BegsList

My entry to a contest held by BegsList ([link]). I and 3 other designers were selected out of 17 designers to the finals.

Business name
BegsList.org

Description of business
Our website allows people to create posts asking others for money. Our target audience is generally individuals seeking a charity-like service for assistance during difficult times.

Business industry
Internet

Existing website
www.begslist.org

Number of pages needed
1

Page descriptions
For this contest, what we're looking for is a redesign of our Home page. We would love to see some creative new ways of laying out the items on the page, so feel free to get creative and artistic with the design. We would like to keep the design fairly light and easy to use.

We would like to include the current sections on the new page. We also have a new section we would like to include in the design that tells information about the user. You can see it in this screenshot -> [link]

A couple of things we'd like to note:
- The "BegsList Phone Verified" we would like to be made into some sort of icon that we can stamp on posts that are verified.
- Please include some sample stylized form elements (input box, checkbox, etc) with your design, and hovers for anything applicable (links, buttons, etc).
- We would like to see a "fat footer" that has links with additional information (very similar to the footer on dropbox.com).
- Please incorporate a PayPal Verified seal somewhere on the site design (although don't make it a focal point)
Websites for inspiration

GoFundMe.com - This is a great example of a site in our industry that has a nice, professional looking layout. We would like to look slightly more like a charity than this site, and maybe not throw so much stuff on a single page. But we're a huge fan of the general design. We want to look professional and legitimate.

justgive.org - Not quite as nice looking aesthetically as the one above, but we love the fact that it clearly conveys that they're there to help people.

redcross.org - Another charity site.
Further requirements

=What your website does and target audience=

Our website allows people to create posts asking others for donations. Our target audience is generally individuals seeking a charity-like assistance during difficult times.

=What ideas do you have for the style/theme of your website design?=

Our goal is to give the site a more charity and legitimate feeling. We want to convey the look that we're a professional organization that is here to help people. We'd also like to see a design that looks sleek and modern as well. I would also like to give the site a more artsy feel.

When people come to BegsList, we want them to feel like this is a place where they can get help. The current site does a so-so job at doing that.

=Is there anything that should be avoided?=

Even though our site is a cyberbegging site, we don't want to take any inspiration from our competitors. A lot of them run sites that don't look great, and we really want to go more in the "charity," legitimate direction than the "cyberbegging," unprofessional direction. Most of our competitors have an "old school" and outdated design that looks like their sites were created over a decade ago.

Examples of bad sites include:
[link]
[link]
[link]

We want a more updated looking website.

We like the fact that when you enter some of our "inspired sites" above, you feel like they're there to help people. At BegsList, our goal is to help individuals in their time of need. So conveying that to the user is very important to us.

Also, here is our sample photo containing the site elements we would like you to include in your design -> [link]

Please note that the screenshot contains some additional elements from a newer version of BegsList.org than what you see on our current website, so please make sure to look primarily at the screenshot and include all of those elements. Some of them might be missing on the home page.