A multi-site platform to localize a national outdoor conservation nonprofit

Challenge

With a conservative budget and a small national management team, we were challenged to design and develop a streamlined system of both design and code for multiple programs that could be managed by a small staff. This wasn’t your typical website project.

First Step

We started by discovering the primary goals of Conservation Legacy, which included generating volunteer and staff interest and applications. Each of Conservation Legacy’s programs is regional, so we quickly established the need for localized websites that would generate relevant search results for those within the region of each program. And, we established an information architecture (content outline) based on Conservation Legacy’s goals, audience, and desired outcomes.

“It was such a pleasure to work with Mighty. From the first meeting to the website launch, everything was on point—the communication, the process, the transparency, the design and, of course, the final product. We are thrilled with the outcome, and have been getting great positive feedback on the sites. In about half a year, we launched eight different websites simultaneously. We're a unique nonprofit with a unique set of challenges and Mighty tackled them all without missing a beat.”

—Jenna Rosengren, Communications Director, Conservation Legacy

Design

We put our pens to paper (Sharpies, rather) to sketch and test site layouts. This prototype work included our development team, since the resulting experience would be heavily dependent on shared code, database consistency, and unique site styles. Once the information architecture and prototype was validated, we designed a flexible layout and a site style that includes elements of the outdoors.

Development

The platform is built on Craft CMS, based on its incredible capability to manage content, design, and code without extraneous features or confusing gotchas. We utilize continuous deployment tools to deploy the same GitHub code repository to multiple ServerPilot-provisioned environments, with smart code that connects to the program-specific content database and presents the program-specific styles. Since it is the same code, when an update is made, we are able to deploy the change out to each separate program website quickly.

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Outcome

In the first year after we launched the website platform, donations to Conservation Legacy increased 358%. As of 2022, the Conservation Legacy platform has grown to include eight program websites which each generate local volunteer and staff inquiries. Both Conservation Legacy and Mighty staff have changed, but the vision has remained, the technology has constantly improved, and the original investment has been more than recouped. Also, we pitched a tarp in our office to celebrate the first launch and our relationship with Conservation Legacy!