Witness the life-changing impact of Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission's inspiring website. Umbraco Gold Partner, Bonsai Media Group, transformed their online presence, creating an emotional connection through real stories and strategic calls to action. The result? An increase of +215% in revenue, +118% in donations (+$1M quarterly), +45% in the average donation amount, and countless lives transformed. Bonsai Media Group is here to tell you the whole story 👇
Skills used
- Accessibility
- Architecture
- Design
- Mobile
- SEO
Sector
- Public sector & charity
Partner doing the case
- Company: Bonsai Media Group
- Website: bonsaimediagroup.com
- Type: Platinum Partner
✅ +118% donations (+$1M quarterly) ✅ +45% average donation amount ✅ 215% increase in revenue
The Challenge
An inspiring story untold
Union Gospel Mission provides 24/7 support and recovery services for homeless men, women and children throughout King County. But they needed to tell their story better on the website. They needed to inspire people. Connect in a deeper, more meaningful way. So more people would get involved. So more people would donate.
Our Approach
More than a place to stay
The Bonsai team rolled up our sleeves and went to work with Union Gospel Mission’s team. We learned the people who turn to Union Gospel Mission come with unique challenges. So their solutions go well beyond providing a home or meal. Homelessness is complicated. And getting someone back on their feet requires a specialized support team. A 360-degree approach to rehabilitation. A deeper understanding of that person’s story.
Inspired, we studied the unique stories of visitors on the website. What’s called “customer journey maps.” Visitors take different paths through a website. So after we mapped the most common paths, we went to work making it a frictionless experience. Clear navigation. Intuitive design. And strategically placed calls to action.
Some visitors were looking for help. Some visitors were looking to volunteer or donate. Each used the website in different ways. Each deserve a warm welcome. And guiding hand to nudge them through the inspiring story of Union Gospel Mission.
Our Solution
An emotional experience
The Umbraco website Bonsai designed and developed immerses visitors in the tireless work of Union Gospel Mission. And features life-changing stories from survivors. Using images of real people, videos of real people and real stories, we created an emotional connection visitors not only see, but feel.
We asked visitors to donate or volunteer at strategic points throughout the website. And designed an interactive graphic showcasing the full breadth of Union Gospel Mission’s support services. Every path through the website was crafted to deliver the optimum experience for each individual visitor.
Through smart and effective storytelling, Union Gospel Mission saw a significant increase in donations and revenue. Enabling them to help more people in their community.
Umbraco Strategies/Technologies leveraged:
- Home page is a standard Umbraco view with greensock's scroll trigger plugin handling all of the animations.
- We used a custom icon picker data type we developed that automatically pulls in icons from fort awesome to make icon selection easy.
- We used a custom link control we developed so users could link to Umbraco content, external urls and modals/popups.
The numbers speak for themselves 🚀
After 1 year:
- +118% donations (+$1M quarterly)
- +45% average donation amount
- 215% increase in revenue
“Bonsai built a website that met all of our needs and even anticipated future needs.”
ALEX HENNING, DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER, UNION GOSPEL MISSION