Western region, Uganda
Donum Partner Platform: a free tool for refugee-led organisations
A free, safe tool for refugee-led organisations to record needs, prove delivery and follow up, so more money reaches them.
Planned project
This is a project we plan to build. None of the approvals it needs has been granted yet. Each one is listed below with its status, and nothing that needs an approval starts until it is granted.
Isingiro District, next to Nakivale Refugee Settlement. The exact plot is not yet bought.
50+
Refugee-led organisations in Uganda
(RELON Uganda, undated) (Refugees International, 2026-06-30)
30
Organisations in the first year
trained, with devices
7
Languages
and an app that works without a connection
$2,713
Running cost per organisation a year
hosting, support, an independent security test
To build
$138,367
once
To run
$81,400
a year; Donum pays it all
Its share of the Donum Endowment
$2,035,000
running cost divided by 4%
In all
$2,173,367
opens December 2027 (planned)
$0 of $2,173,367
Pledge to this project Read the whole plan
If a project cannot go ahead, because an approval it needs is refused or its building has not begun within five years, everyone who gave to it is offered their money back or a move to another planned project.
Why it matters
- Refugee-led organisations are chronically underfunded, excluded from direct grants and held back by rules built for international NGOs (Refugees International, 2026-06-30).
- As international agencies retreat, more of the work falls to them (Refugees International, 2026-06-30); what they most often lack is a way to show what they did with the money.
- Their grants are small (seed grants of up to USD 25,000 (Global Compact on Refugees, undated)), so they cannot buy systems built for large agencies.
Read more
With Uganda's refugee response funding down by more than half (The Observer, 2026-07-02), donors that do fund locally want proof of delivery. A tool that keeps honest records the way Donum does lowers the cost of that proof for organisations that know their communities best.
What the evidence says
We found no rigorous evaluation of digital case management for community organisations in refugee settings, so the platform is treated as an innovation: its evaluation is built in from the start, comparing the 30 organisations' verified deliveries and funding with those of others.
What it is
Donum has built a system for its own work: a need is checked, the gift is priced item by item, delivery is signed for by the person and by whoever delivered it, someone else checks a sample, and the result is followed up at six months and a year. The Partner Platform is a separate, shared version of that system, offered free to refugee-led organisations.
Read more
It works on a phone or a tablet without a connection and sends its records when it finds one. People without smartphones answer follow-ups by text message or a USSD code. It is translated into French, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Somali, Arabic and Lingala.
Thirty organisations get two rugged tablets and a solar charger each, and three days of training at the campus.
When it happens
Opens December 2027 (planned).
- Designed with partners
- Built
- Checked for safety
- Pilot
- Open to thirty
Read more: approvals and stages
Approvals
| Approval | From whom | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration as a data controller | Personal Data Protection Office | Not yet granted | |
| Data protection impact assessment, signed | Donum's lawyer | Not yet granted | |
| Data-sharing agreement signed with each organisation | Each partner organisation | Not yet granted |
Its stages
- Designed with partners. Done means: Ten refugee-led organisations have tested the design on paper and their changes are written down.
- Built. Done means: The tool works end to end in the sandbox, in English and French.
- Checked for safety. Done means: An independent security test has found no open serious problem, and the data protection assessment is signed.
- Pilot. Done means: Ten organisations have used it for three months and their follow-ups are recorded.
- Open to thirty. Done means: Thirty organisations are using it, trained, with devices.
What it costs, and why
Where the building money goes
- $57,366 to build it with two developers and a mobile developer; $20,247 for data protection and an independent security test; $41,330 for 60 tablets, solar chargers and training.
Where the running money goes
- $37,800 a year for support; $15,700 for hosting; $18,600 for the yearly security test and data protection.
Running this place costs $81,400 a year. At 4% a year, that needs $2,035,000 invested in the Donum Endowment, which is never spent: only its returns pay the running costs, every year.
Every part
None yet. Choose All to see everything.
