Case study · humanitarian reliefDecember 2025

LIA Relief Trust

After a cyber attack compromised LIA Relief Trust's WordPress website, Techno Serve contained the breach, hardened the infrastructure, and migrated the site to a secure CMS with zero data loss — then rolled out iCHARMS to run donor management, the call centre, orphan sponsorship and programmes, backed by fully managed hosting, maintenance and end-to-end Gift Aid.

Website RecoveryWebsite Security UpgradeWordPress to CMS MigrationManaged HostingWebsite MaintenanceGift Aid ManagementiCHARMS

client

LIA Relief Trust

delivered in · Ongoing partnership

Sector

Humanitarian relief

Started

Nov 2025

Strategy

Recover · Migrate · Transform

Core product

iCHARMS

iCHARMS modules

CRM · Call centre · Sponsorship · Programmes

Website

WordPress → secure CMS

Gift Aid

Managed end-to-end

Support

Fully managed

Outcomes

The numbers that moved.

01hardened

hardened

WordPress installation

Outdated & exposed→Modern security best practices

02removed

removed

Malicious code

Injected→Clean, malware-free codebase

03new

new

Security monitoring

None→Continuous monitoring

04hardened

hardened

Access controls

Weak→Strong controls & 2FA

05zero data loss

zero data loss

Website platform

Vulnerable WordPress→Secure CMS

06unified

unified

Back office

Spreadsheets→iCHARMS

The full picture

Every number, in detail.

Phase 1 — Website security upgrade

Neutralise the threat, restore the site, and build a security posture that can withstand future attacks.

Before	After
Outdated WordPress installation	Modern security best practices
Vulnerable plugins & themes	Hardened server environment
No security monitoring	Continuous security monitoring
Weak access controls	Strong access controls & 2FA
Injected malicious code	Clean, malware-free codebase

Phase 2 — WordPress to secure CMS migration

Restoring WordPress was not enough. We migrated the entire site to a secure, scalable CMS purpose-built for reliability.

Zero data loss

Migration

content, structure & URLs

Enterprise-grade security

Platform

as standard

Faster page loads

Performance

better Core Web Vitals

Future-ready

Architecture

no plugin bloat

iCHARMS — one system, four modules

Replacing disconnected spreadsheets with a single, secure charity management platform.

Module	What it runs
Charity management CRM	Centralised administration with role-based access, encryption and audit trails
Call centre	Interaction logging, call tracking, support requests and full communication history
Orphan sponsorship	Full sponsorship lifecycle — sponsor management, profiles, payment monitoring and progress reporting
Programme management	Planning, beneficiary records, budgets, project monitoring and activity reporting

Managed hosting, maintenance & Gift Aid

Ongoing services that keep the site healthy, secure and compliant so the internal team can focus on the mission.

24/7 uptime monitoring

Hosting

secure, high-availability

Regular & automated

Backups

Security & software patching

Maintenance

proactive checks

Managed end-to-end

Gift Aid

HMRC claims

Results & benefits

Every outcome is a genuine result of the partnership.

Recovered & hardened

Security

Migrated to secure CMS

Website

Streamlined on iCHARMS

Operations

Reliable long-term support

Partnership

No invented numbers — these are qualitative outcomes confirmed by the client, spanning stronger security, recovery from compromise, easier website management, streamlined sponsorship admin and greater operational confidence.

The brief

What we set out to solve.

Website compromise

Malicious code was injected into the WordPress site, damaging trust and functionality and putting donor and beneficiary records at potential risk.

Security vulnerabilities

Outdated plugins and weak configuration left the site exposed, and WordPress alone could not meet the charity's security needs.

Risk to organisational data

Donor and beneficiary records were at potential risk, threatening organisational continuity and donor trust.

Need for a long-term partner

One-off fixes were not enough — the charity needed a future-ready platform and a reliable partner to grow with them.

Our approach

How it came together.

A calm, four-step rhythm — we listen first, sketch in the open, build in tight loops, then tend the result long after launch.

Contain & recover

We responded immediately, contained the damage, removed the injected malicious code and restored a clean, malware-free site.

Harden security

We rebuilt the security posture with a hardened server environment, continuous monitoring, strong access controls and 2FA.

Migrate to a secure CMS

We migrated the full content, structure and URLs from WordPress to a secure, scalable CMS with enterprise-grade security and zero data loss.

Transform with iCHARMS

We implemented iCHARMS to run donor management, the call centre, orphan sponsorship and programmes, and took on fully managed hosting, maintenance and Gift Aid.

What we shipped

10 deliverables

Emergency incident response and malware removal
Security upgrade: hardened server, continuous monitoring, 2FA and strong access controls
Full WordPress-to-CMS migration with zero data loss
Managed hosting with 24/7 uptime monitoring and automated backups
Ongoing website management and maintenance
End-to-end Gift Aid management via HMRC Charities Online
iCHARMS charity management CRM
Call centre management module
Orphan sponsorship management system
Programme management module

Gallery

A look at the work.

LIA Relief Trust homepage — Homepage — appeals front and centre

LIA Relief Trust appeals listing — Appeals listing

LIA Relief Trust Gaza emergency appeal page — Cause detail — Gaza emergency appeal

LIA Relief Trust mobile appeal page — Mobile donation journey

iCHARMS consolidated donor view — Consolidated donor view in iCHARMS

iCHARMS one-click Gift Aid submission — One-click Gift Aid submission

iCHARMS appeal income dashboard — Appeal income dashboard

iCHARMS recurring giving setup — Recurring giving setup

"When our website was hacked, we needed help fast. The team responded immediately — within hours they had contained the damage and started the recovery. The communication throughout was outstanding, and they explained everything clearly without technical jargon. The migration from WordPress to a secure CMS was seamless. We didn't lose a single page or a day of downtime. Since then, the ongoing support has been reliable and the iCHARMS system has genuinely changed how we manage our orphan sponsorship programme and call centre. We feel confident about the partnership for the long term."

LIA Relief Trust

Charity team

The story

Background

LIA Relief Trust is a UK-registered charity providing humanitarian aid, orphan sponsorship and welfare programmes to vulnerable communities. Its work spans multiple countries and needs a digital platform that can handle fundraising, donor management, programme tracking and day-to-day operations at scale.

Challenge

The Trust’s WordPress website was compromised — malicious code was injected, damaging trust and functionality and putting donor and beneficiary records at potential risk. Outdated plugins and weak configuration had left the site exposed, and WordPress alone could not meet the charity’s security needs. One-off fixes were not enough: they needed a secure, reliable and scalable foundation, plus a long-term technical partner.

Approach

We delivered a three-phase strategy — recover, migrate, transform. First we contained the damage, removed the malicious code and hardened the infrastructure with continuous monitoring, strong access controls and 2FA. Then we migrated the full site from WordPress to a secure, scalable CMS with zero data loss. Finally we implemented iCHARMS to run donor management, the call centre, orphan sponsorship and programmes, and took on fully managed hosting, maintenance and end-to-end Gift Aid.

Outcome

The website was recovered, secured and migrated to a future-ready CMS, and the back office moved from disconnected spreadsheets to a single iCHARMS platform spanning charity management, call centre, orphan sponsorship and programmes. Gift Aid is now managed end-to-end through HMRC Charities Online. These are genuine outcomes of the partnership — no invented statistics — reflecting stronger security, recovery from compromise, streamlined operations and a reliable long-term support relationship.

Selected work