How Nationwide Children’s Hospital Transformed their Donor Wall Experience
Nationwide Children’s Hospital has a stunning physical donor wall — a sweeping, colorful glass installation that lines a hospital corridor and honors the generosity of thousands of donors. But the digital experience that let visitors find their name on that wall told a very different story. The existing search tool was hard to navigate, visually dated, and limited: donors could search by name, but results only returned a row number, leaving them to look through the wall on their own. Nationwide Children’s Hospital wanted to close the gap between the physical installation and the search tool to something modern, mobile-friendly, and precise enough to actually guide a donor to their tile.
Project Highlights
100%
Mobile Responsive
Donors can search and explore on any device, anywhere
Smart Search
Search by any part of a name
Partial name search returns the exact column, tile, line, and color for every match.
Built-In
Luminate Online Integration
Built within Blackbaud Luminate Online®, no third-party tools required.
Our Solution
Discovery
We started with a thorough discovery process to understand how donors, families, and hospital visitors actually interact with the donor wall. That research shaped every design decision that followed, from layout to navigation to visual style.
Clean, Contemporary Design
We rebuilt the search interface with a modern look and intuitive layout that makes exploring the wall feel effortless. It’s a significant visual and functional upgrade from what was there before and one that better reflects the caliber of the organization it represents.
Intuitive Name Search
The old search required an exact name match and returned only a row number, which left donors squinting at hundreds of tiles trying to locate their own. The new search accepts any portion of a name and returns precise results: column, tile, and line on the physical wall, color-coordinated to match the donor’s actual tile. What used to be a frustrating scavenger hunt is now a clear, confident moment of recognition.
Mobile-First Responsiveness
The new interface was built to work beautifully on phones, tablets, and desktops alike. Donors no longer need to be standing in the hospital or directly at the display kiosk to find their name on the wall. They can share the experience from anywhere.
Built Within Luminate Online
Rather than introducing a separate tool, we built the entire experience within Blackbaud Luminate Online®. This kept the solution tightly integrated with Nationwide Children’s existing tech stack and avoided the complexity of managing an additional platform.
The Results
We were able to help Nationwide Children’s Hospital enhance its donor recognition experience by delivering a modern, mobile-responsive virtual donor wall built entirely within their existing platform.
The new interface gives donors a seamless way to find their tile, whether they’re standing in the hospital corridor or sitting at home. The Nationwide Children’s team was excited about the final product, and the upgrade meaningfully closes the gap between their extraordinary physical donor wall and the digital experience that supports it.
The updated screens in the Nationwide lobby include a QR code leading visitors directly to the mobile donor wall interface.
Client Testimonial
“Working with Doing Good Digital on this project was seamless from start to finish. They took the time to understand both our goals and our donors’ needs, ensuring the final solution aligned with our vision. The team delivered a search experience that’s intuitive, fast, and built right into the platform we already use.”
Molly Reynolds
Vice President, Advancement Services,
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
FAQ
No changes to the physical wall are needed. The digital experience is designed to complement and represent whatever physical installation already exists. Doing Good Digital works from your existing donor data and wall layout to build the virtual counterpart.
Building within Blackbaud Luminate Online® kept the experience tightly integrated with Nationwide Children’s existing donor data and website infrastructure. It reduced complexity, avoided a new vendor relationship, and gave the team a solution they could manage within a platform they already know.
Yes. While this project was built on Luminate Online, Doing Good Digital has experience across multiple platforms and can scope a virtual donor wall solution to fit your tech stack. The approach adapts to your existing tools rather than requiring a platform switch.
Scope and timeline vary depending on the complexity of the wall, the volume of donor data, and platform requirements. Doing Good Digital scopes each project individually after an initial discovery conversation. Reach out at doinggoodagency.com to start that conversation.
Ready to Modernize Your Donor Wall?
Does your donor recognition experience feel stuck in the past? Doing Good Digital can help you build something your donors will actually want to explore. Get in touch at doinggoodagency.com.
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