San Francisco Education Fund’s New Web Site Helps Mobilize Resources and People
Founded in 1979, the San Francisco Education Fund is a community-based nonprofit organization established to improve the quality of teaching and learning in San Francisco public schools so that all students in this diverse community have the education necessary for full participation in the economic, civic, and cultural life of our society.
The San Francisco Education Fund (Ed Fund) serves as a bridge between the community and public schools to increase the impact of resources for students and teachers through our programs. Availability and accessibility of the vast information to students, teachers and community members is key to San Francisco Education Fund’s success. To provide an effective and efficient way to engage all their audiences, the Ed Fund sought to exploit technology, in particular their Web site.
“Rather than just another not-for-profit site that focuses on goals and mission, the San Francisco Education Fund's new Web site needed to be a forum for sharing ideas, a library for finding resources, an avenue for learning, and a foundation for getting the community involved in education, said Lori McGiplin, Development and Corporate Marketing Manager at San Francisco Education Fund. Because of our objective, we sought a Web firm that was proficient in both development and design, continued McGilpin.”
Marker Seven’s ‘Can-do’ Attitude Seals the Deal
The San Francisco Education Fund had some very unique database needs. “We chose Marker Seven to redesign our site and to develop a customized database application for a couple different reasons,” said McGilpin. “In part due to their experienced technical staff, but more importantly, Marker Seven’s ‘can-do’ attitude. We did not have any technical staff to work through the logistics and requirements, so we were relieved when Marker Seven clearly articulated our needs and exactly how they would meet them in their proposal.”
Aligned with San Francisco’s Ed Fund’s vision and essential to learning, the redesigned site represents creativity, engagement, and imagination. The focus of the site is on mobilizing resources and people to help San Francisco public school students reach their full potential. The easy navigation and improved content accomplishes this goal.
Complex Requirement Made Simple
San Francisco Education Fund had a vast amount of resources that need to be catalogued and made available for the public to search. In addition, the staff needs access to update this information. The challenge is getting all the materials in one place, entering the data into the database, indexing it for an easy search, and creating a flexible administrative interface so they can edit these entries.
To meet their unique needs, Marker Seven designed and built a custom MySQL database for San Francisco Education Fund and created different types of resource entries: organizational contacts, Web sites, or downloadable files. The resource library contains over 300 resources for teachers, students, and the community.
“Marker Seven not only redesigned the Web site, but also customized a resource database allowing teachers and students to add information on a daily basis and to search for education related articles, reports, organizations, and Web sites,” said McGilpin. “The database is easy to search and includes resources ranging from Bay Area field trip recommendations to reports about quality teaching and supportive learning environments.”
A Vision Brought To Life
With Marker Seven’s support, the new Web site plays a particularly important role in the relationship between students and teachers. The site provides them with an additional resource to reach their full potential. “Our new Web site is now a forum for sharing ideas, a library for finding resources, an avenue for learning, and a foundation for getting the community involved in education, said McGiplin. “Marker Seven helped us accomplish all of these things.”
Marker Seven launched San Francisco Education Fund’s new Web site (www.sfedfund.org) on October 13, 2005. The San Francisco Education Fund Web site won a national award from the Public Education Network in November 2005. In addition, San Francisco Education Fund received the Carmen A. Sarnicola Award for Excellence in Communications.
About Marker Seven
Marker Seven is a premier provider of Web-based solutions designed to maximize business sales and communication efforts. Headquartered in San Francisco and founded in 2000, its skilled, cross-disciplinary team tackles every facet of Web development with a common bond and vision - to deliver value, high-quality work, and exceptional service. Marker Seven's professional team of business strategists, designers, and technical experts deliver solutions tailored to each client. Proven ability to understand client's business issues and technical needs allow its team to hit the ground running, take ownership and fully manage every project. Marker Seven remains focused on and dedicated to each project, delivering a polished look with clarity and consistency. Whatever the initiative, Marker Seven implements and delivers success.