"Technology with heart". This is the phrase used by Carlota Corzo, co-founder and CEO of the company Lázzaro, from A Coruña, to sum up the work that has been the focus of the company's activity since it was set up just two years ago.

The firm's goal is to help NGOs and social projects to promote the digital route and not miss out on opportunities due to the fact that there are too many tools or that it is complicated. This is the origin of its concept of microplatforms, a tool that offers everything an organisation might need to generate digital income, but in a more human way.

As well as helping organisations to publicise their social projects via simple-to-use tools, they enable donors to know where their funds are actually going.

Their designs provide transparency, security and traceability in the digital environment, so that potential donors increase their trust in NGOs and thus may be more likely to contribute to social causes.

The initial idea was to set up a crowdfunding project by developing a beta version of a tool in which seven small associations participated. The result was that in two months they raised 14,000 euros, which earned them their first awards as a successful innovative company.

The challenge of digitising the NGO sector

From there, they have focused on developing simple, inexpensive technology to be used by associations with social purposes. Carlota Corzo explains that in Spain only 8% of NGOs are digitalised, so the challenge is for them to apply different technological variables to their day-to-day work.

In most cases, these are very small associations with very limited funding, which is why Lázzaro helps them to increase their income and also to communicate everything they do, as the traditional way of doing so often does not allow them to reach a large number of potential donors.

The company managed to create a software that provides NGOs with a website with a variety of fundraising formulas in ten minutes. An intuitive and very easy-to-use tool that provides organisations with sustainable digitalisation while also generating income.

The fundraising platform is designed around BlockChain technology, which guarantees the transparency of the data and thus ensures that the true destination of the funds is known. Thirty NGOs have joined this proposal and in September they will resume fundraising in order to continue increasing their network of clients.

Starting out is complicated. For this reason, and in order to finance themselves, they have worked on customised web development for other types of companies and continue to invest in the platform with the proceeds. They are starting to create several direct jobs and hope to continue to generate employment.

"We work together for the digitalisation of sectors that were not yet digitalised, we seek funding to continue developing this business model and to ensure that what they are good at can be enhanced in a digital way," says the CEO of Lázzaro. Carlota Corzo insists on the importance of investing in creativity, innovation and design to implement all the digital tools to make sense of the business strategy and to be agile in its application. "This is the way to not die trying," she says.

NGOs can join this project free of charge for 15 days, set uptheir online application and have a consultancy session to guide them. From there, they must choose a plan from among those proposed by Lázzaro to continue fundraising. They work together to develop and design the tool, always focused on the user.

Among its clients are several national NGOs as well as Caritas in Peru, projects aimed at children in Ukraine, Paypal projects, and digital rights projects with a project that will take them to the Czech Republic in the coming months. The aim is to become a global product.