Florida Humanities
Building a powerful new website for Florida’s leader in promoting cultural resources.
For nearly half a century, Florida Humanities has been sharing the state’s culture, history, and literary legacy. A nonprofit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the organization works to preserve the state’s rich history, promote understanding, and inspire community. Through grants, Florida Humanities has invested over $20 million in programs that connect people to the stories that make the Sunshine State special.
Though it’s rooted in history, Florida Humanities provides a foundation for future growth and reflection. They came to Big Sea with the desire to build a website that not only promotes their work and events but also makes it easier for people and organizations to seek funding for important work in the humanities.
Our Objectives
Develop a powerful digital presence
- Design & develop a nonprofit website that lets photography and art take center stage without sacrificing usability
- Build an intuitive interface for displaying the many ways Florida Humanities touches the community
- Migrate a large amount of content without putting an unnecessary burden on the in-house staff
The Problem
An antiquated foundation
Nonprofit websites shouldn’t be ancient history
While Florida Humanities celebrates the state’s rich history, at the start of the project, its nonprofit website was a bit of a relic itself! They needed our team to re-platform the entire organization while retaining a rich content library.
Important events were difficult to find
Events and activities, such as lectures, are a core part of Florida Humanities’ work. However, their existing system made it difficult to find them and to add them to the calendar. The result was a lot of wasted effort and time.
The Strategy
Giving a nonprofit more space to thrive
Discovery and strategic recommendations
Building a really great nonprofit website takes more than just slick, updated visuals. At Big Sea, we always take a consultative approach to building a new website. We showed up with empathy and listened to the concerns and observations of multiple stakeholders to put together recommendations on website functionality. We focused our efforts on updating the information architecture and implementing a calendar to help users quickly sort and find relevant events.
Updated (and austere) branding
Florida Humanities has been around since 1973. They needed to look and feel like a legacy nonprofit without coming off as stuffy or unapproachable. We designed a living brand that focuses on the work of talented Florida writers, historians, performers, artists, and more. Clean designs and ample breathing room make it easy for users to find content relevant to their interests.
The Results
A fresh, modern home
We’re never happier than when our clients feel relief. From launch onwards, we received feedback that the new nonprofit website design was not only beautiful and functional, but also easy to update.
When it comes to nonprofits, teams are stretched thin at best. We strive to empower the folks who keep websites fresh and relevant, so that their efforts aren’t bogged down by administrative burdens. Florida Humanities now feels fresh, modern, and future-facing without sacrificing its incredible legacy of work.
“I loved that many of their clients are nonprofits, which showed me that they could relate to similar challenges.”
Lashonda CurryCommunications Director, Florida Humanities
