Animal Shelter Solidarity Shop - PrestaShop E-commerce for Non-Profit Fundraising

When animal shelters need sustainable fundraising mechanisms beyond donations, e-commerce can provide a powerful solution. This pro-bono project involved creating a complete solidarity online store for Huellas Animal Shelter, enabling them to sell donated products and handcrafted items made by volunteers to generate ongoing revenue for animal care.

I developed a fully functional e-commerce platform using PrestaShop, featuring complete product catalog management, shopping cart functionality, customer account system, order processing, payment gateway integration, and comprehensive administration tools. The store was designed to handle both donated goods and volunteer-crafted products, providing the shelter with a sustainable income stream beyond traditional donations.

Project Status: Although the platform was completed and ready for deployment, the animal shelter ultimately lacked sufficient personnel to handle logistics and fulfillment. The store was never launched into production. If another animal shelter or NGO is interested in using this platform, I offer to deploy and adapt it to their needs completely free of charge.

The Social Challenge: Sustainable Fundraising for Animal Welfare

Animal shelters operate on tight budgets, relying primarily on sporadic donations while facing constant expenses for food, veterinary care, facilities, and staff. Creating sustainable revenue streams is crucial for long-term viability.

Critical Business Requirements:

• Zero-cost solution - Minimize expenses for the non-profit organization.
• Product catalog management - Handle diverse inventory from donations and handcrafted items.
• Easy administration - Simple enough for volunteers with limited technical skills.
• Payment processing - Secure integration with payment gateways.
• Customer accounts - Enable repeat customers and order tracking.
• Order fulfillment workflow - Manage the complete process from order to shipment.
• Donation tracking - Beyond product sales, accept direct donations.
• Volunteer engagement - Platform for volunteers to contribute handcrafted goods.

Why This Matters:

Animal shelters need predictable income to plan operations. While donations fluctuate unpredictably, product sales can provide more consistent revenue. Selling handcrafted items also engages volunteers in meaningful work while generating funds.

The Solution: PrestaShop Solidarity Platform

I chose PrestaShop as the e-commerce platform because it provided enterprise-grade features at zero cost, making it perfect for non-profit organizations. PrestaShop’s comprehensive feature set meant the shelter would have all necessary e-commerce capabilities without ongoing licensing fees.

Technology Choice: Why PrestaShop

PrestaShop Advantages for Non-Profits:

Zero Licensing Costs:

• Open-source software, completely free.
• No transaction fees (beyond payment gateway fees).
• No hosting requirements beyond standard PHP/MySQL.
• Sustainable long-term without recurring software costs.

Complete E-commerce Features:

• Product catalog with categories, images, variations.
• Shopping cart and checkout process.
• Customer account management.
• Order processing and fulfillment tracking.
• Payment gateway integrations (PayPal, credit cards).
• Shipping options and rate calculation.
• Inventory management.
• Comprehensive reporting and analytics.

User-Friendly Administration:

• Intuitive admin panel accessible to non-technical users.
• Visual product management.
• Simple order processing workflow.
• Easy customer communication tools.
• Built-in SEO optimization.

Extensibility:

• Thousands of free and paid modules for added functionality.
• Theme marketplace for customization.
• Multi-language support for international sales.
• Mobile-responsive out of the box.

Technology Stack

Component	Technology	Purpose
E-commerce Platform	PrestaShop 1.5	Complete e-commerce solution
Backend Language	PHP 5.4	Server-side application logic
Database	MySQL 5.5	Product, order, and customer data
Frontend	HTML5 + CSS3	Modern markup and styling
Interactivity	JavaScript + jQuery	Client-side user experience
Theme	Custom PrestaShop Theme	Branded appearance for shelter
Payment Gateway	PayPal Integration	Secure payment processing

Store Features: Customer Experience

The public-facing store provided a complete e-commerce experience optimized for both product browsing and donations.

Homepage and Navigation:

• Featured products highlighting best sellers and new arrivals.
• Category navigation for easy product discovery.
• Search functionality for finding specific items.
• Clear call-to-action for donations alongside shopping.
• Mission statement and shelter story to engage supporters.

Product Catalog:

• Product grid view with images and prices.
• Detailed product pages with multiple photos.
• Product descriptions emphasizing solidarity message.
• Option to indicate if product is donated vs. volunteer-crafted.
• Stock availability display.
• Related products and upselling opportunities.

Shopping Cart and Checkout:

• Persistent shopping cart preserving selections.
• Quantity adjustments and item removal.
• Shipping cost calculation based on location.
• Multiple payment options (PayPal, bank transfer, cash on delivery).
• Guest checkout and registered user checkout.
• Order summary and confirmation.

Customer Account Features

Registered customers received additional functionality encouraging repeat purchases and community engagement.

Customer Dashboard:

• Order history with status tracking.
• Saved shipping addresses for quick checkout.
• Account information management.
• Newsletter subscription for shelter updates.
• Order detail views with invoice downloads.

Order Tracking:

• Real-time order status updates.
• Shipping tracking number integration.
• Email notifications at each status change.
• Ability to request order modifications.
• Customer service contact integration.

Administration Panel: Managing the Store

The admin panel was designed to be accessible to volunteers with minimal technical training while providing comprehensive store management capabilities.

