ADRA: Reflecting God’s Love Through Compassion

By Katharine Kraft
June 1, 2005

About ADRA

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), is an organization that works in over 125 countries around the world, seeking to identify and address social distortions and deprivation in developing countries. ADRA works in a variety of areas including food security, economic development, emergency management, basic education, and primary health care.

ADRA is currently one of the leading non-governmental relief organizations in the world. In 1997 the agency was granted General Consultative Status by the United Nations, a unique opportunity giving ADRA added voice in the international community. With more than 4,500 ADRA employees around the world, they assisted over 24 million people in 2004 with more than $159 million in aid.

As new challenges and needs arise, ADRA continues to strive to realize its mission of reflecting God’s love through compassionate acts of humanitarian service.

The Challenge

As ADRA’s humanitarian work was changing millions of lives; their Marketing and Development Bureau was traveling the world to meticulously document the real-life stories of the beneficiaries through stories, photos and interviews. While these resources were being effectively leveraged through direct mail, their potential was not being maximized on the web.

Web-enabling a large content archive was just one part of the larger challenge of designing a site that conveyed the high level of professionalism that ADRA operates with on the field.

The Solution

In an unusual departure from self-reliant approach to marketing, ADRA came to Silas Partners looking to develop a web presence that would rise to meet all of these challenges. Silas Partners set out to design a site that would educate ADRA’s diverse audience and increase online fundraising.

Silas Partners recognized that the web is an ideal way to offer users access to the wide variety of information on ADRA projects. The site was engineered so a user can easily find the resources that interest them based on the type of work (i.e. food security) or on a region (i.e. Africa).

From a logistical standpoint, the website needed a structure that would make it easy to keep the massive amount of content fresh. Silas Partners provided a thoughtful information architecture that made site updates efficient and easy.

The ADRA homepage.

Also, visitors can see the soulful eyes and joyous smiles of the beneficiaries of ADRA’s work through the Photos of the Week. ADRA’s remarkable photo library used to gather dust, but now there are new photos on the homepage each week that capture the faces of changed lives. Their audio and video archive is now used online to bring these stories to life. Now, by reading, watching, seeing, or listening, visitors can get a well-rounded view of ADRA’s life changing-work on the web.

The initial results of ADRA?s site were encouraging. Within two weeks, people from over 35 different countries registered to receive updates from ADRA.

A few days after the launch of the new website, Tereza Byrne, ADRA’s Bureau Chief of Marketing wrote the Silas Partners team. “Well, what can I say? I’m at a loss for words, and that doesn’t happen often. I’m truly grateful for the fine work you’ve done. Not only does the new web site look great, but it has also encapsulated the true essence and mission of ADRA.” Tereza continues, “I demonstrated the site today at staff meeting and the staff applauded and told me that they’re proud of the site, and, for the first time, are enjoying spending time in their own agency’s site! I’m hearing from our field workers all over the world who are thrilled, and they plan to submit stories and information. The positive response is overwhelming.”

To see first-hand their new look and learn more about the exciting things happening at ADRA, visit www.adra.org.

Highlights

ADRA implemented a Silas Partners solution that included:

• Strategy Study - development of a two-year plan for online initiatives
• Website Design - a dynamic design that integrates ADRA’s most recent fund-raising appeal throughout the site’s design.
• Fundraising Center - visitors can direct their donation to the campaign that most appeals to them by donating by region (ex. Asia), core portfolio (ex. food security), or specific appeal (ex. health clinics in Bangladesh).
• Email Marketing - introduction of a bi-weekly newsletter campaign, and quarterly appeal.
• Ongoing Strategic Support - development of processes for updating a large content archive, keeping appeals fresh, producing email campaigns and introducing new strategic initiatives.
• Reporting & Analysis - Silas Partners provides a monthly and quarterly report card to analyze performance of the site and email campaigns and adjust the strategy accordingly.

About Silas Partners

As Web Ministry Professionals, we believe the Internet is important to the overall mission of an organization, because it is one of the most effective ways to build a life-changing ministry. We aren’t one employee trying to do it all, but an entire team of world class designers, sales & marketing professionals, software developers, webmasters and client services managers. We have pioneered solutions with our clients by providing Strategy, Marketing, Design and Technology services.

Our mission is to serve Christian ministries and churches by providing web-related solutions, services, and strategy, which enable them to better connect with their members, while reaching new audiences with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

About Silas Partners

As Web Ministry Professionals, we believe the Internet is important to the overall mission of an organization, because it is one of the most effective ways to build a life-changing ministry. We aren’t one employee trying to do it all, but an entire team of world class designers, sales & marketing professionals, software developers, webmasters, and client services managers. We have pioneered solutions with our clients by providing Strategy, Marketing, Design, and Technology services.

Our mission is to serve Christian ministries by helping them to better fulfill their missions through improving their communication and expanding their reach. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about how Silas Partners can serve you.