Creating Focus
By paring down the existing content on the site, it allowed us to focus on defined user groups and establish a fundraising-first mindset to influence the architecture.
National Writing Project
Writing for a Better Future
The Situation
The National Writing Project (NWP) is a diverse network of professionals working to strengthen and advance the writing and thinking of millions of students each year. It’s comprised of teachers, university faculty, researchers, writers, journalists, librarians, and community educators. We first worked together in 2016 to prove its impact through a digital annual report. This time around it was to help build a website—starting with an identity—that more closely aligned with the organization it had become—a leader in teacher professional development.
Our Approach
NWP’s existing website was over a decade old and suffered from a severe case of content bloat and patched together functional band-aids. With thousands of resource pages and files—some with significant search value—we needed to give special care to the handling of this legacy content. The old site was archived to allow its vital collection of resources to live on and a series of redirects installed to retain its value. We then moved onto the new, focusing on proving NWP’s impact through stories, testimonials, and data.
Surfacing Stats & Stories
Stories and data are featured to emphasize NWP’s impact and persuasively appeal to funders and partners—as well as engage other key target audiences—with clear opportunities to interact.
Using Color as a Pathway
Working with a vibrant and diverse color palette, we used the five core brand colors to mark each major section of content. This treatment gives users a sense of identification and place as they navigate through the site.
Generating Conversions
When the site was launched in tight coordination with one of NWP’s annual conferences in November 2019, the response from partners and attendees was overwhelmingly positive. During the first month after launch, the site generated more conversions—donations, mailing list subscriptions, and form responses—than any previous month.
Other Projects
Mrs. Snyder’s Market Cafe
A Healthy Appetite
Stoneleigh Foundation
The Power of Individuals