Product Catalog Management:

Product Creation and Editing:

• Simple product creation wizard.
• Multiple product images with drag-and-drop ordering.
• Product descriptions with rich text editor.
• Category assignment and filtering.
• Price and discount management.
• Stock quantity tracking with low-stock alerts.
• Product variation support (sizes, colors).

Batch Operations:

• Import products from CSV files.
• Bulk price updates.
• Mass category assignment.
• Bulk stock adjustments.

Order Management:

Order Processing Workflow:

• New order notifications and dashboard.
• Order status management (pending, paid, shipped, delivered).
• Printing packing slips and invoices.
• Shipping label integration (for supported carriers).
• Customer communication directly from order view.
• Payment status tracking.
• Refund and return processing.

Order Filtering and Search:

• Filter by status, date range, customer.
• Search by order number or customer name.
• Export order data for accounting.
• Sales analytics and reporting.

Customer Management:

• Complete customer database.
• Customer purchase history.
• Contact information management.
• Customer groups and segmentation.
• Newsletter subscriber management.
• Customer communication history.

Key Features for Non-Profit Operations

Beyond standard e-commerce features, the platform included specific capabilities beneficial for non-profit fundraising.

Donation Integration:

• Option to add donations at checkout.
• Standalone donation page.
• Recurring donation setup.
• Donation acknowledgment emails with tax receipt information.

Volunteer Product Contribution:

• Special product category for volunteer-crafted items.
• Attribution to volunteer makers (if desired).
• Profit tracking per volunteer to encourage participation.

Transparency and Storytelling:

• Product descriptions emphasizing the shelter’s mission.
• “Where your money goes” information on every page.
• Success stories featuring rescued animals.
• Photo gallery of shelter animals available for adoption.
• Integration with social media for community building.

Cost Optimization:

• Free PayPal Business account for payment processing.
• Free hosting options explored and documented.
• Guidance on free SSL certificates (Let’s Encrypt).
• Low-cost shipping partnerships investigated.
• Template emails to minimize staff time.

Technical Considerations

Hosting Requirements:

Given the non-profit nature, I researched and documented low-cost hosting solutions:

• Shared hosting plans (€3-5/month).
• VPS options for growth (€10-20/month).
• Free hosting options (with limitations).
• Volunteer-provided hosting possibilities.

Security Measures:

• SSL certificate for encrypted transactions.
• PCI DSS compliance guidance for payment processing.
• Regular PrestaShop security updates.
• Secure password policies for admin access.
• Backup procedures documentation.

Payment Processing:

• PayPal integration for lowest fees (2.9% + €0.35 per transaction).
• Bank transfer option for supporters avoiding fees.
• Cash on delivery for local customers.
• Stripe integration prepared as alternative.

Why the Project Was Never Deployed

Despite completing the platform, the shelter couldn’t launch the store due to operational challenges:

Logistics Constraints:

• Insufficient volunteers for packaging and shipping.
• No dedicated space for inventory storage.
• Lack of reliable transportation for shipments.
• No staff member available for daily order processing.

Lesson Learned: Technical solutions, no matter how complete, require operational capacity to succeed. The shelter’s volunteer base was already stretched thin with direct animal care, leaving no capacity for e-commerce operations.

Availability for Other Organizations

This platform remains available for deployment to other animal shelters or NGOs completely free of charge.

What’s Included:

• Complete PrestaShop installation and configuration.
• Custom theme adapted to your organization’s branding.
• Product catalog setup assistance.
• Payment gateway integration.
• Volunteer training on store administration.
• Documentation for ongoing management.
• Technical support during initial launch phase.

Requirements:

• Web hosting with PHP and MySQL support.
• Domain name for the store.
• Staff or volunteers dedicated to order processing and fulfillment.
• Products to sell (donated goods, crafts, merchandise).
• Commitment to responding to customer inquiries.

If your organization is interested, please contact me. I’m happy to help animal welfare organizations establish sustainable funding sources.

Key Learnings

1. Technical Solutions Require Operational Capacity - A perfect platform is useless without people to operate it. Future pro-bono projects should include upfront assessment of operational readiness.

2. PrestaShop is Excellent for Non-Profits - The zero-cost, feature-complete nature of PrestaShop makes it ideal for organizations with limited budgets.

3. Training and Documentation are Critical - Non-technical volunteers can successfully manage e-commerce platforms if provided with proper training and clear documentation.

4. Start Small, Scale Gradually - Animal shelters could begin with just a few handcrafted items to test processes before expanding inventory.

5. Community Engagement Multiplies Impact - Beyond revenue, the store could engage volunteers in productive activities and build community around the shelter’s mission.

Conclusion

Although this solidarity shop never saw production use, it represents a complete, ready-to-deploy e-commerce solution specifically designed for animal welfare organizations. The platform demonstrates how modern e-commerce technology can be made accessible to non-profits at zero cost while providing professional-grade functionality.

The project reinforced my commitment to pro-bono work for social causes and highlighted the importance of matching technical solutions with operational capacity. While the technology was ready, the organizational infrastructure was not.

The offer remains open: any animal shelter or NGO interested in establishing an online store for fundraising can contact me to deploy and adapt this platform to their needs, completely free of charge. Together, we can help more animals by providing shelters with sustainable funding mechanisms.

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Social Impact Note: Huellas Animal Shelter continues its important work caring for abandoned and rescued animals in Spain. While this e-commerce platform wasn’t ultimately deployed, other fundraising mechanisms have allowed them to continue their mission. Visit www.protectorahuellas.org to learn more and support their work.