Derry Preschool Website & Online Fundraising
Building a successful website with online registration & fundraising platform
When Covid-19 hindered one client’s ability to raise money and collect donations like they used to, their new website and working with me helped them to continue to thrive without hindrance.
The Initial Scope – a Website Redesign
This is one of those serendipitous client stories too great not to share.
In late 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Derry Preschool, a non-profit preschool in Hummseltown, PA, came to me with some slight updates needing to be done to their current website such as schedule changes. Upon logging in, it was clear their website theme was not built to last and wouldn’t hold up much longer as WordPress continued to update.
They quickly decided to allow me to build them a completely new website from scratch using their content from their current website. Copying all of their existing information, I went to work quickly building a website that would also elevate their branding to match their exceptional spirit as an organization. I built them a complete website fueled excellent user experience, increased their SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and would be long-lasting in its functionality and design.
Everything was happy and the website was beautiful helpful to get out their plans to parents and prospective families as needed.
Converting to 100% Online Registration
Then early in 2021, they contacted me again to talk about possibilities for 2021-2022 registration. Up until then, they’d complied all registrations manually – accepting filled-out paperwork and checks handed in by parents while dropping off their children. Covid-19 precautions, which had kept everyone safe at their school through the pandemic, also kept parents from entering and walking children to their rooms. This posed a need for something new and I was delighted to take on the challenge.
After a few brainstorming sessions and going over options, I built Derry Preschool an ability to gather registrations completely online and accept payment via PayPal or Venmo while also collecting all necessary information for each child as they would have collected and manually needed to enter into their systems. This gave them the ability to move forward with registration and save time processing all of the paperwork and payments.
They went from all paper to completely online in just a few short weeks launching registration online complete with a virtual open house and video tours!
How Could They Fundraise without Their In-Person Silent Auction?
In that time, I learned of their annual fundraiser usually being an in-person silent auction with a dinner. With learning this, I wondered from my experience serving other non-profit galas if they could benefit from creating a completely online event where they could collect donations. They were excited and curious about the possibility and so we kept the conversation going.
After a few video meetings, we landed on a game plan – an online gala would be their 2021 fundraising event and we would build it all right into their website.
The plan was to “fill the Derry Preschool Tree” making each leaf an item for purchase. Once all leaves were purchased, they would’ve reached their fundraising goal. We had no idea if this could garner the same level of excitement as past silent auctions, but with the available options during Covid-19, we knew it was worth the try. Knowing they already had an amazing community, everyone was excited to see what was possible.
Over the next few weeks, I built an entirely new landing page for the gala complete with all 200 leaves set up as “products”, as well as few extra special items donors could “buy” or choose to donate what they liked through a “variable product”.
I designed from scratch the empty Derry Preschool tree logo that we would fill in periodically to update and reflect the number of leaves “bought” and the percentage of their goal reached. We worked out the payment options and I built them 4 different payment gateways for purchasers to choose from – cash, check, PayPal & Credit Card via Paypal. All gateways now being installed on their website and they can also use them for future fundraising.
This project took time, collaboration, and designing a lot of branded assets. In the end, we were excited to launch it. We’d worked out the kinks on the woocommerce pages (i.e. shopping cart page, etc.) and respective “thank you” e-mails as well as how cash and check payments would be completed.
On March 5 the Gala went live. Staff coordinated the e-mail communications to their community as well as working together to promote it on Facebook. The Gala would last for 2 weeks and we would hope for the best. Over the course of those two weeks, they excitedly saw the donations come in. There were frequent e-mails to update additions to their “thank you” section on the Gala page to list new donors and to update the graphics to reflect the “tree’s growth” towards their goal. It was delightful and exciting to watch this client succeed in receiving their fundraising needs to continue to serve their amazingly supportive community in 2021.
On the final day of the Gala, they reached their goal and the excitement was palpable! I was extremely grateful to be able to match my skill set to their needs and it was a mutually fantastic experience that served not only them – but through the funds raised, each and every family they impact.
What was it like working with Rachel
A Note From Derry Preschool:
Rachel was instrumental in the success of our online gala. She listened to our thoughts and vision and used her skills to help it become a reality. Rachel didn’t just create what we were looking for, but she did so in a way that captured our school’s mission and focus. She used her creativity to design an event page that was elegant, organized and professional. We received so many compliments on our fundraiser and we know that is in huge part due to the design of our webpage. It was truly a joy to work with Rachel!
– M. E. Steelman, Derry Preschool teacher and head of Gala organization for 2021
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Sampling of Websites I’ve Built
Kalas Wire
Redesign by Indigo
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Unthinkable Group
Derry Preschool
Lancaster County Food Hub
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