Designing it with the people who will use it $6,849 · still needs $6,849 · Planned
-
Design workshops in Nakivale with 10 refugee-led organisations, with interpreters and transport
$6,849 · still needs $6,849 · Planned
How we reached this figure: Our estimate
Can start before approvals
-
Building it $57,366 · still needs $57,366 · Planned
-
Two developers for 6 months: a shared version of Donum's own system for checking needs, delivery and follow-ups
$29,589 · still needs $29,589 · Planned
How we reached this figure: 2 people, 6 months, UGX 9,000,000 a month
Can start before approvals
-
One developer for 6 months: an Android app that works without a connection
$14,795 · still needs $14,795 · Planned
How we reached this figure: 6 months at UGX 9,000,000
Can start before approvals
-
Software tools and AI coding subscriptions for 6 months
$1,200 · still needs $1,200 · Planned
How we reached this figure: USD 200 a month
Can start before approvals
-
Text message and USSD follow-ups for people without smartphones: setup and code
$4,110 · still needs $4,110 · Planned
How we reached this figure: Our estimate
Can start before approvals
-
Translation into French, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Somali, Arabic and Lingala
$7,672 · still needs $7,672 · Planned
$1,096 a language, 7 needed
How we reached this figure: 7 at UGX 4,000,000
Can start before approvals
-
Keeping people's information safe $20,247 · still needs $20,247 · Planned
-
Independent security test before launch
$12,000 · still needs $12,000 · Planned
How we reached this figure: USD 12,000
Can start before approvals
-
Data protection impact assessment by a lawyer
$4,110 · still needs $4,110 · Planned
How we reached this figure: Our estimate
Can start before approvals
-
Data-sharing agreements for each partner organisation
$4,110 · still needs $4,110 · Planned
How we reached this figure: Our estimate
Can start before approvals
-
Registration with the Personal Data Protection Office
$27 · still needs $27 · Planned
How we reached this figure: UGX 100,000 a year
Can start before approvals
-
Devices and training $41,330 · still needs $41,330 · Planned
-
60 rugged tablets, two for each of 30 organisations
$23,040 · still needs $23,040 · Planned
$384 a tablet, 60 needed
How we reached this figure: 60 at UGX 1,400,000
-
30 solar chargers
$4,920 · still needs $4,920 · Planned
$164 a solar charger, 30 needed
How we reached this figure: 30 at UGX 600,000
-
Three days of training for 2 people from each of 30 organisations
$5,151 · still needs $5,151 · Planned
How we reached this figure: 60 people, 3 days at UGX 60,000, plus trainers UGX 8,000,000
-
Independent evaluation of the pilot
$8,219 · still needs $8,219 · Planned
How we reached this figure: Our estimate
-
Fees, taxes and contingency $12,575 · still needs $12,575 · Planned
-
Contingency for what nobody can see yet (10%)
$12,575 · still needs $12,575 · Planned
How we reached this figure: 10% of everything above. Whatever is not used goes to this project's running costs (its endowment)
-
Keeping it running: its share of the Donum Endowment $2,035,000 · still needs $2,035,000 · Planned
-
Staff pay, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns
$945,000 · still needs $945,000 · Planned
How we reached this figure: $37,800 a year divided by 4%
-
Fuel, supplies and services, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns
$392,500 · still needs $392,500 · Planned
How we reached this figure: $15,700 a year divided by 4%
-
Audits, licences and surveys, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns
$465,000 · still needs $465,000 · Planned
How we reached this figure: $18,600 a year divided by 4%
-
Replacing equipment as it wears out, for good: paid every year from the endowment's returns
$232,500 · still needs $232,500 · Planned
How we reached this figure: $9,300 a year divided by 4%
-
Read more: running costs, line by line
| Running cost | A year |
|---|---|
| Support team: 2 support and training officers, and a part-time developer | $37,800 |
| Hosting, databases and backups | $1,800 |
| Text messages and USSD sessions for follow-ups | $2,500 |
| Data for 60 tablets (UGX 30,000 a month each) | $5,900 |
| Independent security test, every year | $12,000 |
| Data protection officer, on retainer | $6,600 |
| Replacing tablets and chargers every 3 years | $9,300 |
| Training new organisations | $5,500 |
| Total | $81,400 |
These are estimates, in 2026 prices. Before anything is bought, a quote from a builder or seller we checked replaces each one, and this page shows the change.
Who runs it, who pays, and who else is there
Model A. Donum builds it, owns it and runs it, and refugee-led organisations use it free. Each organisation owns its own records.
- No government body or UN agency builds this for small organisations; UNHCR's registration system is for refugees, not for organisations' own delivery records, and the platform does not copy it.
Read more: keeping it running
Donum runs the platform and keeps it safe: two support and training officers, a part-time developer, hosting and backups, text messages for follow-ups, data for the tablets, an independent security test every year and a data protection officer on retainer. Tablets are replaced every three years. All of it is paid from the endowment, and refugee-led organisations pay nothing.
Running it costs $81,400 a year, paid from the returns of its share of the Donum Endowment.
What it will achieve
- 30 refugee-led organisations using it by the end of the first year.
- Every gift they record with a delivery confirmation and a follow-up at six months and a year.
- No serious security finding left open, checked by an independent test every year.
Read more: how we worked these numbers out
$81,400 a year over 30 organisations is about $2,713 each, for hosting, support, devices replaced on a cycle and an independent security test every year. As more organisations join, the cost per organisation falls.
How we will know
- Organisations actively using it each month
- Share of recorded gifts with a signed delivery and a follow-up
- Independent security test results
- What the organisations say, in a yearly survey
Read more: what could go wrong
- A data breach would harm people who are already at risk. Privacy is designed in first: separate records, the least data needed, encryption, an independent test before launch and every year, and a data protection officer on retainer.
- Organisations try it and stop. It is designed with ten organisations before it is built, piloted for three months, and evaluated independently.
Questions people ask
Who owns the data?
Each organisation owns its own records. People's details are protected under Uganda's Data Protection and Privacy Act, and nothing is published without written agreement.
Why would organisations use it?
Because it is free, works offline in their languages, and saves them time when donors ask for proof.
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