Charlie’s Angels is a foster home-based dog and cat rescue in Costa Rica. It’s a wonderful organization that has helped improve the lives of thousands of animals — and it was, by far, the most wholesome project I’ve ever worked on.

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Costa Rica faces a serious problem with the overpopulation of homeless dogs and cats. There are no government-run animal shelters, leaving the responsibility to individuals, families, and private rescue organizations like Charlie’s Angels. To grow its impact, Charlie’s Angels needed a website that could attract more fosters, volunteers, adopters, and donors. The site needed to grab attention, tell a compelling story, and make it easy for people to take action in a way that works for them—all while keeping ongoing website maintenance as effortless as possible.

We kicked things off with a few creative workshops, moodboards, and a deep dive into other animal rescue organizations for inspiration. One insight stood out early on: most of Charlie’s Angels’ supporters are English-speaking expats, many of them retired and living in Costa Rica. That shaped a lot of our early decisions, especially building the site in English first (with a localized Spanish version on the roadmap). From the beginning, we knew we wanted to lean into high-quality photography and strike a tone that felt serious but still warm and wholesome. The kind of feeling that grabs your attention with a sweet puppy face but gently reminds you why the help is so urgently needed. Illustrations were part of the design exploration, but we kept them subtle and intentional. They can be charming, but too much can sugarcoat the message. We wanted to stay grounded in reality — hopeful, not fluffy. During discovery, we also identified two major user experience needs: Streamlined application forms. Simple, clear, and (dare I say it?) even pleasant to fill out. These forms also had to work hard behind the scenes: automating tasks so that Charlie’s Angels’ small team could spend more time on rescue work and less on admin. Recurring donations were another key opportunity we uncovered. Up until now, Charlie’s Angels had only offered one-time donation options but introducing a subscription model could make a big difference. From my own experience fundraising for Doctors Without Borders, I saw firsthand how powerful predictable, monthly donations can be. Over three years, my efforts added up to an estimated €300K  and that would definitely not have been possible with one-time gifts. You start to approach it less like a transaction and more like a relationship — and the level of support that grows out of that is so much greater. Recurring donations don’t just increase total contributions over time they bring predictability, which is especially valuable for a small, volunteer-driven team like Charlie’s Angels. When you know what’s coming in each month, you can make smarter decisions about food, medical supplies, and how many animals you can commit to helping. It turns guesswork into a game plan and that means every donation stretches further, and every rescue becomes more sustainable.

There was a strong attachment to the existing logo, which has been used for over 10 years and is widely recognized by the local community. Instead of starting from scratch, we decided to refine and polish the current logo. Preserving the existing brand equity while giving it a fresh feel. The overall look aimed to balance warmth and seriousness. We included a few photos of animals in distress to convey the need for support, but kept it subtle, avoiding the guilt-heavy style some organizations use. The color palette was light and soft: primarily beige, red-brown, orange, and a hint of complementary turquoise. The bright orange served as an effective accent color for call-to-actions, helping them stand out without overwhelming the design. For typography, we explored several options and settled on Newake. A bold, clean sans-serif with subtle playfulness. Paired with Izoard Soft for body text. Together, they create a friendly yet professional feel that’s easy to read.

We aimed for a seamless flow that would guide users to take the right action. I began by analyzing other animal rescue websites to understand what worked well (and what didn’t). From this, I built a prioritized list of requirements and mapped out a strategic site structure. Next, I created a prototype in Figma, focusing on intuitive navigation, emotional storytelling, and vibrant visual energy — all designed to inspire visitors to take action.

As with most of my projects, I built the site using the Client-First framework by Finsweet. A clean, scalable approach that makes everything easier to manage, whether you're updating global styles or handing the project off to another developer down the line. For this one, I went all-in on custom animations using GSAP and some carefully crafted CSS. Every animation was built from scratch, which gave me full creative freedom and helped keep performance smooth across the board. The application forms were a big focus. With multiple forms and varying use cases, I coded them using JavaScript and jQuery to make the experience as smart and user-friendly as possible. For example, non-essential questions are hidden unless they're relevant, based on what the user inputs — so the forms feel shorter and more intuitive. To keep things budget-friendly (and smooth to use), I integrated Uploadcare as a third-party image uploader. This let us avoid the need for a Webflow Business plan, cutting costs without sacrificing the user experience. Once an application is submitted, it’s automatically sent to a well-organized Airtable base using Make — which keeps everything tidy for the Charlie’s Angels team. Admin tasks that used to be manual and time-consuming are now fast, streamlined, and largely automated. We also built a system that makes it easy to manage the list of adoptable animals, including archiving adopted pets without losing any data. Looking ahead, there’s potential to integrate Finsweet’s CMS Bridge, which would fully sync Airtable with Webflow and allow the team to manage everything from a single place. It’s a powerful next step that could bring even more ease and efficiency to their workflow.

The foundation is solid — the site loads fast, has a clean structure, and key best practices are already in place. That said, there’s still room for deeper SEO optimization. Things like refining image file sizes, tightening up title tags and meta descriptions, and expanding alt text and schema markup could all help improve visibility. There’s even potential to introduce a blog in the future — offering guides on animal care, adoption tips, and more — which would not only support the mission, but also drive long-term organic traffic. It’s all part of the bigger picture of helping Charlie’s Angels reach more people and create lasting impact. Once that’s complete, I’ll circle back here and update this with the results — especially any impact we see in visibility, traffic, and engagement.

This project meant a lot to me — not just professionally, but personally. Helping bring more visibility to an organization that saves lives every single day was a privilege. Huge thanks to Letti and Chi from MushroomTao for believing in the mission, sponsoring the work, and trusting me to bring it to life. I’m excited to see how this new site helps Charlie’s Angels reach more people, rescue more animals, and keep spreading compassion in Costa Rica and beyond.