RSPCA Website and Hosting Infrastructure Redevelopment and Management Case Study

Written By Matthew Ryan

The best not for profit websites inspire actions that support their missions, in the case of RSPCA Victoria this is advocating for animal safety and care, receiving donations to support all functions, and educating the public for animal care and most importantly preventing animal cruelty.

Effective websites feature content that is organised and customised to help users—from the people they serve to donors, partners, and other volunteers—get the info and resources they need when they need them.

Wanting to elevate their website offerings to expand their reach and simplify administrative tasks, the RSPCA Victoria reached out to Matthew Ryan and Associates for help to revamp its web presence, given our long-standing partnership over several years that has seen MR& A deliver Finance System Solutions, Cloud Computing transformation, advising the RSPCA Victoria Digital Transformation, and mentorship of the IT team.

 Unlike most other animal welfare organisations and charities, RSPCA Victoria has a complex operating model that includes multiple services and activities, including:

  • an animal shelter.

  • a regulatory body authorised by the Victorian Government.

  • a fundraising organisation.

  • an operator of op shops across Victoria.

  • an education provider.

  • an expert in, and advocate for, animal welfare.

  • a retail spaces.

  • a service provider for councils.

  • a registered domestic animal business; and

  • a provider of veterinary services to the community.

  • These activities are diverse, yet they all come under the umbrella of the one RSPCA Victoria brand.

As such RSPCA Victoria needed a website to make it easier for users to find what they need with a strategic reorganisation of information to remove roadblocks now, and into the future.

Furthermore, they need users to engage with many areas of the site to:

  • Encourage people to donate by maximising donation and funding opportunities

  • Encourage people to respond to requests for support

  • Improve customer service experience by making it quicker and easier for customers to access the services, products, information, or advice they are seeking online

  • Provide context for users wherever they enter the site.

  • Advertise and highlight the uniqueness and variety of their services to public, partners, and media

  • Become the online destination for resources on animal welfare and health

  • Not lose content or functionality regardless of device or browser being used for viewing

  • Create and inspire community discussion and engagement around the issues communities face.

 

To do this Matthew Ryan and Associates along with the RSPCA Victoria Website Steering Group went to market and engaged with a number of design and programming firms to ensure that the new site contained.

  • Intuitive navigation

  • Simple Site structure

  • Streamlined design

  • Responsive design

  • An easy to use, preferably open-source CMS.

  • Inclusive design to WACG Standards.

  • Education offerings

  • Consistency in layout

  • Sharing capabilities

  • Mixed media approach

  • Sensitive content warning

  • Contact forms

  • Improved filtering within search functionality

  • Dedicated media page/library

  • Enhanced presence for sponsors and corporate partners

  • SEO

  • Additional integrations – Many specific software systems are in place connection to these systems was essential .

  • All developments to connect seamlessly with the technologies and developments associated with the Technology Road Map

We all know that RSPCA Victoria is an extremely well known and recognised brand – particularly with older Victorians. The new website does not alienate our older supporters, but we knew a fresh look and feel within the brand guidelines was warranted. The new site is boosted by greater photographic and video content. The tone of the site is friendly and compassionate but authoritative and science based.

A key focus was to implement a variety of strategies to attract younger supporters and a modern, dynamic looking website is a vital component.

Logos, style guide, imagery, and off-line marketing materials to be supplied by RSPCA Victoria. We also have a few regular fonts that we tend to use but are open to new typography suggestions.

Matthew Ryan and Associates Provided….

MR&A were engaged to project manage the entire process from RFP, vendor selection election and negotiations through design and production, go live and post implementation improvement, as we had done previously in 2020 for the systems and processes transformation of the Finance, procurement, and budgeting platforms

It was the success of the finance systems transformation project that allowed us to lead at an executive level, the entire website process. Several integrations with current systems were created to meet the demand of multiple business users, freeing them to enhance the business through better reporting, adopting best practice and managing the business in more agile ways.

We are proud of our contribution to RSPCA Victoria’s of ability to deliver critical services and the improvements we have help develop.

Development can now be done in a matter of days rather than months, so cost and time to market have been drastically reduced.

New functionalities are added to the website environments at RSPCA Victoria’s choosing. Better internal engagement has led to more effective relationships with employees, branches, key supporters, and the community overall.

Business units are now empowered to react immediately to changing requirements, which has a clear impact on income, donations, core awareness, animal care and advocacy.

We think the finished product speaks for itself, with RSPCA Victoria’s new website and environment placing them at the forefront of animal care, support advocacy and associated services. You can see it here at www.rspcavic.org.au

MR & A very much thank the entire RSPCA Victoria Team and Volunteers, especially Dr Liz Walker Chief Executive Officer, Rebeca Cook Head of Prevention, Peter Arena Head of Communications, Davin Choy Head of Information Services, and the RSPCA Victoria Board for their faith in Matthew Ryan & Associates and very much look forward to our next project together!

 

Who is Matthew Ryan & Associates?

Here at MR & A we use successful strategies we have developed over the last 20 years to inspire, motivate, and educate you and your business on how to leverage market conditions, transform, grow, and get results through better strategy, optimisation, and technology.

 If you’re a business owner, MD, Founder or CEO, CIO, CTO or Director who wants to take their results and teams to the next levels of profit and engagement  please contact us today via email matthew.e.ryan@outlook.com,  via mobile 0488 000 521, direct LinkedIn message or book a 15 min call with us  via Calendly :-  https://calendly.com/matthew-ryan-and-associates/website-introduction

Matthew Ryan
Next

RSPCA of Victoria Finance Platform Replacement  and Key Systems Integration Case Study.