Communication Matters Designs Website for Mental Health America of the Triangle
Communication Matters, the Hillsborough, North Carolina-based strategic marketing company, has designed and supported the launch of a new core website for Mental Health America of the Triangle (MHAT), the private non-profit formerly know as the Mental Health Association of Orange County.
Raleigh, NC, January 18, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Communication Matters, the Hillsborough, North Carolina-based strategic marketing company, has designed and supported the launch of a new core website for Mental Health America of the Triangle (MHAT), the private non-profit formerly know as the Mental Health Association of Orange County. Two additional sections of the website, a mental health service provider directory and several pages dedicated to the Family Advocacy Network (FAN), will be reworked when funds are available. To view the new site, visit www.mhatriangle.org.
Mark Sullivan, executive director of Mental Health America of the Triangle is extremely happy with the new core site. "We are thrilled with the finished product, and Communication Matters has been superb to work with. They set the gold standard in customer service. They listened to our needs, worked within our budget, and successfully translated our vision into a professional and attractive product.”
The project initially involved creating a new identity and full website for the Mental Health Association of Orange County. Midway through the work, however, the organization approached Communication Matters with new information. First, the not-for-profit had decided to affiliate with a national organization, Mental Health America. As a member of this nationwide organization, the local entity would be able to increase its geographic reach and serve more people. Additionally, the agency would be able to maximize dollars by adapting existing national marketing materials for its own efforts. With these new developments, Communication Matters switched gears from designing a new look for the organization from scratch to one that would mirror Mental Health America.
Libbie Hough, owner of Communication Matters, says the more significant tangle in the project was a reduction in budget. “This year was filled with uncertainty for many not-for-profits and MHAT found that it needed to reallocate funding from this project to some of its core services.” Hough goes on to explain that she worked closely with staff to determine which aspects of the project would be completed and which would have to wait for more funding. “Those weren’t easy decisions, but one the agency was willing to make to ensure service for its clients,” Hough says.
Even before the budget decreased, Hough had arranged to donate her writing and project management services to the project. She is a member of the MHAT Board of Directors, and says, “I view service to the community as a personal and professional responsibility, and to assist Mental Health America of the Triangle with its mission through bolstering its marketing efforts is where I can be of most help.”
MHAT contracted directly with Thomas Duncan, an associate with Communication Matters for the website redesign. Working within the budget constraints, Duncan took templates supplied by the national organization and improved upon them.
“The web design from national was sturdy enough, but the templates needed to be updated so the client could truly handle content updates on their own,” Duncan says. To fix this, he rendered the design in modern XHTML markup with a grid-based CSS style sheet and integrated user interface JavaScript.
Duncan then converted the layout to a theme for the content management system (CMS) Communication Matters uses with all of its web design projects. The CMS offers intuitive editing in context for clients, avoiding the frustrations often associated with mystifying back-end control panels in competitive CMS apps. And as is standard practice at Communication Matters, Duncan provided art files to the organization so that it could create new stationery and implement social media efforts on its own.
About Communication Matters
Based in Hillsborough, NC, Communication Matters produces powerful marketing strategies for sustainable business growth. Libbie Hough launched the company in 2001 and uses a virtual business model to achieve her clients’ marketing needs. To take projects from concept to completion, Hough calls upon members of a select group of award-winning independent marketing, design, and communication professionals from around NC and the United States. The company is a certified vendor with Green Plus, a sustainability certification and education program designed for small and medium sized businesses and non-profit organizations. For more information, visit www.cmatters.org.
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Mark Sullivan, executive director of Mental Health America of the Triangle is extremely happy with the new core site. "We are thrilled with the finished product, and Communication Matters has been superb to work with. They set the gold standard in customer service. They listened to our needs, worked within our budget, and successfully translated our vision into a professional and attractive product.”
The project initially involved creating a new identity and full website for the Mental Health Association of Orange County. Midway through the work, however, the organization approached Communication Matters with new information. First, the not-for-profit had decided to affiliate with a national organization, Mental Health America. As a member of this nationwide organization, the local entity would be able to increase its geographic reach and serve more people. Additionally, the agency would be able to maximize dollars by adapting existing national marketing materials for its own efforts. With these new developments, Communication Matters switched gears from designing a new look for the organization from scratch to one that would mirror Mental Health America.
Libbie Hough, owner of Communication Matters, says the more significant tangle in the project was a reduction in budget. “This year was filled with uncertainty for many not-for-profits and MHAT found that it needed to reallocate funding from this project to some of its core services.” Hough goes on to explain that she worked closely with staff to determine which aspects of the project would be completed and which would have to wait for more funding. “Those weren’t easy decisions, but one the agency was willing to make to ensure service for its clients,” Hough says.
Even before the budget decreased, Hough had arranged to donate her writing and project management services to the project. She is a member of the MHAT Board of Directors, and says, “I view service to the community as a personal and professional responsibility, and to assist Mental Health America of the Triangle with its mission through bolstering its marketing efforts is where I can be of most help.”
MHAT contracted directly with Thomas Duncan, an associate with Communication Matters for the website redesign. Working within the budget constraints, Duncan took templates supplied by the national organization and improved upon them.
“The web design from national was sturdy enough, but the templates needed to be updated so the client could truly handle content updates on their own,” Duncan says. To fix this, he rendered the design in modern XHTML markup with a grid-based CSS style sheet and integrated user interface JavaScript.
Duncan then converted the layout to a theme for the content management system (CMS) Communication Matters uses with all of its web design projects. The CMS offers intuitive editing in context for clients, avoiding the frustrations often associated with mystifying back-end control panels in competitive CMS apps. And as is standard practice at Communication Matters, Duncan provided art files to the organization so that it could create new stationery and implement social media efforts on its own.
About Communication Matters
Based in Hillsborough, NC, Communication Matters produces powerful marketing strategies for sustainable business growth. Libbie Hough launched the company in 2001 and uses a virtual business model to achieve her clients’ marketing needs. To take projects from concept to completion, Hough calls upon members of a select group of award-winning independent marketing, design, and communication professionals from around NC and the United States. The company is a certified vendor with Green Plus, a sustainability certification and education program designed for small and medium sized businesses and non-profit organizations. For more information, visit www.cmatters.org.
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Communication Matters
Libbie Hough
919.967.8070
www.cmatters.org
Libbie Hough
919.967.8070
www.cmatters.org
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