Website Platform Evaluator

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Objective/Problem Statement:

Our content management system/website platform has been challenging to customize (not as user-friendly to the admin, rigid layout customization ability plus difficulty comparing and customizing mobile vs. desktop), clunky at times, and lacking some desired functionality, like archiving pages or a community-generated modules library. We think we need a platform that is a bit more friendly to pictures and video assets (e.g., many platforms let you load a picture and then crop/zoom it right in the platform -- but our platform requires external media customization and trial/error configuration until it is accepted and looks right; the platform should also have features that optimize the page for performant load times given the media/configuration of the page).

Another example: the page modules we dropped in from the library were not correctly using the picture the team edited, resulting in weird image zooms and the need to scroll.

We’d like assistance in deciding whether to keep the current platform (perhaps with additional features enabled or better training for our admins) or move toward another solution.

Volunteer Candidate:

The ideal volunteer candidate would have moderate or better experience with web design or website administration and have light to moderate experience performing market research.

Approach:

The volunteer should interview the current website platform administrators and see demos of the positive features, pain points, and current configuration. From the conversations, the volunteer should determine the platform requirements and "nice to haves" and, if necessary, prioritize them to work toward an evaluation scorecard.

Then, the volunteer should evaluate our current platform against the scorecard (based on the interviews and research (perhaps we are using the platform wrong or need to be licensed for the correct suite of apps?)). Next, the volunteer should evaluate competitive content management systems/website platforms, limiting the options at similar price points or otherwise reasonable for a small nonprofit organization to adopt, prioritize the candidate platforms, and evaluate them against the scorecard, incorporating market sentiment/review information.

Finally, the volunteer should culminate their research into a recommendation, attend the DuPage Animal Friends Technology Committee meeting, and present their findings and recommendations to the committee.

What Success Looks Like:

• Scorecard developed

• Vendor shortlist created

• Completed scorecard for shortlisted vendors

• Recommendation delivered to Technology Committee

Benefits of Volunteering:

• Feel Great Opportunity - Help a PAW-SOME group of animal lovers that fundraise for the local open admission County animal shelter
• Make new friends
• Build your resume with practical experience