Sharing a nonprofit’s story online to build legislative and financial support
Overview
🤔 Problem: OARN’s digital presence did not reflect its mission and needs; the website failed to support one of its primary user groups (legislators), while the site also did not paint a clear picture of OARN’s purpose, brand, and impact.
💡 Solution: A website redesign that clearly states OARN’s mission, visualizes impact data, displays updated brand and marketing material, and presents purposeful call-to-actions for both donors and legislative supporters.
✅ Full web research and redesign completed @ Pivot Marketing Agency↗. (OARN’s brand was created by a team of designers at Pivot, including Rachel Getsinger, Carrie Grant, Jill Cephalos, and Shaye Vanderville.)
⛔ Old Site’s Issues
Does not display legislative advocacy information
Confusion over OARN’s role and impact in the community
Cluttered information architecture and unclear user goals/interactions
Lack of brand and visual consistency, no animations
Inaccessible text and color combinations
How might we market OARN’s mission to financial supporters and Oregon legislators in a digital space?
Research
💡 I interviewed and worked alongside OARN’s leaders (and our marketing agency’s Account Executive) to determine OARN’s 4 user groups/segments and their needs. The old site pays attention to financial donors, but overlooks legislators (the target user group), parents in need, and relief nursery workers.
User Flow
⚡ The best digital interactions are specific to a user persona and easy to find
👀 Now, OARN’s target users—Oregon legislators—are only ever 1 or 2 clicks away from their goals
🏛️ This also means OARN is only ever 1 or 2 clicks away from making a meaningful connection with a legislator
Final Design
Website Redesign
✅ Encourages legislative advocacy action with meaningful call-to-actions
✅ Highlights OARN’s mission with new visuals, clean layout choices, data visualizations, and subtle animations
✅ Meets users’ needs (legislators, donors, and those connecting with local relief nurseries), as seen in new content and information architecture
✅ Displays OARN’s new brand materials for a consistent brand voice
✅ Uses best web accessibility practices, especially for color and text
Old Site
⛔ Does not display legislative advocacy information
⛔ Confusion over OARN’s role and impact on the community
⛔ Cluttered information architecture and unclear user goals/interactions
⛔ Lack of brand and visual story-telling consistency
⛔ Inaccessible text and color combinations
What I learned
🌱 Creating scalable design components will prepare a brand for multiple digital spaces and needs, like web design and email marketing
📊 Don’t hide meaningful data. People will better understand a nonprofit’s impact if they can see both personal stories and stats
💫 Subtle animations on the web tend to surprise and delight everyone. Including animations in reusable components leads to maximum impact throughout the site without increasing web development time
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