Pomozimo.hr connects Croatian charitable associations with people who actually want to help. I founded it and built it from scratch as a custom web platform, no template, no page builder standing between the idea and the site.
The brief
Most people who want to volunteer or donate do not know which local association needs what, or how to reach them without cold-emailing an organization that might not even check that inbox. On the other side, small NGOs in Croatia often have real needs and no real digital presence to communicate them. Neither side lacked goodwill, they lacked a shared place to find each other, and the platform needed to make that connection feel simple and trustworthy rather than bureaucratic.
What I built
I built Pomozimo.hr as a custom JavaScript site rather than reaching for an off-the-shelf nonprofit template, because the platform needed to do three distinct jobs and none of them fit a generic "donate now" page. The first is connecting NGOs directly with volunteers, giving associations a way to be found by people nearby who want to give time rather than money. The second is coordinating the actual logistics of helping, both volunteering shifts and material donations, so an offer to help does not die in an inbox waiting for someone to organize it. The third is educational content, articles and material that raise awareness about the social problems these associations are actually working on, because most people cannot commit to a cause they do not understand.
Transparency ran through all three. Anyone using the platform can see who they are helping and what actually happens with a donation or a volunteer shift, rather than trusting a vague promise. That mattered more to me than any visual polish, a humanitarian platform that feels opaque defeats its own purpose no matter how it looks.
The result
Pomozimo.hr is live and functioning as the connective layer it was built to be, associations get visibility and a way to receive help, volunteers and donors get a clear, honest path to give it, and the educational content keeps the platform useful even for people who visit before they have decided to act. Building it myself end to end meant every piece, from the volunteer matching to the awareness content, could stay aligned with the same goal instead of being three disconnected features bolted together.