Lama Dorje Foundation

The problem

The Lama Dorje Foundation needed a web presence worthy of their mission: connecting a global sangha to Tibetan Buddhist teachings, retreats, and online programs while raising capital for Dewachen World Peace Sanctuary in Costa Rica. Their FlipCause site was difficult to maintain, looked dated on mobile, and made it hard for international supporters to understand where their gifts went. Volunteer staff needed to update events, teachings, and campaign progress without waiting on outside help.

Approach

After a referral and onboarding discovery with Carolina Putnam and the foundation team, it became clear a few page additions would not meet the professionalism or scale they were aiming for. The referrer and I aligned on a full redesign. I mapped the user journey from awareness through sangha engagement to tangible giving, then built the site from scratch in Webflow with a CMS structured for non-technical contributors. Beyond design and development, I shaped fundraising strategy on the site itself: attaching dollar amounts to specific sanctuary elements (trees, statues, structures) so donors could see exactly what they were funding. I integrated Givebutter with Stripe for international payments, synced Google Calendar for events, connected Mailchimp for newsletter flows, and added site-wide translation for a largely mobile, international audience.

Process

1. 1

   Referral, discovery & scope pivot

   Joined through a referral and ran discovery interviews and a site audit. The original ask was modest, but the team's goals (Dewachen storytelling, volunteer maintenance, credible fundraising) pointed to a full redesign. The referrer and I recommended that broader scope after onboarding, and the foundation signed on.

2. 2

   Site architecture

   Developed a sitemap centered on Home, Events, Dewachen, Learn, and Generosity pathways. Shifted from a clunky all-in-one platform to a CMS-driven Webflow architecture volunteers could extend over time.

3. 3

   Visual design & Dewachen storytelling

   Created a visual language that felt ancient, authentic, and service-oriented. Led with video on the Dewachen page to establish sanctuary vision and impact immediately, with responsive layouts tuned for a global mobile audience.

4. 4

   Fundraising strategy & donor pathways

   Designed the Founders for Peace and generosity flows so gifts mapped to tangible builds: fruit trees, statues, cabins, temple elements, and other sanctuary milestones. Made campaign progress legible so donors understood impact at each tier, not just a generic donate button.

5. 5

   Donation integration

   Integrated Givebutter connected to Stripe to streamline domestic and international giving. Reduced payment friction and gave the team clearer donor pathways for Dewachen capital support.

6. 6

   CMS architecture & volunteer training

   Built Webflow CMS collections for events, teachings, resources, and campaign updates. Trained volunteer contributors to publish and edit without developer intervention, setting up the database structure so the site could keep growing after launch.

7. 7

   Events & recurring programs

   Integrated Google Calendar for public event feeds and built support for recurring meditation and retreat listings. Enabled filtered views for online vs. in-person offerings as the sangha scaled globally.

8. 8

   International audience support

   Configured site-wide translation for multilingual visitors and refined mobile layouts where image sliders, video headers, and donation modules had been breaking on small screens.

9. 9

   Launch & refinement

   Deployed the site in late 2022 and continued refinement into 2023: recurring event features, slider and tracker polish, and CMS workflows as Dewachen milestones (including land purchase) moved forward.

10. 10

    Lessons: tangible giving beats abstract asks

    Tying dollar amounts to specific sanctuary elements (a tree, a statue, a structure) gave donors a mental model FlipCause never provided. Fundraising UX is strategy, not just a payment button.

11. 11

    Lessons: build for the volunteer editor

    A beautiful site fails if the people running it cannot update an event page on Tuesday night. CMS structure and training were as important as the hero video and donation tiers.

Outcome

Launched a mobile-responsive Webflow site that replaced a restrictive legacy platform, gave volunteers a CMS they could run themselves, and supported Dewachen fundraising with clear donor tiers tied to real sanctuary builds. The site helped the foundation reach critical land-purchase milestones and sustain sangha engagement across in-person and online programs.

Stack & services

• • Discovery & site strategy
• • Webflow design & development
• • Fundraising strategy & donor UX
• • Donation flow integration
• • CMS architecture & training
• • Event & recurring program setup
• • Deployment & launch support