If you've visited our site in the last few days, you may notice that some things look a little bit different around here! We’re excited to have rolled out an updated look and feel, as well as some other great enhancements to CaseFoundation.org.
When we re-launched our website two and a half years ago, our goal was to create a flexible platform that allowed us to integrate the latest tools and technologies to help our visitors stay informed, get engaged and expand their networks of friends and associates who want to make a difference. That launch also marked the debut of our blog and a new approach to shining a brighter spotlight not only on our work, but the great work being done by our friends and partners.
The goal of our site remains the same today, but with the dramatic shift in the way we all receive and share information over the past two years, we recognized that it was time to make some changes to the way we approach our own presence on the web, embracing some key trends:
- Content curation and aggregation. Between social networks, blogs and thousands of niche sites, the sheer volume of content being created across the web is impressive, but can also be overwhelming. We recognized that rather than mostly focusing on our own content creation through our blog, our website can play a role in helping to cultivate the best content out there on “all things good” that help people to get active and engaged with the causes they care about most.
- Connecting our community. While we’ve been active on social networks for some time now, and embraced their importance, we recognized that we could be doing more to connect our Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other communities right on our site, while making sure visitors could benefit from the great conversations taking place in our social communities as well. Today, you’ll see our Facebook community more prominently displayed on the site, along with Twitter feeds and links to other social sites, and in the coming weeks and months we will be rolling out additional social sharing features with continued integration with social networks.
Learn More, Do More Content Hubs So what are some of the new features we’re particularly excited about? Once you scroll below the promotional rotator highlighting some of the key news, initiatives and partners we’re currently focused on, you’ll notice the “Learn More-Do More” section on our home page (also reflected in the menu across the top). We’ve always hoped for our site to be a resource to help leaders, practitioners and anyone who cares about getting engaged and giving back learn more about a range of social-good topics with the hope that many will be inspired to take action – and motivated by fresh and innovative approaches. As we’ve increased our focus on content curation, we’ve enhanced our “content hubs” on some of the core topics that we care about – learning about and leveraging social media; more informed, effective and efficient giving, becoming a more active citizen through volunteering and civic engagement; and best practices of companies that give back. On each content hub, we’ve pulled together some of the best resources from across the web – including the latest news, videos, articles and publications. And, for each topic area, we’ve made some suggestions of people to follow on Twitter and “Like” on Facebook to keep you regularly informed.
Social Media We’re also jazzed about our enhanced Social Media hub. From the time we launched our Gear Up for Giving tutorials in 2009 and as we’ve been continually talking to nonprofits and other groups around the country about social media, there has been a clear appetite for a central hub on our site to help them learn more about social media tools – ranging from the basic “how-to’s” to more advanced strategies. With our new Social Media Toolbox, visitors can explore the best of the web in “Social Media 101” or learn more about specific tools and approaches, from Twitter and Facebook, to blogging, and leveraging photo and video.
Our Blog With an increased focus on content curation and building a dynamic and interactive Case Foundation community across the web, we’ve made a concerted decision to blog a bit less, focusing more on delivering great content from across the web as opposed to having been focused mostly on content produced by us. While it will be less frequent, our blog will continue to be a source of information on new programs and partnerships and issues of great importance to our team. We’re also pulling in feeds from Social Citizens and the Startup America Partnership blog, helping you stay informed on two of our key initiatives. And of course you can take a more in-depth look at our programs and partners through our Big Ideas and Case Studies pages.
We hope you’ll take some time to check out the updated CaseFoundation.org, including the revamped content hubs. And, for a little incentive to peruse and get inspired by some of the great content we’re sharing, keep an eye out for a promotion we’re launching later this week for a chance to win an iPad2™ based the information you’ve learned on the site.
Finally, our website is here for YOU, so if you have any suggestions on how we can make the experience better, or additional content we should add to our hubs, please share with us – either via the comment box below, via Facebook, Twitter or email!
Tags | 
Connecting for Good: Relationship Building 
