Past Work

I’ve worked with dozens of nonprofits to create real change.

My focus is on website strategy consulting, content strategy, user research, and serving as a guide and coach to help nonprofits create powerful websites.

Some Recent Projects

Coaching: online eviction defense tool for vplc

Through weekly coaching sessions, supported the team in creating a strategy for a new, online direction

The Virginia Poverty Law Center approached me to provide coaching as they took on a substantial new challenge. Their Eviction program team had shut down their hotline with the goal of supporting tenants instead with a cutting edge online tool to allow them to avoid eviction and defend themselves in court. However, the team didn’t have in-depth experience with online tools like this. Through an average of about an hour-and-a-half per week of support, I helped the team define how to research audience needs; coalesce around the key goals, audiences and challenges of the project; determine a budget, strategy and technology approach for the new tool; and achieve leadership buy-in. We're now working together to make this strategy into a reality which will provide support to dramatically more tenants in Virginia.

Website Strategy for EDF’s Net Zero Accelerator

Created a website strategy for a complex new initiative in four weeks

Businesses that are looking to turn their climate commitments into action find it hard to find tangible and practical advice. To fill this gap, I collaborated with EDF+Business and its parent organization, the Environmental Defense Fund, alongside the website agency Constructive, to develop a strategy for its new Net Zero Action Accelerator website. To do the entire strategy on an accelerated timeline, we referred to my previous audience research for the same client and then conducted four workshops over three weeks. In the initial workshops, we defined objectives, identified target audiences, and established audience goals. I then presented innovative features that allowed business staff members to easily find a “Pathway” that aligned with their goals and situation. By the end of the four-week strategy phase, I had created basic outlines for most of the site's pages and established core principles to guide the rest of the project. See much more about this site and the project process on Constructive's site.

ASPCAPRO Online Learning Strategy

Re-envisioned their Online Learning approach through user research and strategic workshops.

While working with Capellic, the ASPCA came to us to develop a strategy for online learning. Their ASPCAPro website has hundreds of short videos, interactive eLearning modules, and recorded webinars for use by animal shelter professionals. The team knew that it was hard to appreciate understand the scope and quality of these materials by looking at the site.

I conducted a set of user and stakeholder interviews and analyzed websites providing similar trainings to understand the possibilities for this content. Through a series of strategic workshops, I led the team through a process to re-envision the approach to Online Learning with a set of high-level diagrams. I finished the project by budgeting the defined scope of the project and designing a set of user tests to make sure the planned model would be intuitive for the site audiences.

LHNY Content Strategy and Roadmap

Created a high level content strategy and the action plan to achieve it

When I started working with LawHelpNY.org, their website mainly directed visitors to legal information on other websites, lacking substantial content of its own. This led to confusion among visitors and had a negative impact on their search engine rankings. However, we wanted to avoid simply duplicating content that was already available on trusted partner sites.

In a series of workshops, we set goals, identified target audiences, and developed a clear vision to guide us: to create a set of essential articles that address common visitor questions, provide context, and link to curated external articles for more information. Together, we prioritized factors such as the breadth of information versus depth, search engine optimization with schema markup, multilingual content, and the inclusion of non-text formats. With the strategy complete, we took immediate actions such as conducting a content audit of the 1500+ linked articles. Meanwhile, I created a project plan with a timeline and estimated costs, covering both internal and contractor hours, for the 18-month journey towards realizing our vision.

Research, Strategy, Content for Ohio Legal Help

Led extensive user research, vision, and product management for a mobile-first legal help platform.

The Ohio Access to Justice Foundation came to me with a high level concept: they wanted to create a platform to provide legal help to low income Ohioans based on the best possible user research. I led extensive desk research to understand what academic sources had published about access to justice best practices, user interviews, and user testing on comparative websites for other states.

Based on that research, I worked with the stakeholders to define a cutting edge new site that uses a mobile-first “quiz” to lead users to information and organizations that will help them. Through extensive user testing, we validated that the design, although it looks unusual, works extremely well for the target users. I then supported the launch of the site by managing three writers and three document assembly specialists in creating the content for the site. In the two years since launch, Ohio Legal Help site today has helped more than a million users.

