A "brick by brick" interactive donation platform to build a church

A parish set out to build a new church, with a chapel, a baptismal font, and spaces for the community. A project like this is raised by many families over several years, and the traditional way of asking for support has clear limits: the collection depends on who attends that day, the parish office keeps set hours, and many people no longer carry cash or live far away.

Beyond a way to pay, the campaign had other questions to answer:

• How to make progress visible. A construction goal is abstract; a community responds better when it can see what its gift builds.

• How to make each gift personal. Many families want to dedicate their gift to someone: to their family, in memory of a loved one, or for someone special.

• How to look after what gets published. If dedications are visible to everyone, someone at the parish has to review them first.

• How to include people who can't give money. In a community, people who invite others to join are helping too.

• How to keep the campaign going over time. A multi-year project needs stages that renew people's interest.

On top of that, the parish had no website of its own to bring together its schedules, its announcements, and its contact information, and to lead its community to the building campaign.

In 2026, AVILA® designed the entire platform: an interactive site where people "donate bricks" to build the church, and a new website for the parish, linked to the campaign.

A virtual wall built with the community

The core idea is simple: every donation is a brick. Donors choose how many bricks to give, dedicate them (to their family, in memory of someone, or for someone they love), and pick their spot on a virtual wall that represents the church's facade.

• Review before publishing. The parish office reviews each dedication before it appears on the wall.

• A wall you can explore. A legend tells apart the bricks that are placed, available, yours, and what comes next. Tapping a brick shows its dedication, you can zoom in and out with the mouse wheel or by pinching, and you can search for a family.

• Seasons. The campaign moves forward in seasons, and each season the facade lights up in a new color, so the community can see the work progressing.

• From the virtual wall to the real church. When construction is finished, a plaque in the church with a QR code will lead to the virtual wall, so every family can find its brick.

Two ways to give

• Card payments integrated with Mercado Pago Bricks. The payment form is embedded in the platform, without sending donors to another page, and Mercado Pago processes the card details.

• Bank transfer. Donors who prefer to transfer leave their email address and receive the account details and how to let the parish office know.

Taking part without giving money

Not everyone can donate, but everyone can invite. People who can't give financially get a personal link to share, and every family that joins through it counts in their name.

Built for the phone, in two languages

The platform was designed mobile-first, since that's where most people will open it, and it's available in Spanish and English. A short video explains how the campaign works in a few seconds.

The parish website

AVILA® also built the parish's website from scratch, with its own content management system (CMS): today's and tomorrow's Mass times, announcements and events, location, and contact. The website and the donation platform are linked, so visitors to one can find the other.

A donation campaign works better when the community can see what it's building and can take part in more than one way. If your organization needs to receive donations online or wants a system of its own for its operations, see quoting tools and internal systems, custom software, and websites, landing pages, and e-commerce.