Blogs

Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families strives to  "reach directly the needy children of the present generation and contribute to their health, physical and educational development until they can be returned to a proper home environment or can be self-supporting."

Edwin Gould has had its current website for many years. The organization decided it was time to update the site design to make it more user friendly and add a content management system (CMS).

Design for Social GOOD worked with Edwin Gould on the new site information architecture (AI) to layout a blueprint for the next site. The second stage involved creating style frames to show the look and feel of the new site prior to back end development. The final stage is now in progress and in the coming weeks we'll launch the new EGSCF website. The site will offer EGSCF the opportunity to manage and update their content as well as interact with donors, supporters, clients and potential employees.

Design for Social GOOD is proud to give back by providing loans through Kiva. Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending to help alleviate poverty.

Kiva empowers individuals to lend to entrepreneurs across the globe. By combining microfinance with the Internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending. Kiva promotes dignity, accountability and transparency, all the GOOD things we believe every nonprofit should promote.

With each new client we work with, Design for Social GOOD will choose an entrepreneur in Africa who is working to make his or her community and world a better place.

Our first loan is to Diambari Djiguen Gni Group in Thies, Senegal.

The group of 11 women is led by Mme Nogoye Mbaye and the loan will be used to buy cassava, brooms and vegetable oil, which the women will sell in their local villages.

We dedicate our first loan to ACE New York, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering the homeless and improving communities.

Design for Social GOOD completed an entire branding package for ACE New York that included a new logo, print suite, nonprofit analysis and website build.

Why do we give back? We do it because we have a responsibility to help other people.  We strive to produce outstanding work that promotes positive social change. We live not only by our commitment to our clients but also by our commitment to our community and the environment. We believe in the triple bottom line. People, Profit and Planet. We believe that doing GOOD for people and the planet is good for business. Our goal is to help those who are doing GOOD continue to thrive and grow their bottom lines in an increasingly complex, media-driven society. 

Photo courtesy of Kiva.

Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston, Jamaica, serves more than 70,000 sick children each year. As the only specialist children's hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean, itsneeds are great and their resources are limited. New equipment, upgraded facilities and additional wings to the hospital are desperately needed to help save the lives of little angels.

Jamaican nonprofit Operation Angels Rise (OAR) answered the call to make a difference and isholding a series of fundraisers for the Shaggy Make A Difference Foundation which is working to fill some of these needs. OAR needed to put a face on the cause and turned to Design for Social GOOD and our team of renowned photographers to do just that.

Photographer Jeffery Salter flew to Jamaica, spending two days documenting hospital staff and patients and came back with hundreds of poignant images. Connecting a nonprofit with supporters, donors and advocates is essential to its succes,s and OAR chose one of the best to highlight its cause.

Jeffery's work has appeared in many editorial magazines, such as Men's Journal, Rolling Stone, Reader's Digest and Fortune. His fine art photography has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Smithsonian, and the Corcoran Museum. A World Press award winner, he has also received honors from Pictures of the Year and the Communication Art Annual. Jeffery is a former Sports Illustrated staff photographer.

Design for Social GOOD has a worldwide network of photographers, writers, videographers and multimedia artists ready to put a face on your cause.

A nonprofit's branding and design can be key to its long-term success. Why? Because branding gives voice to an organization and design visually expresses that voice. By speaking with one voice, the organization becomes more recognizable. A consistent identity enables others to identify the organization, understand its principles and identigy with its cause.  Thebrand and the design should work together to  convey the history, the essence, and the goals of the organization.

As the Community Health Center of Richmond embarks on a major branding campaign, the organization is carefully incorporating design elements that will help to articulate its cause.

Design for Social GOOD created the new CHCR logo. In Phase II of the project, we've created an initial print suite which includes their nonprofit business cards, letterhead and envelope design. In Phase III we'll design a brochure, newsletter and e-blast.

Donors, volunteers, advocates and supporters want to be a part of a nonprofit organization that does great work but they also want their non-profit to also look professional.

Below are a few items every non-profit should have.

LOGO: Cho image or drawing that represents your nonprofit.

BROCHURE: It doesn't matter if it's three panels, four panels or a single page. Every nonprofit needs a brochure that tells its story. The brochure should tell people "who we are, how we work, and why to get involved".

PRINT SUITE: Be consisten. Use all printed materials to express the organization's identity. Business cards, letterhead, envelopes and thank you cards are essential branding materials.

WEBSITE: As technology continues to change the way we do business, a Web presence is an essential tool that every nonprofit must have its arsenal.

