Delivering a Digital Platform That Supports Veterans Beyond Service
Veterans With Dogs is a UK charity dedicated to training assistance dogs and partnering them with Armed Forces and Merchant Navy veterans facing mental health challenges. We worked with the team to design and develop a modern WordPress platform that supports applications, fundraising, and long-term growth.
Ongoing Support
Managed Hosting
donation platform
Ecommerce
Building a Platform That Supports, Converts and Builds Trust
Veterans With Dogs came to Nebula after a difficult experience with their previous website provider had left them without a reliable platform. They needed more than just a new website – they needed a foundation that could:
- Clearly communicate its purpose and impact
- Enable veterans to apply for an assistance dogProvide seamless donation and fundraising pathways
- Introduce a revenue-driving online shop
- Build trust through transparency and strong visual storytelling
- Be easily managed internally by the charity’s team
Success was defined through increased engagement, improved donation performance, stronger user journeys, and a platform ready to scale as the charity grows.
Delivering Functionality That Drives Real Impact
Donations & Fundraising
Seamless fundraising fully integrated into the VWD website
- One-off and monthly donation capability
- Gift Aid capture
- Ability to connect with external fundraising tools
Veteran Application Journey
Customisable application form with email notifications
- Custom application forms
- Secure handling of sensitive data
- Clear and structured pathways for applicants
E-commerce Functionality
Utilising WooCommerce + Stripe Payment Gateway
- Fully functional online shop
- Product management and checkout capability
- Additional revenue stream for the charity
Integrations & Engagement
Various integrations and automations to improve both user and admin experiences
- Mailchimp integration for newsletters
- Form integrations (Gravity Forms)
- SEO-ready structure to support visibility
Five stages. No mystery.
This project followed our typical workflow for WordPress development projects to ensure the website was delivered on scope, budget and time.
Discover
Workshops with the people who’ll actually use the site – editors, fundraisers, service teams.
Design
Accessibility-first, content-first. Components built in Figma and validated on real data.
Build
Custom block theme in Git. Staging from day one. Two-week sprint rhythm.
Launch
Content migration, QA sweep, redirect map, launch-day engineer on standby.
Support
Monthly retainer or block-hour plans. Real humans – the ones who built it.
The stack we shipped – and what we didn’t ship.
• What we built with
Boring tech, used carefully.
Nothing exotic. Everything battle-tested, well-documented, and friendly to the next agency that ever has to touch it.
No Elementor. No Divi. No JS framework on the front end. No third-party donate widgets.
• forGood
Seamless online donations with Google & Apple Pay
Using our forGood WordPress add-on Veterans With Dogs can accept donatios online to support the great work they do seamlessly on their website.
Onboarded for free As part of any charity website we develop, we include the onboarding cost of this add-on into the website project.
Reactive & Proactive Improvements. As part of the project, we’re monitoring the performance of the website for improvements to both site performance and user experience.
What changed, in plain English.
Before · the legacy site
A web page with minimal control that didn’t reflect the brand
Easy to edit The website was often difficult to edit and lacked flexibility across its pages.
Inconsistant website + branding on a template the client didn’t trust anymore.
After · the rebuild
A website the charity can edit themselves that can support them for the foreseeable future
What You See Is What You Get. We’ve ensured that the page the admin can see in the editor reflects the visual on the frontend.
A brand in synergy. Now the website flows from the charities branding throughout, supported by professional photography.
Ready for a website you can actually be proud of?
Tell us about the organisation, the problem, and what “good” looks like. We’ll come back within a day with questions, honest thoughts and rough numbers.