A web platform and strategy to raise awareness about foster care adoption.
For The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
Sectors Served
Children, Families, Human Services
Challenge
How might we create a web presence based on Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption’s (DTFA) core values, improve clarity with which information is disseminated to all audiences, and increase awareness about DTFA’s role in the foster care adoption sector?
Solution
New websites that achieve the goals set forth through thoughtful integration of DTFA’s identity. Redesigned user experiences for core values and improved the information architecture so that the new website provides DTFA with a web presence built to last both in technology and impact, reaching more people than ever with the message that all children can find their forever families.
What We Did
Digital Strategy
Responsive Web Design
Results
A cohesive user experience and visual design for DTFA’s Wednesday Child, Kickball and main website helped to unify the organization’s web presence and voice in the foster care adoption sector. DTFA staff, prospective families and the many people working within the foster care sector benefit from a suite of websites created to help more children find forever families.
Recognizing technology’s role in the mission.
At CauseLabs, we recognize that through our work we have an opportunity to enhance lives in a way that brings about real impact. In that sense, we’re not just designers and developers; we’re a team with a purpose of giving back to other people and families. At our core, we love what we do and why we do it, so it was only natural that our story about family is just as much about us as it is about our partners at Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTFA.)
When DTFA first reached out to CauseLabs, they needed additional server capacity as their website had gone down several times with recent traffic spikes. It seemed straightforward enough, but CauseLabs has a process and in order to successfully plan for scalability there needed to be a technology audit.
Credit goes out to the leadership at DTFA; the partnership formed allowed CauseLabs to perform a full technology and design audit uncovering server and platform issues, as well as user experience enhancements.
Some were quickly and easily resolved in a short-term maintenance engagement, but others were outlined on a technology roadmap empowering DTFA to propel their mission forward with confidence. It's too early to analyze the results of that work, but there is a process for validated learning that allows us to re-evaluate this over time to ensure that we've successfully met DTFA's needs.
How missions grow.
The initial maintenance work led to a longer partnership between CauseLabs and DTFA, built on trust and on a shared mission. We redesigned their Kickball for a Home program website. We are in the process of enhancing the Wednesday’s Child website, and to close out 2014, we’ll be redesigning and continuing to enhance the main Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption website. We’re thrilled to be their partner on this journey.
As a result of our work with DTFA, CauseLabs has updated company policies to extend maternity and paternity leave, as well as include a clause on adoption leave and reimbursement. CauseLabs is impacted by all of its partnerships. We give our time, talent and our treasure to create impact in the world.
However, our partnership with DTFA has impacted our team and our families in a wholly new way. This change allows us to open our hearts and our homes to foster children, adopt children and spend more time caring for our families when we bring a new child into our home. We are able to increase our impact in a place where it is most important and most noticeable, our own family.
Since 2015, CauseLabs ranked #2 small business and #48 overall in Dave Thomas for Adoption’s award for the 100 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces.
Over 100,000 Children in the U.S. foster care system are waiting for adoption. We have become ambassadors for adoption and finding forever families.
"CauseLabs is the solution we had been hoping to find. We are now confident in our digital strategy knowing that finding forever families for youth in foster care is just as important to our team at CauseLabs as it is to us."
Andi Atwood
Communications Manager, Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption