Case Study: New Progresive Coalition
New Progressive Coalition focuses on expanding charitable giving out from the realm of financial burden and into a new, online era of informative giving. The original NPC site offered limited features and functionality. Upgrading the site allows NPC to utilize the advancements in Web site development, including networking capabilities and user-facilitated content .
By bringing philanthropy to the Internet in an innovative way, charitable contributions become options to a growing demographic of givers. Marker Seven was tasked to create a new Web site that allows New Progressive Coalition to achieve its goal of creating a space where political charity can change into a new online model of investment-oriented giving.
To best serve the growing needs of NPC, the new Web site has a customized content management system (CMS), Drupal 4.7. Drupal is a powerful CMS system to which Marker Seven added open source modules as well as custom development which give the site continuity, flexibility, and adaptability.
The NPC site has more than 500 pages available to members, making efficiency a must for site users. The members-only Web site has three main sections, Network, Resources, and Events, each of which has special needs.
Detailed searching is key to functionality for all site users, members and non-members alike, and taxonomy, the way data is organized and sorted, allows users to apply filters when browsing through members and organizations. Additionally, a user “dashboard” stays with members when logged into the site, providing shortcuts that coincide with a "My Favorites" book-marking feature. Features specific to organizations include a profile fully editable by organizations that includes space for mission statements, constituency information, online proposals and editing. Important for organizations and members alike are investment reports that display investments received and/or investments made.
Ecommerce options are integrated into the system, offering instant membership and investment capabilities. Event hosting, a five-star rating system for organizations and a commenting interface round out the robust features of the site.
The NPC site enables non-profits to post their organization mission and details, upload grant proposals, promote their causes and request investment. Users (both individuals and organizations) can search for people, organizations and proposals based on their own personal preferred politics, by element, sector, state, issue, name, constituency, legal status or keyword.
Frequent positive feedback has been received from the NPC staff, members and organizations. NPC founder, Kirstin Falk, remarks, “Marker Seven is the perfect technology partner to help us execute our vision of growing and engaging a new generation of political investors. With the help of Marker Seven, NPC has created an online marketplace that enables our members to invest in political change more effectively.” Since launching the site in March of 2007, interest rose sharply, garnering new members and a feature story in Business Week about NPC.
Headquartered in San Francisco, CA , New Progressive Coalition (NPC) works with organizations across the country and transforms donors into political investors. NPC acts as a personal advisor to help navigate politics more effectively. Similar to a financial services firm, NPC provides products and services to target donors’ political time and money more effectively. www.NewProgressiveCoalition.com
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.