User-Friendly Website Increases Donations for Non-Profit Organization
CASAA and their Mission
CASAA, Inc. is a non-profit organization that was formed in 2009 by a group of vapor consumers who were alarmed at the FDA’s enforcement action resulting in the seizure of shipments of vapor products from abroad. The action threatened to cut off America’s access to devices, which were not manufactured domestically at the time. The founding members of Consumer Advocates For Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) believed that a strong, organized consumer voice was needed in order to counter claims that vapor technology is just another ploy by incumbent tobacco companies to hook more people on smoking. CASAA exists to promote access to and awareness of low-risk, smoke-free alternatives to smoking.
Challenges Faced as a Non-Profit
ALEX CLARK, Chief Executive Officer of CASAA
▫▫▫
Funding is one of our biggest challenges. CASAA is organized as a 501c4, which means that donations to CASAA are not tax-deductible as they would be to a 501c3. CASAA elected to be incorporated as a c4 due to the lobbying limits placed on traditional charities. The decision was forward-looking to a time when we would be able to afford a lobbying firm or at least more organized lobbying efforts.
The overwhelming majority of our self-promotion revolves around CASAA’s legislative engagements (calls to action) in response to harmful regulations at the federal, state, and local levels. This is central to our mission and is unchanged by the website update. The redesign of our website has enabled us to make other services (i.e. information and education) more visible and useful. For example, CASAA’s “Historical Timeline of Electronic Cigarettes” and our 50 state pages detailing laws and regulations are popular draws to the new site.
MAX SHESTOV, Chief Executive Officer of Reverence Global
▫▫▫
Our observation working with non-profit organizations, in general, is that there’s a vulnerability present for all of them. Since they do not have a “buying and selling” model and they are asking for donations or relying on grants for funding so there’s an automatic shame present. Relying on others isn’t easy for most of us on an individual level, so we find that many non-profits automatically have a difficult time sharing their vision and why others should contribute to that. We understand that it’s difficult and at the same time 100% necessary to have clear messaging, a marketing plan, and marketing tools so that the decision for a donor or any other type of funder will be clear of whether they should contribute or not.
▫▫▫
Our observation working with non-profit organizations, in general, is that there’s a vulnerability present for all of them. Since they do not have a “buying and selling” model and they are asking for donations or relying on grants for funding so there’s an automatic shame present. Relying on others isn’t easy for most of us on an individual level, so we find that many non-profits automatically have a difficult time sharing their vision and why others should contribute to that. We understand that it’s difficult and at the same time 100% necessary to have clear messaging, a marketing plan, and marketing tools so that the decision for a donor or any other type of funder will be clear of whether they should contribute or not.
DANIELLE JONES, Marketing Director, Board President of CASAA
▫▫▫
When I joined CASAA I started talking to our board of directors about refreshing the website, and everyone was enthusiastically on board, but they didn’t have the time and/or experience to facilitate the transition. I offered to take responsibility for the project and manage it, and the board agreed.
▫▫▫
When I joined CASAA I started talking to our board of directors about refreshing the website, and everyone was enthusiastically on board, but they didn’t have the time and/or experience to facilitate the transition. I offered to take responsibility for the project and manage it, and the board agreed.
⤤ CASAA’s previous website was not built with the end-user in mind. It had an inconsistent color scheme, no text hierarchy, and many unsuitable fonts.
Meet Reverence Global
GERALDINE CONVENTO, Chief Operating Officer of Reverence Global
▫▫▫
When Alex and his organization asked us for help, it was important to us that we’d be able to measure our effectiveness because, without measurement, we knew it would be a hard case. The good news was that they already had tons of data related to their analytics traffic and the existing keywords they were being found for organically. They are an organization with integrity that really cares about the people that they serve and are looking to increase their impact. All of those factors were a win for us and made it a fit for us to work on their project.
⤤ The previous colors used in the logo were not inviting. The darker colors or black felt too formal. In conjunction with the other accent colors throughout the website, it was subconsciously difficult for the brand to create a sense of recognizability. There wasn’t a consistent style for numerous elements throughout the website which is subconsciously jarring to the website viewer.
ALEX CLARK
First and foremost, we work on behalf of anyone who uses tobacco and nicotine products. Also, even though a majority of people in the US seem content to take safer nicotine products away from adult users, we are hopeful that our work is informing policy for the better. While it may be slow and mainly focused on slowing the roll of harmful regulations, CASAA is the megaphone for the nicotine consumer’s voice.
Challenge Accepted
GERALDINE CONVENTO
When CASAA came to us, they shared their challenges and we took the time to analyze the website and their online presence in the state that it was in. The challenges that we were having were not a surprise. Their brand design was far from ideal and outdated, their website was not user-friendly and had tons of content. It was pretty overwhelming. We thought it was a great opportunity for us to make the website content more organized, easier for their audiences to consume, and faster for them to find the information that they need.