Project LIFE (Living Independently, Focusing on Empowerment)  is a partnership with the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) and United Methodist Family Services (UMFS).  Its goal is to promote permanent family connections for older youth while coordinating and enhancing life skills development for older youth in and transitioning out of foster care.

Design for Social GOOD has years of experience in the foster care field as founders of  The Heart Gallery of New Jersey and Do1Thing to aid foster youth so this project was close to our hearts. United Methodist Family Services needed a design firm that understood its cause, its audience and what the organization hoped to accomplish. UMFS chose us. We designed custom icons throughout the site, produces style frames for their web developer to use as a blueprint to code the site, and provided photography.

Community Health Center of Richmond is committed to providing services for the poor and uninsured in Staten Island, New York. Whether it is providing services for day laborers who are unable to find work, or for the poor who can't afford basic care, the Community Health Center of Richmond opens its doors and aids the needy.

As CHCR began its fifth year, the center turned to Design for Social GOOD to create a new logo that speaks to its cause. We created an artist rendering of a lighthouse using clean, bold lines to contrast an inviting hand-drawn sun. Yellow, red and orange represent the strength and comfort of the warm glow of the sun.

Design for Social GOOD starts every logo design by asking our clients to fill out a website questionnaire so that we can clearly understand their needs and their design guidelines and learn about their voice and goals.

We're pleased to help the Community Health Center of Richmond shine a light on its organization by designing its new logo.

Check back as we design a new print suite with the lighthouse logo as the centerpiece in the design.

                                                                                       ©2010 Najlah Feanny/Design for Social GOOD

Broadway star Stephanie Block performed a memorable rendition of "Defying Gravity" from "Wicked" at the Covenant House International Night of Broadway Stars Gala Concert. With her was Connie, a homeless teenager who defied a lifetime of abuse. Watch her inspiring, emotional performance.

The Night of Broadway Stars gala featured a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for homeless youth at Covenant House to perform for former First Lady Laura Bush and with some of Broadway’s greatest stars.

The Night of Broadway Stars was hosted by renowned composer and lyricist Neil Berg, whose credits include The Prince and The Pauper, Grumpy Old Men and 100 Years of Broadway, now the number one Broadway touring concert in the United States.

                                                                                       ©2010 Najlah Feanny/Design for Social GOOD
Joining Berg were six young people currently living at Covenant House, 40 members of the world-renowned Newark School of Performing Arts, and Broadway stars Rita Harvey, Capathia Jenkins, Darius deHaas, Craig Schuman, Stephanie Block, Sophia Ramos, and Bev and Kirby Ward.

                                                                                       ©2010 Najlah Feanny/Design for Social GOOD

View the video of these homeless youth joined by the Newark School of Performing Arts choir as they perform at Lincoln Center.

The event raised more than $1 million dollars for Covenant House International and Design for Social GOOD was proud to be hired to document the night.

This is our second tutorial in our series: "Tutuorials to Help Non-Profits Use New Technologies".

In this tutorial we'll teach you how to use the admin panel on your Wordpress website including how to make a post on your blog, how to edit your pages, how to send your post to Twitter and additional information on using widgets and plugins.

http://www.designforsocialgood.com/blog

Design for Social GOOD launches nonprofit website build for ACE, Empowering the Homeless - Improving Communities, today. The website design and build culminates a six-month project with ACE that started with a massive branding report, logo design, photo and video shoots and website build.

The website showcases a clean and modern design with consistent navigation and bold graphics and images. In order to clearly articulate your cause to supporters, your team and the world, it's important to keep a few key points in mind when moving forward with your non-profit website design.

Non-profit website design best practices:

• Clearly describe your non-profit's mission
• Provide information about your organization's history
• Introduce your staff
• Provide information for your volunteers
• Use photographs to connect supporters with the people you're serving
• Include contact information
• Offer an email and/or newsletter signup
• Don't forget: If you don't "ask," people can't give. Provide a clear path to a donate button

Take a look at a great resource for more indepth information on non-profit website design at Smashing Magazine.

When the leadership of the Association of Community Employment Programs for the Homeless decided to build a new non-profit website, they knew photography would be a powerful way for them to show the important work they're doing. They hired Design for Social GOOD and our team of renowned photojournalists to spend two days with the clients they serve to put a face on their organization. Photographers Carmine Galasso and Danielle Richards shot portraits, classroom and counseling sessions and casual images, offering a variety of photographs to use on their new website build. Great photography, a new logo and website equals a fresh face for this nonprofit. ©2010 Photographs by Carmine Galasso/Design for Social GOOD.