72 hours, 30 volunteers, 3 Organizations = Success
GiveBack DC 2012 was a huge success! Our three teams worked late into the night finalizing the development aspects of the websites. The Web Development Group is excited to announce each of the nonprofits’ websites were successfully launched, much to the excitement of GiveBack DC volunteers, sponsors and the nonprofits themselves! Setting-up WordPress for nonprofits is a smart solution because the CMS itself is easy to maintain, user-friendly, and completely customizable.
Starting Friday evening and chugging along through the early hours of Monday morning, WDG and GiveBack DC’s volunteers dedicated both their superb talents and time to create these WordPress-powered websites. These nonprofits were taken from initial client consultations to finish, successfully launching better web experiences to takes these organizations into a better future.
If you missed the Facebook updates over the weekend, here’s a quick run down of how GiveBack DC weekend went!
The Web Development Group team spent this summer scouring applications for both volunteers and nonprofits. While considering the organizations who applied to be selected for a website makeover, we focused on their financial needs (based on 990), the state of their current site, as well as the opportunities the new WordPress-powered web experience would give the nonprofits in their efforts to further spread their message and engage the community. With nearly 40 organizations applying, the competition was tough. The chosen organizations for this year’s GiveBack DC event were: Borromeo Housing, DC Diaper Bank, and Phoenix Bikes.
On the volunteers side, we had over 70 volunteers who applied to be a part of this spectacular inaugural event. The 30 individuals chosen came from a wide spectrum of talents and backgrounds within the DC-Metro creative community. The volunteers were broken down into three teams of 10 people strong and were led by WDG’s own senior developers. The teams quickly identified the strengths of each member and distributed tasks appropriately to successfully strategize, design, develop, and launch three amazingly user-friendly responsive websites within 72 hours.
With dedicated time, talents and effort, we were able to give Phoenix Bikes, DC Diaper Bank, and Borromeo Housing a complete web experience makeover, including services like, consultation, web and graphic design, development, content management, social media strategy, and WordPress content management training!
Check out some of the before and after shots of the sites!
Phoenix Bikes
Visit the new Phoenix Bikes website
The new site incorporates the colors of the logo better, is much less text heavy, and is much more user-friendly. When WDG first started looking at Phoenix Bikes’ site, many of the links were broken, the calendar did not work well, and the whole site was rarely updated. Now that it is on WordPress, updating will be much easier, there is a Facebook feed which will keep it dynamic and changing, and the site itself is also responsive!
Borromeo Housing
Visit the new Borromeo Housing website
Borromeo Housing really wanted to help spread their message to the general population while also adding color, and video to their site. Our designers and developers worked with the nonprofit representatives and even offered them 9 custom-edited videos that can be used for future posts. The slideshow on the homepage helps push out their message, and the donate button is much more prominent. The navigation on the site is much more intuitive .
DC Diaper Bank
Visit the new DC Diaper Bank website
DC Diaper Bank wanted a site that was fun, creative, and also kept the user on the pages longer. This is something The Web Development Group knew they could capitalize on. The awesome design team added infographics, images, and saturated colors. The site gets the message out without being too “baby-focused”, something the nonprofit wanted. This site is also responsive. The organization also received a custom-designed toolkit they can hand-out that promotes the organization and can be edited for different functions as well as Facebook & Twitter branding!
This event was a huge success and will most definitely become and annual event. We are eager to continue to give back to the local community again in the future. As Darlene Bakke from Borromeo Housing said, “The website is amazing and I know this transformation will make a huge impact on BHI messaging.” WordPress for nonprofits is a smart choice because with the proper training (provided by WDG), we know these organizations will have no problem managing their sites.
This event was such a success for these organizations as well as the greater DC area. We are extremely excited for next year’s event. Are you a nonprofit that needs more immediate attention? Get in touch and let’s discuss some options available to you.
