Project overview
UK marine conservation charity ORCA came to us with a few things they needed help with.
They were looking for a refreshed homepage, an easier way for people to donate, and a more joined-up set up between website, shop and Beacon CRM. That also meant some technical work behind the scenes: upgrading Craft Commerce, connecting Stripe Payments with Beacon CRM, and making sure customer data was all tracked in one place.
For non-profits creating a better charity website isn't just about appearance, and in ORCA’s case, it also meant making donations simpler and giving the team a clearer view of supporter and shop activity.
The objectives
- Refresh the homepage design using ORCA’s newer brand elements, without making it feel out of sync with the rest of the site.
- Simplify the donation journey so users could give in fewer clicks.
- Upgrade Craft Commerce and connect ORCA’s website and shop activity more effectively with Beacon CRM.
- Make sure supporter and customer data was being tracked properly, so the ORCA team had better visibility of donors and buyers.
The challenges
- The homepage needed a refresh, not a personality transplant. ORCA wanted a fresher look, but the new homepage still had to sit comfortably with the rest of the site. It needed to be cleaner and more cohesive without looking like it belonged to another brand.
- Craft Commerce also needed a bit of TLC. ORCA’s setup was quite outdated, so before anything else could happen, that had to be upgraded.
- Beacon worked in two different ways. Embedded donation forms were the straightforward part, while getting shop transactions into Beacon was more involved, because ORCA needed more detail than the current setup provided.
- Lastly their donation and membership language needed some untangling, too. Simplifying the journey was one thing, but getting the copy right took a bit of back and forth, which is often how these things go!
The process
We tackled the work in two main parts. The first was the homepage and donation journey. ORCA wanted a freshened-up homepage and had some new brand elements to bring in, including colours, a new font and an 'eye' graphic that worked well in the design.
The trick was to use the elements in a way that made the homepage feel new and impactful while still fitting in with the existing site.We simplified the route to donate by using Beacon’s embedded forms, which helped reduce the number of clicks between landing on the page and getting to the payment step. Alongside that, we worked through the wording around donations and memberships so the journey felt clearer and less complex overall.
There was also a lot of collaborative work on the tone of voice. Our UX designer and Lead Developer refined and worked through the homepage design until it felt 100% right - going back and forth with the ORCA team - which was crucial to getting the finished product we were all happy with.
The new branding also arrived midway through the project, which made things extra interesting!
Craft Commerce integration
The second strand was the Beacon and Craft CMS Commerce integration. Craft Commerce had to be upgraded first. Next we used Stripe Payments to keep costs sensible (rather than a full custom payment integration) but the tricky bit was making sure ORCA was getting more than just the basic shop transaction data into Beacon, such as what had been ordered, the source of the purchase and how it should be tagged. Thankfully there is no challenge too great for LuckyTurn, in fact we had a whale of a time (groan).
The project wasn’t just a visual refresh or a CRM integration. Instead it was a mixture of fundraising UX, technical problem-solving and a chunk of charity-focused compromise: improving what mattered most, keeping the budget in mind, and leaving ORCA with something much better than before.
The end result
ORCA now has a fresher homepage, a simpler route to donate and a more joined-up website, shop and CRM. Behind the scenes, the team has a far better view of transactions, supporter activity and shop performance.
Now it's easier for people to find their way around, for them to give, and for ORCA to see who is spending what and where. In fact, the shop is doing well enough that they have since been back in touch about expanding it to include made-to-order ORCA merch, which can only be a good sign.
