The story is all too familiar for nonprofits—there’s always so much to do and never enough staff, funding, or time to manage it all. When resources are stretched thin, simply keeping daily operations running can take valuable time away from working toward your organization’s mission.
For many nonprofit organizations, the right technology can make all the difference, helping overcome limitations in order to fulfill their mission, scale their services, and have greater impact on the world.
“A lot of charities tend to be scared of using technology, or they just try to use pen and paper,” says Miruna Harpa, Head of Breaks Delivery at UK-based charity Carefree. “They don’t realize that if they take that step forward and use technology, they can reach so many more people and do so much more. That's my biggest advice to other nonprofits, to not be afraid to do it.”
Carefree supports unpaid carers by matching them with vacant hotel rooms to provide a much-needed short break. They’ve increased their growth rate by 500% in the last two years—simply by finding the right technology to help run their organization. They can now serve 7,000 more carers every year than they did before—and they can do it in a more personalized way.
“We couldn’t reach many of the people we serve or deliver the numbers we’re doing now without the right tech. We simply wouldn't be able to offer the help we do at the scale we do,” explained Miruna.
Carefree gives unpaid carers a needed break
Carefree’s mission is to offer short breaks to unpaid carers by partnering with hotels across the UK, matching carers with vacant hotel rooms so they can enjoy a night or two away, getting some time to themselves and a good night’s sleep.
These breaks improve their wellbeing and help them cope with their caring responsibilities. According to their Impact Report, time off also "boosts the quality of care they are able to provide their cared-for person and reduces pressure on public finances by preventing carer breakdown.” 88% of these carers wouldn’t have been able to take the time away without their services.
With over 5 million unpaid carers in the UK facing similar challenges, Carefree aims to scale their services as much as possible in the coming years.
Finding the best technology for Carefree’s unique needs
From the early days of Carefree, which launched in 2016, it was clear that technology needed to play a central role in operations if the team wanted to help a large number of carers. “There isn’t a lot of money in the charity sector, so we couldn’t afford to hire the number people we would need to help every carer book a break on the phone,” said Miruna.
The first software they used was a platform to manage hotel room inventory. It helped them register 10,000 carers over seven years, but in 2023, they were given just one week’s notice that it would shut down. The team was scrambling to find another solution to keep Carefree going, especially with their limited funding and complex needs.
That’s when they came across Glide and teamed up with no code developer Petr Shemyagin to build a specialized platform for Carefree. Hiring Petr as a Glide Expert allowed them to build a custom solution within a charity-sized budget. And unlike off-the-shelf software, Glide’s customizability allowed them to connect their carer-facing systems to the complicated platforms used by their hotel partners.
“Glide came into our life at a time when we were at a crossroads of Carefree almost not existing anymore,” says Miruna. “It was like a new life.”
With Petr’s help and the new software, Carefree registered 17,000 new carers in just two years, growing over 5x faster than they ever had before. Miruna attributes this to how quickly they can make changes to their new platform in Glide, something they weren’t able to do earlier.
“If we realize carers are struggling with something, we can make a change overnight,” says Miruna. “If our hotel partners want a new feature, it can literally happen the same day. We can make sure everyone's happy, and they have what they need. The growth that we've seen is because of that ability.”
Connecting the moving parts of a complicated operation
A well-earned break for unpaid carers involves coordination between Carefree, carers, hotels, and community partners, which are local carer support organizations in the UK. They need to be able to register carers, help them book rooms, receive availability information from their 180 hotel partners, and communicate current booking status back to them.
They also have to have detailed visibility so they can manage the reporting required of registered charities and use data analytics to show impact and apply for further funding.
Carefree makes all this happen with the help of six interconnected Glide apps that work seamlessly together:
Carers Space—Where carers get registered, complete the self-referral process, and request their break once registration is complete. The app has a list of all Carefree’s hotel partners and their availability, so carers can request the hotel and date that works best for them.
Hospitality Partners Space—Ysed by hotel partners, where they can find impact data, see a list of all the breaks donated by their hotel, find testimonials from carers, and refer employees who have caring responsibilities, so they can enjoy a Carefree break.
Booking Management—Used by hotel partners to process all the booking requests we send them
Community Partners Space—Used by community partners (local carer support organisations and councils) who refer carers to us and can see live data on whether the carers are actually using their breaks and also see feedback from carers after the break. They can also use it to see how recently their referred carers have taken a break and encourage them to do so if it’s been too long.
Back of House—The internal app the Carefree team uses to process all booking requests and manage all carer related data.
Impact App—An analytics platform where the head of product gets all the metrics and data needed for reporting.
Carers, community partners, and hotels each get a personalized experience that meets their needs and bhind the scenes, the Carefree team can manage it all without overworking themselves. “We’ve achieved a lot of success using Glide, and we’re planning to use it long term,” says Petr.
With the system in place, the Carefree team can focus on supporting carers without worrying about technical barriers.
Making technology accessible for carers and the team
To effectively reach the population they’re trying to help, a charity has to adapt their approach to the needs of the people they’re serving. Miruna estimates that 80% of Carefree’s carers don’t like using technology, and their caring obligations don’t leave them a lot of time to learn a complicated tool. It was vital for them to create a carer-facing interface that was as easy to use as possible.
“There are still many carers who would love for us to pick up the phone and stay an hour and book a break for them,” says Miruna. “It’s a lot of people that probably use their phones once a week to send a message, and they’ve been able to book a break using the app. That's a great attestation to how user-friendly Glide is.”
The ease-of use of their new app, combined with the tutorial videos their team created have helped carers successfully book 6,000 breaks in the past two years.
Not only was the interface user-friendly, the platform was easy enough that the Carefree team could step in and make updates themselves. “Literally anyone can do it,” says Miruna. “I'm not very techy, and I'm comfortable with going into the back end and making changes.” That ability gave Miruna and her team the ability to quickly adapt their software whenever the charity’s needs changed.
Why nonprofits should embrace technology with confidence
Carefree’s experience shows how impactful the right tools can be for nonprofits and charities, especially those trying to tackle big issues with limited resources. In his professional experience, however, Petr has seen that too many are still catching up when it comes to using technology to expand their impact.
“The nonprofit sector still does many things on paper or with Google Sheets, because they just don't have enough money to build a full code project. They don't even know about the existence of no code tools,” says Petr. “You can build almost anything now without using code or without huge budgets. No code tools like Glide can save you a huge amount of money spent on human resources and can help you scale and do a much more effective job. And it's not difficult. Almost anyone can either do it themselves or hire someone to do it.”
For Miruna, the most meaningful thing their app has given them is focus. The less energy she's had to dedicate to logistics, the more she's been able to pour into supporting their mission and the people her work is helping.
"Having the right tools has helped us focus on what really matters—reaching and supporting more unpaid carers, while staying responsive to their changing needs."
‘’At Carefree, our mission is to support unpaid carers, and Glide has made a world of difference in how we achieve that mission," she says. "By removing technical barriers, it’s given us the freedom to adapt and grow at a pace we never thought possible. It’s been an invaluable tool in helping us make a greater impact.’’