⤤ The design of the blog articles was boring and not attractive. The new blog style has headings, photos, and infographics to make it look more interesting.
DANIELLE JONES
We did some brand-refreshing on our previous site, but the WordPress template we were using was older and had a lot of design limitations.
We did some brand-refreshing on our previous site, but the WordPress template we were using was older and had a lot of design limitations.
⤤ The new logo and colors communicate more of who they are, what they do and give a sense of collaboration and trust to website visitors.
GERALDINE CONVENTO
The template that their website was built on was over 10 years old. The template also didn’t seem to be built for everything they added over the years, so the lack of design limitations made everything look like online documents.
DANIELLE JONES
The design and feature limitations of the previous template hampered our ability to organize information, educate, and communicate effectively. Our organization changes lives and it’s important for us to express that. Having a testimonials submission section that is straightforward and secure plus providing ease of reading through testimonials is a significant part of our organizational strategy to show our supporters and let them know that they are not alone. We have 10s of thousands of testimonials and want to make sure that our visitors see how our work impacts people from around the world.
⤤ The previous website’s testimonial section was too complicated and not user-friendly. With the previous form, CASAA received submissions and also a lot of spam. The form was more attractive for spambots rather than actual website visitors.
⤤ The new website has a fresh look of testimonials with functionality allowing you to search by name and a user-friendly submission form.
The new testimonials section has much more functionality and is easier to read and navigate. The submission form was simplified and friendlier for visitors and inaccessible for spammers.
The new testimonials section has much more functionality and is easier to read and navigate. The submission form was simplified and friendlier for visitors and inaccessible for spammers.
GERALDINE CONVENTO
Danielle had a clear understanding of the entire process from brand strategy to the build itself so collaborating with her was seamless. The other CASAA, Inc. teammates were enthusiastic about having a new website so they also were very helpful in terms of educating us about their non-profit and the key aspects of the website that were most important for their audience.
DANIELLE JONES
The team at Reverence Global was incredibly organized, professional, and thoughtful. We were impressed by their process. Melanie and Geraldine really took the time to learn about our organization, our mission, and our goals first before moving into the design and development phase. Their thoughtful questions and UX Strategy helped us to improve our brand messaging and organize our website in a way that was consumable. I remember that during one of the meetings… (include a question or some sort of epiphany).
GERALDINE CONVENTO
The first step of working on any website redesign is to have a clear understanding of what is present before we get started. We looked at their existing analytics, took note of the various types of sections throughout their website, and also looked at a couple of other websites for reference. Once we completed that process we had a few interviews with the team to understand their operations, goals, and their target audience. From here we had enough information to create wireframes and a sitemap to display how the site should be organized both from an organization and SEO standpoint. Once approved, we moved onto solidifying design mockups, text hierarchy, fonts, and colors. The CASAA team made some suggestions then we were off to develop and test the website.
The final result was appreciation and comments from the CASAA stakeholders and website visitors.
The final result was appreciation and comments from the CASAA stakeholders and website visitors.
⤤ The website received a facelift, it included a clearer call to action and navigation that was more directive for the website visitors.
Time to reap the benefits
JIM MCDONALD, CASAA Board Member
"The updated CASAA website is beautiful and ten times as functional as it used to be."
DANIELLE JONES
Everything with the website turned out great! When reviewing the website analytics we noticed that the bounce rate has decreased, meaning that people are spending more time on our website. We’ve received feedback from our visitors, board members, and donors about how the website is more user-friendly. We’ve also seen an increase in numbers. Since the new website launched, we’ve seen a 6% increase in membership registrations and a 5% increase in donations.
Spam emails coming from website contact forms were a headache with our old website, we used to spend hours filtering through all incoming messages. After the new website was built, this is no longer an issue — what a relief!
Spam emails coming from website contact forms were a headache with our old website, we used to spend hours filtering through all incoming messages. After the new website was built, this is no longer an issue — what a relief!
ALEX CLARK
Our new online image has elevated our ability to increase public awareness and education. It has also helped us to reinforce our position in advocating for responsible policy and continue to support policies that improve public health. As I mentioned previously, funding is one of our biggest challenges as a 501c4 organization. Since the website has launched our donations have increased.
As an active non-profit organization that relies on individual and private donations, it’s not always at the top of mind to completely revamp their website. Daily operations and administrative responsibilities often get in the way of important actions related to brand awareness, messaging, and marketing. For CASAA, Inc. they made the choice to take action. They knew it was important for their website visitors to gain a clear understanding of who they are and their impact within their industry.
