NWICA.org is the primary website for the National WIC Association (NWA), a non-profit education arm and advocacy voice of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. Their site is a service to the public as well as to more than 10,000 agency members and registered users. We rebuilt NWICA.org from the ground up including a completely new information architecture and super-charged technology backend. The final deliverable provides a fully integrated CMS and AMS that allows both NWA and its users to manage everything from membership profiles to event registrations, mailing list subscriptions, payments, and much more.
Client
National WIC Association, Washington DC
Nonprofit Membership Association
Audience & Topics
Public, Members (WIC Agencies, State and Local Governments), Journalists, Students
Government | Public Policy | Domestic Policy | Nutrition | Food Policy | Healthcare
Launched
October 2013
Roles, Deliverables and Methods
Project Manager
Discovery Survey and Requirements Assessment
Information Architect
Full Content and User Persona Analysis, Sitemap and Website Prototype
Developer
Content, Member, Event, and Transaction Management Systems; Responsive Desktop and Mobile Website
Technology & Tools
Features
Unified Members-Only Website
What was once two, is now one — registered users have a new, much improved and seamless experience. They can log-in directly to nwica.org to update their profile, register for an event, see and pay an outstanding invoice, or subscribe to a newsletter. Authorized agency users can also pay their membership dues, assign administrative privileges, complete group event registrations, and view a variety of information for all their staff members. Previously, members-only actions of this type were all handled via a third-party Avectra / Abila AMS, making basic tasks unnecessarily complex.
Customer Support Made Simple
In most cases, NWA no longer manages their members via a unique membership management system. Instead, they use our custom developed "hijack" feature to see their website in the same way as one of their registered users. If a customer needs support, NWA's staff can walk a user through any process step by step or simply complete the given task on their behalf. This feature also allows administrators advanced capabilities like the ability to give a customer custom prices, set their privileges, and apply payments (credit cards, check, wire transfers, and cash).
Streamlined Payment System
Whether paying for annual membership dues, event registrations, or promotional products, it's never been easier to complete an order. Anyone can checkout and pay using a credit card, and members have the additional perk of being able to choose the "Bill Me Later" option. All registered users also have access to a history of their payments and outstanding invoices. NWA receives transfers directly to their bank account for all purchases, pays lower fees, and has access to a variety of transaction-related administrative features. In the first six months alone, their new payments system has helped them record and process over $1 million in payments.
… and counting …
Additional Features
Migration Magic
NWA's old Avectra / Abila AMS held membership data on more than 3,000 organizations and nearly 10,000 registered users. We not only migrated all of those profiles along with complete transaction histories, but we also cleaned corrupted and out-of-date data along the way.
Responsive Mobile Website
The new NWICA.org is "responsive" so that users receive an optimized version of the site if they are browsing from a smartphone or other web-enabled phone.
Events Management
In just a few clicks, NWA can set up a new event, set prices and deadlines, and start accepting registrations and payments. Plus, getting ready for the big day is even easier with features like exhibitor management, registrant exports and instant badge creation.
CRM/Community Integration
NWA's new system speaks directly and integrates fully with their HigherLogic-based community platform. Once again, movement between the systems is seamless for users via single sign-on technology. And under the hood, data is synched to their HigherLogic database via a lightweight and super fast custom API.
And More Features
Robust CMS
The backend of the previous Drupal-based website was replaced with the new Adaptr CMS, a customizable, cloud-based CMS. Editors can update their content quickly via the easy to use interface that is organized according to their website (and not an arbitrary framework established by the application, a la Drupal).
Integrated Management Solution
NWA's new CMS is far more than a tool for just updating pages and blog posts. The application also includes integrated member, event, and transaction management systems. Tasks such as adding pages; creating blog posts; moderating blog comments; creating events; setting registration options (prices and deadlines); managing exhibitors; and creating invoices are all done via the same system.