Vancouver radio station CKNW has been assisting families with a variety of charitable initiatives since 1945. Their mission is to promote the health and safety of physically or mentally challenged and disadvantaged children living within British Columbia. The Orphans’ Fund champions families and organizations that provide aid for young people. The fund raises money through marketed events, the financial support of local businesses, and the generosity of their station’s listeners. CKNW is in the business of brightening lives, whatever the need may be. They have contributed millions of dollars to a wide range of causes; everything from the purchase of specialized medical equipment and costly therapies to summer camp sponsorships and the bestowing of grants and bursaries. If the need benefits children, it falls within the scope of the CKNW Orphans’ Fund.
What was the challenge?
With so many non-profits competing for the general public’s attention—plus the generous philanthropy of those large corporations—it was important for the new website to hit all the right notes. The homepage had to evoke emotion and inspire action from its visitors. Not only should the site be able to accept monetary donations in a good way, it had to be able to extract them, too. Of course, people like to help non-profits in others ways; the site required a dedicated recruitment area. In addition, families and organizations seeking aid would view the website as a one-stop resource for information and registration. Regardless of the visitor’s main intention, our job (as always) was to provide the best possible user experience. With all the required components at hand, our strategy came down to simplifying the navigation process and streamlining the information into clearly communicated segments.
What was the approach?
We needed to tell the CKNW Orphans’ Fund story in the most compelling way.
In order to successfully meet the website’s requirements, we needed to tell the CKNW Orphans’ Fund story in the most compelling way. Incorporating clear calls to action was imperative to driving conversion. Multiple sign-up forms (including one for receiving a newsletter) would prompt user engagement. Brightening lives meant brightening up a web presence that previously relied heavily on greys and a muted colour scheme. We opted to splash the green, blue, orange and red found in their existing logo throughout the site. Injecting the colour in greater amounts would tie into the overarching theme of happy children.
What was the result
Given the public nature of their work, the CKNW Orphans’ Fund needed to reestablish their existing web presence with a fully-responsive new site that would instill confidence and promote their accountability to BC children. We created a user-friendly resource for volunteers, recipients and donors; a happy website with a positive message, an appealing presence housed within a a sustainable framework, and a solid content management system for a busy non-profit looking to continue their charitable work. These were the requirements of the new website, and this is what we strived to deliver. Based on the response of their team, the website was a success.
I have worked with a lot of different website design and development companies throughout my career and none can compare to Forge and Smith. Their planning, strategy, execution and launch were flawless. The CKNW Orphans’ Fund are a non-profit children’s charity with a history of helping special needs children in BC. It was an incredible change for us to be helped! Forge and Smith came to the table with exceptional creative ideas, functionality and an implementation schedule that took barely any of our staff time. We are a lean organization and relied heavily on the talented team at Forge and Smith. I will be singing their praises to everyone I meet for a very long time. We are so thankful for their expertise and for having a passion for the work we do as well.
Jen Schaeffers - Executive Director, CKNW Orphans' Fund
Next Steps
Is your business involved in the non-profit sector? Do you wish to learn more about this website? Click below to view Forge and Smith’s Case Studies page where you will see the broad range of our work. I also invite you to experience the finished site firsthand. We love what we do and I think it shows.