
source_prompt: nonprofit-givedirectly-representative-en
language: en
generated: 2026-07-18
---

# GiveDirectly DESIGN.MD

> Use this DESIGN.MD as the persistent design standard before building a Nonprofits and giving site or app. It can be given directly to designers, frontend engineers, AI builders, and coding agents. GiveDirectly is an information-architecture reference only.

## Purpose

- GiveDirectly: https://www.givedirectly.org
- Nonprofits and giving: communicating a mission and enabling participation
- campaigns, donations, and outcomes
- transparency, emotional restraint, and trust
- nonprofit

## Design brief

Create an original product that supports communicating a mission and enabling participation. Make campaigns, donations, and outcomes easy to scan, compare, and act on. Treat transparency, emotional restraint, and trust as a primary design constraint. Starting direction: story-led campaign · friendly and warm · low information density · mission or value proposition -> evidence or impact -> cards -> participation action · #FF6B35 · GiveDirectly.

## Public interface design analysis

- Reference basis: These are recurring visual and structural patterns from public landing screens and representative task flows. Verify the current live capture because services change over time.
- Interface archetype: story-led campaign
- Tone and manner: friendly and warm
- Information density: low
- Color strategy: restrained brand accents on neutral surfaces (#FF6B35)
- Navigation model: lightweight top navigation
- Structural sequence: mission or value proposition -> evidence or impact -> cards -> participation action
- Reusable patterns: mission hero, impact metric, story card, trust metadata, donate action
- Independent application rule: Use the order and decision principles only. Do not reproduce logos, copy, imagery, icons, or proprietary screen composition.

## Screen architecture

- Global navigation with clear current location and account state
- Overview that exposes the next important action for campaigns, donations, and outcomes
- Search, filter, sort, or segmented views only where they reduce decision cost
- Detail view that keeps context, status, evidence, and the primary action together
- Persistent help, recovery, privacy, and safety access for transparency, emotional restraint, and trust

## Design tokens

```css
:root {
  --color-primary: #FF6B35;
  --color-ink: #17201D;
  --color-canvas: #F6F8F7;
  --color-surface: #FFFFFF;
  --color-tint: #FF6B3522;
  --color-danger: #DC2626;
  --radius-control: 6px;
  --radius-card: 8px;
  --space-1: 4px; --space-2: 8px; --space-3: 12px;
  --space-4: 16px; --space-6: 24px; --space-8: 32px;
  --content-reading: 720px;
  --content-wide: 1280px;
}
```

## Component specifications

- Navigation: active, hover, focus, disabled, and collapsed states
- Cards and rows: stable dimensions, realistic content, metadata hierarchy, and complete click targets
- Forms: labels, descriptions, validation, error summary, progress, and recovery
- Actions: one clear primary action per region; icon buttons require accessible names and tooltips
- Feedback: inline status, toast, banner, skeleton, progress, confirmation, and destructive-action dialog

## State design

For every data-driven region, define loading, empty, partial-data, stale, error, offline, permission-denied, disabled, saving, and success states. Keep layout dimensions stable so state changes do not shift surrounding content.

## Responsive rules

- 360px: one primary column, no horizontal page scroll, 44px touch targets
- 768px: preserve context with two panes only when each pane remains readable
- 1280px and above: constrain reading width and use extra space for comparison or persistent context
- Never scale type with viewport width; wrap long labels and localize for text expansion

## Accessibility requirements

- Semantic landmarks and heading order
- Complete keyboard operation with visible focus
- WCAG AA contrast in all states
- Programmatic labels, descriptions, errors, and live regions
- 200% zoom, reduced motion, forced colors, and screen-reader verification

## Design instruction for AI builders

```text
Design an original Nonprofits and giving interface for [Product name]. Its goal is communicating a mission and enabling participation; its core objects are campaigns, donations, and outcomes; its critical risk is transparency, emotional restraint, and trust. Use the token system and screen rules in this document. Specify realistic content, component contracts, all data states, responsive behavior, accessibility, and acceptance criteria. Do not copy GiveDirectly's logo, proprietary copy, images, or exact layout.
```

## Completion checklist

- [ ] The critical path for communicating a mission and enabling participation is obvious without explanation
- [ ] campaigns, donations, and outcomes have clear hierarchy, status, and actions
- [ ] transparency, emotional restraint, and trust has prevention and recovery
- [ ] Mobile, tablet, desktop, keyboard, screen reader, zoom, and reduced motion are verified
- [ ] Loading, empty, error, offline, partial, permission, and success states are complete
- [ ] No protected brand asset or pixel-level layout from GiveDirectly is reproduced