WGC Foundation Brings the SaaS Playbook to Charity with Launch of New Donor-First Platform

London, UK, June 26th, 2026, FinanceWire

A foundation led by a former high-growth edtech marketer is reframing charitable giving as a product experience-with mapped user journeys, continuous A/B testing, and AI-animated "nurse superheroes."

WGC Foundation this month launched the first version of a new digital platform built on a simple but unconventional premise: a charity can-and should-be run like a technology company.

A UK not-for-profit founded and supported by WGC Ltd, the foundation funds initiatives across the country that strengthen local communities, empower individuals, and promote environmental sustainability. It also plans to draw on digital tools built in-house by its parent, WGC Ltd-a proprietary workforce app and an AI agent already used across the company's operations-adapting proven operational technology for charitable work.

Where most charity websites overwhelm visitors with information and depend on one-off donations tied to events, WGC Foundation is applying the disciplines of modern software businesses: mapped supporter journeys, lifecycle email, search optimisation, and relentless testing of every element that shapes a supporter's decision. Giving currently runs through a crowdfunding platform, with the foundation working toward a more subscription-style model of recurring support.

"In SaaS you don't sell a product once; you earn a relationship," said Yana Chernakova, Brand & Social Media Support at WGC Foundation, who previously led product marketing at Foxford - one of Russia's largest online schools, reaching more than 500,000 learners. "A charity is the same, only harder. We're not shipping a download or a device-we're delivering the feeling that your help mattered. That is the most difficult product there is to get right."

The platform is built around two distinct audiences with very different needs: the communities seeking support, and the people who want to give, whether time or money. Drawing on the "Jobs to Be Done" framework, the team designed each path around the underlying progress a person is trying to make-not simply "donate," but to act on their values, to belong to a community of people who care, and to know their contribution had a real effect.

Trust is treated as the core metric. Clear, honest impact reporting is designed to keep supporters engaged over time, lifting lifetime value much as retention does for a subscription business. As the foundation matures, it plans to measure potential return on investment across its marketing as budgets for more strategic activity grow.

That focus on engagement has also pushed the team toward more creative-and more experimental-communication. In one recent project, WGC Foundation worked with one of the city hospices to animate photographs of real, working nurses and reimagine them as superheroes using generative AI-a playful campaign that doubled as a demonstration of how deeply AI now runs through the organisation's day-to-day work, from content creation to analysis.

"People assume charities are low-tech by nature. The opposite is becoming true," added Chernakova. "To earn attention and trust today, a foundation has to be as good at product, data, and design as any startup. The site we launched this week is our minimum viable product-now the real work begins: testing every hypothesis the data hands us."

The newly launched site is the foundation's first step. The team has already begun continuous experimentation across messaging, design, and user experience-an approach modeled on the technology companies that test every button and image for its effect on the user's decision.

About WGC Foundation

WGC Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to strengthening local communities and promoting sustainable futures. It supports meaningful, long-term change by funding initiatives across the UK that create opportunities for individuals and communities while promoting environmental sustainability. Working with partners and volunteers, the foundation backs initiatives that enhance lives, empower individuals, and create lasting impact. WGC Foundation is proudly founded and supported by WGC Ltd.

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