Building Columbus' Future One Home at a Time

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Habitat for Humanity - Greater Columbus (Habitat) was seeking a partner to plan, design and develop a world-class Web site. We are happy to announce that they found that partner in GRIP Technology (GRIP).

Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), and the Greater Columbus Affiliate, are ecumenical Christian housing ministries. Habitat affiliates work locally in communities around the world to select and support homeowners, organize volunteers, and coordinate home building. In the Greater Columbus community, Habitat has built more than 207 homes since 1987.

To continue its mission and more effectively reach its target audiences, Habitat knew it needed to improve its Web presence to reach new sponsors, donors, volunteers and families. The objectives for the Web site were defined as:

1. Better inform, engage, attract and serve existing and prospective constituents.
2. Assist visitors to fully experience the site through intuitive navigation.
3. Implement an easy to use content management system so that the HFHGC team can maintain the site.
4. Stimulate online donations.

To achieve its objectives, GRIP and Habitat incorporated several customized elements into the site, including:

1. Animated key messages and featured stories on the home page.
2. Integration of Give Online, Volunteer and Apply buttons located on every page.
3. Customized galleries of photos and house plans.
4. Created several secure online forms and databases to capture speaker and donation information.
5. Integrated many unique features into the content management system - GRIPelements - to ensure the Habitat team can effectively and efficiently manage the site.

The site was built and launched in two months and has been very well-received to date. The site was introduced at Habitat's Annual Meeting on April 23, 2009 and received sustained applause from all attending.

Visit the site now.