Breaking Barriers, Catching Hope

Website redesign case study

Client Overview

Breaking Barriers, Catching Hope’s mission is to help underserved communities through sustainable programs in health-wellness and education.

Located in Raleigh, North Carolina
A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

"Our goal is to gain more exposure, [leading to] more help for people." - Yumekco Little, President

The website has 2 main goals:

  • Attract donors and volunteers
  • Inform community members looking for help (“recipients”)

PROBLEM SPACE

  • Lacked clear structure for finding 
 programs and services
  • Short, vague content with unclear 
 messaging
  • No pathway to donate
  • No developed visual branding

SOLUTIONS

New navigation structure with improved call-to-action

SEO-friendly writing to better highlight services and story

Improved user experience (with mobile-friendly version)

Established a visual theme from the original brand colors

RESULTS

1 month after site launch

August 2023

11%▲
new visitors

6▲
backlinks to reputable organization sites

Mobile responsiveness

New donation page

Project Strategy

STEP 1: RESEARCH AND STRATEGY

Including non-profit listing research, competitive analysis, new sitemap creation

New sitemap creation

The site has six parent pages. (Home, About, Programs, Volunteer, Contact, Donate).

I broke down all eight of BBCH’s programs into three main categories:

  • Life Skills and Development
  • Necessities and Goods
  • Referrals & Community Networking

Ideally the funnel should convert visitors to

  • Donate
  • Volunteer
  • Contact for services/donations

STEP 2: CONTENT WRITING

Including section structure and copywriting

Writing a “visual-text” document

For each page, I determined its call-to-action, and keywords to include. This guided the full writing process.

STEP 3: MID-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE

Including user testing and revisions

User testing

I gave Raleigh community members tasks for the prototype over Zoom, roleplaying as a donor or a recipient.

  • I’ve never heard of BBCH before and want to learn more about what they do.
  • I want to donate to BBCH but need to learn what my donation will go towards.
  • I’m displaced from my home due to a fire and am looking for free goods and resources. What is available for me?
  • I'd like to donate and want an idea of where my money is going
    •

I then revised both navigation and content based on that feedback.

STEP 4: HI-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE

I applied the visual branding to the prototype and then presented it to the client. We reviewed it to ensure the intended information stood out the most.

STEP 5: WEBSITE BUILDING

Including old URL redirecting, contact form setup, and donation button linking

I used HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build the current site.

I proposed using DreamHost’s free plan for non-profits, effectively cutting down hundreds of dollars for my client, who previously used Wix.

The site also uses CookieBot, to be compliant with GDPR and ePrivacy regulations.

Content Strategy

Storytelling / Messaging

Brief History

BBCH’s original mission was to help people transitioning from prison to finding gainful employment. It evolved to tackling underlying barriers affecting economic status (including food and housing security, family structure, mental health, etc.)

Today BBCH has served over 1500+ community members across North Carolina and beyond.

Unique Value Proposition

BBCH provides sustainable programs that teach invaluable life skills in order to create healthy and lasting changes in communities.

The intent is to encourage donors to support these initiatives by convincing them of their long-term impact.

Structure

Since many website visitors are seeking help, information should be:

  • accessible
  • concise
  • emphasized if urgent (e.g. pertaining to safety)

Tone

BBCH is a professional and helpful human services organization with well-developed programs.

Programs should:

  • have a clear definition of what's provided
  • highlight its key value
  • explain how it ties into serving community

Language

BBCH creates permanent impact that is worth investing in.

  • sustainable
  • long term change
  • instill skills
  • lasting impact

Brand Strategy