Why? Well, in my opinion, most Constituent Relationship Management systems (CRMs) do not have very robust Content Management Systems (CMS) for websites. Depending on your needs, you may find one that works, but I believe our site could be 100x better on a CMS that is outside of our CRM.
That does not mean that the two do not need to be closely integrated to pull and push data.
Enough about that...I'm also redesigning our website (www.umc-gbcs.org). When I started at GBCS, the wheels were already in motion for the site and I was handed the keys. Our current site is... well... it needs some work, especially on the homepage.
The homepage has become an unwieldy monster. So many things are jumping out for your attention. I get requests very often to add something else to the homepage. (!!) What started off to be organized is not longer suitable.
One of my goals with the redesign (and new CMS) is to have a more searchable website and reduce the clutter. The same content will be used (for the most part). I'm also working on concepts for some additional audio visual components.
In my initial design for the new site (right), I'm not trying to do anything spectacular just really clean up the layout and establish some form of visual hierarchy through color. I may post some of my earlier sketches, the color scheme is based on a theme I've been using in recent ads based on internal conversations with staff and advocates.
New Philosophy on Engagement
The recent ads I've created emphasis experiential relationships, equipping advocates and connecting with advocates and the community to transform the world - Experience | Equip | Engage. My initial designs for organizing the website were built directly around those words. While I still think they are key, I decided to be less heavy handled with incorporating a slogan and more strategic about incorporating those elements on every page. Thus, on most pages there will be a story (written or in audio/visual form) that highlights a particular topic (Experience) along with resources for furthering your knowledge through Bible studies, training or seminars (Equip) and finally taking action - either in political or community form (Engage).
I'll plan to have more to share as this project moves along but I wanted to get my thoughts out to the world... Feedback is always welcome.
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