Website Puts Strategic Plan In Motion

NPower Northwest is where savvy nonprofits turn for technology. For over a decade, NPower has been providing technology consulting and training services to nonprofits in Washington and Oregon, enabling organizations to increase their capacity and get one step closer to meeting their missions.

In late 2009, NPower completed a strategic planning process to map out the organization’s direction for the next five years. The process resulted in a renewed vision to support the nonprofit sector as a whole by providing additional educational opportunities and resources. Simultaneously, a regional expansion led to a name change, rebrand, and new messaging. With the strategic vision in place, new possibilities arose to redesign our website to align with the refreshed brand while at the same time creating an infrastructure that would support our educational initiatives. We looked internally to our Web Consulting team to make our website dreams come true.

“We’re so proud of the new site and what it says about who we are as an organization and what our web team is capable of developing.”

–Peg Giffels, Director of Community Engagement

The Challenge

• Our new name and brand meant that our website was no longer consistent with who we are. In addition, the look of the site was outdated, and because it pre-dated social media it did not highlight our blog or Twitter feed, resulting in a static site.
• Design of previous site was a result of standards set by a national network, and our unique approach to educational opportunities did not fit well within the existing structure.
• As a provider of web consulting services, having an outstanding website that models best practices is an essential component in the marketing of our services.
• The timeline for site development was short, and the launch deadline was unmovable as it coincided with our annual fundraising event.

The Solution

• The NPower web team developed a new website to meet our changing needs, applying a design theme consistent with our brand.
• The new site features a built-in “Knowledge Center” and prominent placement of our blog and Twitter feed on the homepage, putting the structure in place to provide an increased level of resource-sharing.
• Thanks to careful pre-planning, solid communication, and executive buy-in, the site launched in time to be revealed at our event.

The Impact

• The new site’s Knowledge Center offers sector-leading resources, such as presentations, handouts, and a tech term dictionary.
• The placement of the blog and Twitter feed on our homepage has heightened our social media presence and resulted in a homepage lets us share what we’re thinking about and highlight our connections in the community.
• The entire site is fluid and acts as a searchable resource for all things related to nonprofit technology.
• The Web Consulting team provided thorough training that enabled the Community Engagement team to learn the content management system and quickly become competent in keeping our content fresh.
• The new site is a demonstration of the great work that our Web Consulting team is capable of.