Hands On San Diego
July - Sep 2024
(3 months)
Designer | Digital Media Strategist
San Diego, CA, USA
I joined a team of interdisciplinary designers to plan and execute new social media strategies and marketing initiatives for HandsOn San Diego, a Nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing volunteers to tackle community needs. I developed cohesive visual content, refreshed the organization’s brand identity, and designed digital assets—including a fundraising campaign page and sponsorship outreach materials—to support volunteer recruitment, donor engagement, and community storytelling.
1. Social Media Revamp
[Reviewing the current platforms to gain an understanding of how to implement change.]
Areas for Improvement
-
emphasis on pictures and storytelling
-
consistent visual aesthetics and caption tone
-
more frequent posts
Strength Weakness Opportunities Threat
SWOT Analysis
How do we drive more engagement with our posts?
Before
After
1. Upcoming Events Spotlight
-
highlight specific events that need more volunteers
-
reduced opacity of text box to emphasize image
-
reduce the curve of the text box to fit text inside more seamlessly
2. Template for Events Carousel
-
showcase multiple events at once in a clear format
-
Consistent layout offloads design strain and allows us to post more frequently
3. Volunteer Testimonials
-
videos help to diversify the feed
-
impact stories humanizes the work
-
tells a story
-
-
a better way of documenting events for reflection
Measuring the Impact
Clicks
-
182%
Engagement Rate
-
62%
Impressions
-
158%
Posts
-
34%
Likes
-
104%
Impressions
-
38%
Reach
-
31%
Engagement Rate
-
38%
Comments
-
76%
Reactions
-
46.8%
Reach
-
15.2%
2. Fundraising Campaign
San Diego Gives Page
San Diego Gives is an annual 24-hour fundraising campaign on September 5th.
The San Diego community comes together in collective giving, volunteering, and learning.
2024 marked the 4th consecutive year of San Diego Gives!
[San Diego Gives page from 2022]
Areas for Improvement
First
Designs
Key Features
-
Big intro photo
-
Stats displayed at top
-
Clear ‘About’ section
-
Clear donate buttons
-
Lots of photos
-
Testimonials
Making multiple versions we played around with different layouts.
Low Fidelity
1.
2.
3.
4.
Mid Fidelity
Cycled through Feedback
Client
Design Mentors
Team Members
We wanted to emphasize features that drive urgency and show impact metrics.
Challenges
We Encountered
Using Click and Pledge, a fundraising and donor management platform designed for nonprofits,
the website could not support some of the key features we had initially envisioned.
Calendar Countdown
-
No countdown widget and no ability to build custom widgets
Photo Carousel
-
Can’t bypass margin constraints and can’t crop/resize images
Final Design
Key Differences
-
Color palette
-
Information structure
-
Stat display
-
Testimonials
“I believe our fundraising page now stands out compared to the other organizations participating in the regional giving day because it goes far beyond a donation form”
- Jessie, HandsOn San Diego
Program Director
High Fidelity
36
doners
4,358$
raised
6
personal fundraisers
3. Sponsorship Page
The HOSD sponsorship page is a new initiative aiming to connect organizations with a network of local opportunities to impact the community.
Through different sponsorship tiers, organizations can receive unique benefits and perks.
[description of sponsorship levels and benefits]
Competitive Analysis
First
Designs
Key Features
-
Big intro photo
-
Clear 'call to action'
-
Digestible information
-
Organized levels/tiers
-
Sponsors highlight footer
We questioned how to display the tiered sponsorship benefits to be informative, manageable, and intuitive.
Low Fidelity
1.
2.
3.
Mid Fidelity
Cycled through Feedback
Client
Design Mentors
Team Members
Used feedback to condense sections and establish information hierarchy with color, weight, and imagery.
Final Design
Highlights
We combined the strongest elements from our earlier designs together.
-
Compelling header and intro section
-
Bullet points to emphasize the benefits for businesses to partner with HandsOn San Diego
-
Card layout to clearly display donation tiers
-
Embedded contact form to minimize the number of clicks needed
High Fidelity
Final Design
Key Differences
-
Color palette
-
Information structure
-
Stat display
-
Testimonials
“I believe our fundraising page now stands out compared to the other organizations participating in the regional giving day because it goes far beyond a donation form”
- Jessie, HandsOn San Diego
Program Director
High Fidelity
36
doners
4,358$
raised
6
personal fundraisers
Final Deliverable
[Final showcase at the end of the 10 week internship]
Reflection
As I approached the end of the 10 week internship with HandsOn, I was proud of the impact we made in refining brand identity, visibility, and strategizing for future growth. We tackled multiple projects at once, and I found it rewarding to jump back and forth between many roles, learning and growing and gaining greater context for the work we did.
In order to keep the momentum going, we couldn't just leave HandsOn with the work we started without a plan. We created templates for a consistent posting schedule as well as volunteer "job postings" to take over the social media posting, weekly email newsletter, and a photographer position.
As I reflected on this experience and my role as a designer, I left my final impact statement:
"Design is a human-centered role, in order to understand how to get others to pay attention to your work, you have to effectively convey your story so that the audience becomes invested in the impacts you want to make. "
- Anna Chen