KujaLink Engagement and Income Models

Through interview research and team workshops, create quantitative engagement and income models

KujaLink.org is a new platform that connects nonprofit organizations in the Global South and East with funders from wealthier countries. It's funded by notable foundations like the Gates Foundation, Hewlett, Oak Foundation, and others. The platform is a project of Adeso, a Kenyan nonprofit organization that is at the forefront of international aid reform.

In my role, I have two main focuses. Firstly, I'm developing a measurable engagement strategy to encourage nonprofit organizations in specific focus areas and regions to create profiles on the system. Secondly, I'm conducting interview research and creating a quantitative model to generate long-term income for the platform. This involves exploring and estimating options such as funder subscriptions and potential sponsorship. Visit the KujaLink website>

Conversion Engine Product Strategy and Design

Created a vision, detailed design documents, and then managed the build of a complex new fundraising platform.

When I started working with Capellic, a website development firm, they had been thinking through the concept of a new, flexible fundraising platform for years. I took all of those thoughts and worked with the team to define mission, vision and audience for an exciting new fundraising platform that will be launching to the nonprofit market. I conducted nonprofit interviews, did market research, and facilitated dozens of both strategic and technical workshops to iteratively define the detailed functionality for launch.

Halfway through the development, a large nonprofit client expressed interest in testing the platform for their needs… well before our scheduled launch. I worked with them to define their requirements, figure out how to effectively switch gears in our development process without derailing the overall platform goals, and successfully product managed the team to a November 2021 Beta launch. The new platform saw a 20% increase in donor conversions over their existing platform, and the overall platform launch is still on. Read the case study on the Capellic site.

Climate Reality Project Research and Website Strategy

Developed personas, an engagement model, a vision, and budget for an action-centered website to combat climate change.

Al Gore’s nonprofit The Climate Reality Project was founded to combat climate change by creating a grassroots movement focused on action. The organization’s last major website redesign, in 2013, leaned heavily towards showcasing videos (ahead of its time!) and their key events like 24 Hours of Reality. By 2021, however, Climate Reality Project’s action focus had grown dramatically to include a multi-state, multi-national training program focused on training climate leaders on how to advance climate goals locally. Their website was not only confining and on an outdated technology infrastructure, but wasn’t a good match for the organization’s new programs and focus on content.

I led the Capellic team and stakeholders through a series of strategic workshops to redefine their website target audience, engagement model, and overall purpose. We transformed the site vision to stay true to the focus on grassroots model and training initiatives, while also adding a strong user and ally focus, encouraging each person to see themselves as part of the organization's work. We defined the first phase of the website redesign to achieve that vision via a set of high level wireframes, worked with technologists to estimate the scope, and then whittled down the feature set to meet a limited budget. The new website launched on budget and close to schedule in May 2022.

And More…

I founded Idealware (now TechImpact) and grew the nonprofit from an unfunded start-up to an internationally known source of research-based information about nonprofit sector software and technology best practices. As the Executive Director for 10 years, I oversaw all operations and dozens of projects, including a number which used completely custom methodologies. I facilitated hundreds of workshops, knowledge creation sessions, webinars, and keynotes to become nationally recognized as a nonprofit technology expert
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation approached me at Idealware to design and lead a large-scale research project to understand the factors that contribute to a strong ecosystem of nonprofit program results data. The research included 33 interviews, two surveys and a steering committee of international experts. Based on the results, we developed a map of the results data landscape, a report on software options and recommendations for action to the Gates Foundation team.
The Legal Services Corporation (LSC), the government arm that funds legal aid organizations, approached me at Idealware to update their Technology Baselines requirements. I interviewed organizational stakeholders and industry experts to understand the goals for encouraging technology adoption, and legal aid organizations to understand their concerns and realities. With some initial recommendations to balance these priorities, I then created consensus by facilitating a full-day workshop with 30 stakeholders.