freeCodeCamp
Increased Monthly Donation Revenue 60.5% While Protecting A Free Learning Experience
Growing sustainable funding through better payment plumbing, clearer options, and smarter timing.
Client Snapshot
- Company
- freecodecamp.org
- Product
- Free online coding education and certifications
- Model
- Nonprofit funded by voluntary donations
- Scale
- 1M+ learners per day
The Situation
freeCodeCamp had a world-class product, massive reach, and a loyal community.
Historically, they funded operations through generous long-time supporters. But with rising economic uncertainty, Quincy Larson wanted a stronger, more predictable donation engine—especially from alumni and users whose lives had measurably improved.
Donations were meaningful but under-optimized. There was no sustained, systematic focus on the "donation funnel." They needed a second, deeper stream of support to secure the organization's long-term independence—without compromising the free experience that made the mission work.
The Plan
We focused on three high-leverage levers inside the donation funnel:
- 1.Fix the money plumbing: payment processing and revenue collection best practices
- 2.Increase average donation amount from people already willing to give
- 3.Optimize timing and frequency of donation nudges to grow revenue while minimizing friction
Everything was designed as small, testable changes, measured with hard numbers.
The Results
Over roughly six months of focused work, freeCodeCamp saw significant gains from fundamentals—not aggressive pressure: better payment plumbing, clearer options, smarter timing.
Monthly Donation Revenue
+60.5%
Total recurring and one-time donations per month
MRR from Donations
+63.5%
Monthly recurring revenue from active donors
New Donors
+59.5%
First-time donors acquired per month
Active Donors
+38.8%
Total donors with active recurring pledges
Avg Donation Per User
+18.7%
Average contribution amount per donor
Execution: What We Did
The fastest way to improve "donation churn" is to keep more of what's already pledged. Then lift average gifts and optimize when you ask.
Payment Processing & Revenue Collection
We started by making sure every possible donated dollar actually arrived and stayed.
- -Audited payment processing setup and enabled proper retry logic
- -Tightened revenue collection to reduce failed and lost charges
- -Expanded from a single default donation amount to a range of options
- -Added clearer impact messaging to each donation tier
Optimize For Higher Average Donations
Next, we worked to raise the average contribution from people already inclined to support.
- -Focused on users already inclined to support and increased the options presented
- -Redesigned the on-platform donation modal to clearly show impact of each level
- -Made suggested amounts align with the value freeCodeCamp provides over a learner's career
- -Small average-donation lifts compound heavily over thousands of donors
Test Timing & Frequency Of Donation Nudges
Finally, we experimented with where and when to ask for support.
- -Ran tests on when the modal appears during a session
- -Balanced revenue impact against user drop-off and frustration
- -Used on-brand visuals and copy so prompts felt like part of the learning experience
- -Donation asks positioned as natural extension of gratitude, not interruption
“[Testimonial placeholder]”
Founder, freeCodeCamp
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Software Engineer, freeCodeCamp
Why It Worked
High-Leverage Money Moments
Focused on the critical points inside an already-beloved product where donations happen.
Data-Driven Testing
Used data and testing to guide changes instead of guesswork.
Protected the Mission
Free, high-quality coding education stayed free. Donations became a natural extension of gratitude.
Ready to Do This for Your Organization?
If you run a mission-driven product with a donation or membership layer and want to grow revenue without betraying your users' trust, I can run the same Donation & Monetization Audit: fix the plumbing, lift average gifts, and architect a donation funnel that compounds over time.