CORAL

The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL)
Strategy // Design // Execution
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We helped CORAL overhaul not only their online image but also their entire approach to online tools.

An outdated Web site was only the first of many challenges CORAL faced in getting their online investments to really show results. We stepped in with a usability assessment and quick mini-makeover to deal with the worst of the usability issues and lost fundraising opportunities and then got down to the serious business of bringing them up to date.

With limited in-house technology experience the organization had relied on a series of vendors and consultants over the years. The result was a combination of systems and tools so confusing no one person in the organization knew what they all were or where to find them. While working on a redesign for the public facing site we also did a technology audit and helped them understand where they could streamline their online communications and operations.

We partnered with Free Flow Data to build their new site on a Drupal CMS based foundation and brought their various searchable databases, including an extensive photobank, and other add on functionalities under one roof. Available plug-ins with some customizations accommodated all their previous site features and added new ones while making the overall site much easier to maintain at the same time. Poor search interfaces were cleaned up and the stores of data they had acquired became accessible to site visitors in a meaningful way.

Communications strategy had also been drifting in recent years and we worked with them to develop and effective approach to reaching supporters online and providing them with valuable content. We advised them to dramatically expand the What We Do and Where We Work sections so that potential donors and volunteers could really get a feel for this smart dedicated organization. Due to staff turn-over we were also recruited to pull together and write the draft content for the site, providing a framework for their new Communications Director to work from once the site was done. To round out the project we provided a set of Email templates that continue their theme and also take advantage of the stunning photos that are one of their most compelling assets.

We have also provided training, ongoing consulting and a managed maintenance agreement with help from Corey Branstrom to make sure things stay on track and continue to thrive.