A Non-Profit Website With Startup Vibes: Venture For America Launches!

There are rarely companies and organizations that we work with that have that special blend of persona understanding, technical respect and design eye  – THIS is Venture for America.

When we first met Venture for America (VFA), their story was hidden by the fact that they move quickly—extremely quickly. In just over three short years, VFA and its talented team has carved out a strong presence in the post-college startup space. We’re excited to announce that VFA’s new web presence now matches this impressive, growing presence!

VFA is a career accelerator for recent grads who want to learn how to build a company and make an impact. VFA Fellows join a startup in an emerging city, where they learn hands-on what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur.

Related: Learn more about the power of a partial or full re-brand! Check out Community Teamwork’s transformation. 

THE CHALLENGE

Previously, hearing the VFA name or looking at their old website, it was difficult, if not impossible, to infer the scale of the organization. The experience of speaking with a VFA Fellow, team member, or even a candidate, however, is a distinct one. In a single conversation, you can instantly recognize that VFA’s mission is bigger than anything you may have imagined.

Our task in building the new VFA website was to convey the colossal scale and impact of the organization to a variety of personas and site visitors. The initial challenge in the architecture process revolved around successfully conveying an incredibly large amount of information to serve the correct people from an experience perspective. We needed to improve the web design and the user experience.

The VFA site attracts multiple types of college students, post grads, fellowship alums, community supporters and, of course, donors and corporate sponsors. If there is ever a time to have a simple, single page site, this was not one of those times!

THE SOLUTION

We looked to create a story-driven design approach that led a user, regardless of background, to understand the core of what VFA is about—amazing talent in up-and-coming cities with a startup purpose.

On their new non-profit website, the targeted double navigation allows VFA experts and newcomers alike to access the information they want in a single click. All of the five W’s and one H are readily available, organized and grouped based on persona.

In our interactive makeover of the VFA site, we also leveraged a light branding change. Though not ready for a full rebrand, VFA was interested in taking their traditionally red/white/blue color motif and extending the boundaries to a more modern feel. We used a color gradient that extended red to blue to showcase the thousands of brilliant colors between. We also created overlay images for all of VFA’s iconic cities. This created a new perspective of added depth to these rapidly growing cities.

CLIENT TESTIMONIAL

We really enjoyed working with Megan and the entire VFA team! Here’s what Megan said about the project:

“With over 200 VFA Fellows working in 12 cities and hundreds of startup companies across the US, we weren’t sure where to begin when it came to conveying all the stories and moving pieces that make Venture for America what it is. Figmints took the time to truly get to know us and understand what we do before diving into creating a new site that represents who we really are. (Not to mention, we needed a serious visual upgrade and a way to show how far we’d come since we were founded in 2011.)

From design and user experience to complicated functionality, we ended up with a site that really expresses who we are. But the best part for our team is the custom CMS Figmints built — things are constantly changing with our organization, and it’s so simple to update our new site that anyone on the team is just a click away from helping us stay current. Bravo, Figmints team!”

It was such a joy to bring this site for life for VFA – an organization we both admire, and look to for incredible talent. As one of the fastest growing non-profits in the nation, we’re extremely pleased that their new website can foster their continued expansion.

Want to explore the new site for yourself? Check out Venture For America!