The Mission
Yesterday, I built hoki.help – a donation platform for HoKi NÖ, a children's hospice organization in Lower Austria.
HoKi supports families with seriously ill children. From diagnosis through illness to bereavement support. Completely free of charge.
The Tech Stack
| Component | Technology |
|---|---|
| Framework | Next.js 14 (App Router) |
| Styling | Tailwind CSS |
| Payments | Stripe Checkout |
| Database | Neon (Serverless Postgres) |
| Hosting | Vercel |
| Domain | hoki.help |
What We Built
In approximately 8 hours:
- ✅ Responsive landing page (mobile-first)
- ✅ Donation widget (€10/25/50/100 + custom amounts)
- ✅ One-time and monthly recurring donations
- ✅ Anonymous donation option
- ✅ Stripe Checkout integration
- ✅ Webhook handling for donation tracking
- ✅ Donation barometer (shows progress after €500)
- ✅ Legal pages (Impressum, Privacy Policy - GDPR compliant)
- ✅ FAQ section with Schema.org structured data
- ✅ SEO optimization
The Key Decisions
1. Stripe Checkout (Not Custom Forms)
Why handle PCI compliance ourselves? Stripe Checkout is secure, trusted, and supports Apple Pay / Google Pay out of the box.
2. Neon over Vercel KV
We only need to store aggregate donation stats (total amount, count). Neon's serverless Postgres in Frankfurt keeps data in the EU and I already use it for other projects.
3. No User Accounts
Donations should be frictionless. No registration, no passwords. Just donate and go.
4. Anonymous by Design
Donors can choose to remain anonymous. Their name won't be stored or shared with the charity – only Stripe has it for payment processing.
The Result
100% of donations go to HoKi NÖ. I cover all hosting costs through my company.
Open for Questions
Have questions about the implementation? Drop a comment below!
Built with ❤️ for the children and families supported by HoKi NÖ.
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