Unbound:
Online Presence
Building web capabilities as well as a strong online presence. (2019)
The problem
When I joined Unbound in 2009, the site was very basic with no real commerce functionality. The organization needed extensive web capabilities to serve sponsors and donors, including online donations, sponsorships, and account management—all optimized for mobile, which was steadily on the rise.
Challenge
As Web Director and Creative Director, I led the evolution of Unbound's web presence over a 10-year period (2009-2019). The challenge was building a robust platform that could handle complex sponsorship workflows with proper child protection safeguards, enable flexible donation options, provide account management tools, and adapt to mobile-first experiences.
Goals
Our goal was establishing a strong online presence with capabilities for users to sponsor children, make donations, and manage accounts seamlessly from any device. We needed to communicate across departments to understand organizational needs while keeping user experience at the forefront.
The decision was made to move forward with SiteCore (.NET platform), introduced in 2010, which we evolved throughout my tenure.
Methods
I worked with stakeholders across departments to translate requirements into functional web experiences. Learning SiteCore's capabilities and leveraging templates became essential for scaling our efforts and creating specialized content efficiently.
Insight
Mobile-friendly design was critical. As predicted, mobile would overtake the majority of traffic, eventually becoming the center of everything online. This guided our platform decisions and design approach.
Ideation & Prototyping
We built extensive capabilities centered around key user needs:
Sponsorship: An extensive widget with robust search parameters allowed users to find a friend to sponsor—filtering by age, gender, country of origin, and more.
Donations: Users could make one-time or recurring donations with flexible options.
Account Management: Sponsors and donors could log in to update payment information, sponsor additional friends, make additional donations, and electronically correspond with their sponsored friend.
Targeted Initiatives: We frequently created specialized landing pages and mini sites for key events or initiatives.
Key Decisions
CSS and HTML optimization became something I personally gained extensive insight into and excelled at. As Web Director, I communicated effectively across departments to understand needs and translate them into solutions.
The work eventually grew into the mobile app space, allowing us to connect easier with users through push notifications—bringing content to them instead of relying on them coming to us.
In 2017, the organization rebranded from Christian Foundation for Children and Aging to Unbound, requiring careful integration across all digital touchpoints.
Final Design
The evolved platform delivered comprehensive web capabilities serving sponsors and donors across all devices. Robust search and filtering made finding sponsored friends intuitive, while flexible donation options accommodated various giving preferences. Account management tools empowered users to maintain relationships and contributions easily.
Impact
Mobile became the center of everything online, validating our early focus on mobile optimization. The platform successfully handled the complexity of online sponsorships with appropriate safeguards while providing necessary commerce functionality and account management capabilities.
The expansion into mobile apps further strengthened user connections through proactive engagement.
Takeaways
My 10 years at Unbound was a great opportunity to utilize my skills for a great cause—giving back to others and supporting the Unbound online community with sites that delighted all. The evolution taught me the importance of building scalable systems, communicating across departments, and staying ahead of platform shifts like the mobile revolution.