As a new type of non profit organization, the mission of Do Something is to create positive social and environmental change. Rather than talk about the problems, they seek to ‘do something’ by building alliances between business, government and the community, identifying problems and then finding answers that achieve measurable benefits. Do Something was established by Planet Ark founders Jon Dee and Pat Cash in association with Tina Jackson, former Executive Director of the National Trust of Australia. When they needed a new CMS for their different web sites, they turned to Sitecore.
“ Do Something required a common platform to enable them to roll out all of their campaign sites, ensuring that they had a familiar, yet unique feel to each of them. On top of Sitecore’s powerful feature set and easy to use administration tools, it also was the best CMS in the market to provide this common platform. „
- Todd Trevillion, CEO, Gruden
Challenge
Do Something created a number of campaign websites including:
These were all brand new sites developed to support the range of Do Something campaigns. The audience for these sites includes the general public, the media, government, industry, researchers, and other groups geared to creating environmental and social change. The mission of each campaign is to:
- promote the campaign to the widest possible audience
- support the PR rollouts around each campaign
- increase public, media, government and business awareness of the relevant issue
- help drive behavioural change in business and the community
- help drive policy change on the part of government.
With Ban the Bag, for example, the goal of the site has been to encourage consumers to reject plastic checkout bags and take their own reusable bags; encourage retailers to stop giving out ‘free’ plastic bags and offer sustainable alternatives; and lobby government to phase out and ultimately ban non biodegradable plastic check out bags.
One of the biggest challenges Do Something faced was to maximize exposure for their campaigns in the public sphere and rapidly develop Do Something’s profile. As a small not-for-profit start-up, it was essential to develop an impressive suite of sites to act as the drivers for their campaigns and to establish their branding.
Solution
Sitecore Partner, Gruden, a Sydney-based web design and development company, worked very closely with Do Something and became an integral part of the website design and development process.
Gruden chose the Sitecore CMS as the platform to build Do Something’s sites with. Sitecore came highly recommended by Gruden, who when they evaluated it, decided that it met all Do Something’s needs. According to Todd Trevillion, Gruden’s CEO, “Do Something required a common platform to enable them to roll out all of their campaign sites, ensuring that they had a familiar, yet unique feel to each of them. On top of Sitecore’s powerful feature set and easy to use administration tools, it also was the best CMS in the market to provide this common platform.”
Result
The new sites were rolled out successfully. Do Something is delighted with the look, feel and presentation of the sites. They have been invaluable in establishing Do Something’s presence in the public sphere as a professional, credible and innovative organization in the crucial first year of their operation.
According to Tina Jackson, Managing Director of Do Something, “We are achieving very good exposure for our campaigns within our target audiences. This has also assisted us in developing the strategic partnerships and sponsorship opportunities that are essential to fund our campaigns.”
The reaction to the sites has been uniformly positive. Do Something has received great feedback on all of the sites from the public, media and other stakeholders, who have consistently commented on the sites’ quality. The sites have successfully engaged the community in the various campaigns, as is evidenced by the very large number of enquires coming through, and by recognition such as the FoodWise website being named Gardening Australia’s site of the month in July 09.
“Do Something will continue to enrich the sites with new content, opinions and case studies, tips and solutions, the latest research and media coverage, and will look at ways to grow and develop the sites to encourage new and return visits. Our websites are integral to the success of our campaigns,” said Tina Jackson.