The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) has been named joint winner of the Standout Charity Website of the Year award at the 2026 UK Digital Excellence Awards, alongside digital experience platform Liferay.
The project’s redesigned Report a Concern tool has helped cut response times to animal cruelty cases by 27 days, across a platform that supports 25.9 million annual sessions connecting the public with welfare services.
The award recognises the RSPCA’s digital transformation, delivered as part of its 200th-anniversary rebrand. Built on Liferay DXP, the digital estate, including the core website (rspca.org.uk), education site, Next Gen site, vets site and intranet, takes a user-centred approach to improve how the public discovers, engages with, and supports animal welfare online.
Jake Brown, Head of Digital Experience (DX), RSPCA, said: “We’re thrilled to win this award. As we mark more than 200 years of protecting animals, this project was more than a website redesign. We set out to rethink how animal welfare appears online – using research, data, and design to create digital experiences that motivate people to act and support us, ensuring we serve animals now and in the future. This award truly recognises that.”
Michael MacAuley, General Manager, Liferay UK & Ireland, said: “Most digital projects are measured in clicks and conversions. This one is measured in animals helped faster. Cutting 27 days off cruelty response times is what happens when you design for outcomes, not just engagement, and it’s what makes this project stand out.”
Beyond engagement metrics, the platform delivers measurable animal welfare outcomes. The streamlined rehoming service Find a Pet now attracts 6.4 million sessions annually, while its education product has drawn more than 4,000 teaching staff and 23,500 students since launch, expanding the charity’s reach to the next generation.
Donation conversion rates grew 2% year-on-year while the wider charity sector saw declines. Over 8,000 new national volunteers have joined through the platform, plus thousands more supporting local branches. The RSPCA now leads the animal welfare sector in organic search and Large Language Model visibility.
