Case Study
Hero Initiative
A cause worth funding. A website that finally proved it — and doubled online donations in 45 days.
Overview
Industry: Nonprofit
When you’re running a nonprofit, you know the mission is worth funding. The hard part is getting your website to make that case for you — especially when donors are deciding in seconds whether to stay or leave. Hero Initiative had the credibility, the track record, and the cause. What they didn’t have was a website that converted that trust into donations. That’s what we set out to fix.
The Problem
If you’ve ever shared your organization’s website with a potential donor and quietly hoped they wouldn’t judge you by it — you already understand where Hero Initiative was. The mission hadn’t changed. The credibility hadn’t changed. But the website had fallen behind, and in a world where more donors are giving online than ever before, that gap was costing them. Every confused visitor, every abandoned donation page, every story that never got found on Google — it was all adding up.
The site was built for awareness and volunteers — not donations — and that mismatch was showing up where it hurt most
The donation path was unclear and hard to follow, making it easy for willing donors to give up before they gave
The messaging didn’t communicate the urgency of creator need, the heart of Hero’s mission, or a compelling reason to act right now
Key actions — donating, applying for help, understanding Hero’s impact — were buried and easy to miss
A large library of stories, news, events, and fundraisers was disorganized and invisible to search engines, hiding Hero’s most powerful proof points from the people who needed to see them
That’s when they turned to RedWeb.Digital.
The Solution
Before we touched a single page, we sat down with Hero Initiative to understand where they were, where they needed to go, and what was standing between their mission and the donors who would fund it. The strategy wasn’t complicated — but it required clarity. Clearer message. Clearer path to giving. A website built around what Hero actually needed it to do.
Refocused the entire website around online giving — so no matter where a visitor lands, donating is always the clearest next step
Sharpened the messaging so first-time visitors immediately understand the need, feel the urgency, and know exactly how they can help
Built a two-sided social proof strategy that most nonprofits overlook — pairing testimonials from creators who received help with testimonials from donors, so prospective givers could see not just the impact of their donation, but how it would feel to be part of a community that shows up for people who need it
Rebuilt the site structure and navigation so supporters, creators, partners, and fans can all find what they’re looking for without friction
Built a stronger, faster site with integrated tools for donations, merchandise, email marketing automation, SEO, speed, and security — everything running together, hands-off for the Hero team
The Results
Within 45 days of launching, Hero Initiative more than doubled their online donation revenue — from $2,207 to $4,961. More people were finding the donate page. More people were following through. And when they gave, they gave more. Ten times more. The average donation jumped from $17 to $171. That’s not a traffic win. That’s what happens when donors finally understand the mission, feel the weight of the need, and trust that their money is going somewhere that matters.
Online donation revenue more than doubled in 45 days — from $2,207 to $4,961 — because the website is finally doing the fundraising work
Average donation jumped from $17 to $171 — a 10x increase — because donors who understand the mission give like they mean it
36% more completed donations — the new site turned browsers into believers
83% more donors reached the donation page — because for the first time, it wasn’t hard to find
Creator story pages saw a 2,000%+ increase in visits — the people behind the mission are finally being seen
That’s what a website is supposed to do.
“Our New Website Looked Better Than I Expected — and Delivered a Solid Revenue Boost.”
I was in need of a ground-up redesign for Hero Initiative, bringing our website into the 21st century. RedWeb.Digital provided great, intuitive, guided questions that made the process smooth and easy. At the end of the day, our new website launched smoothly, looked better than I expected, garnered great feedback from colleagues, and has resulted in a solid revenue boost. Most highly recommended.
Jim McLauchlin
President
Project gallery
See what the transformation looked like.
Your Website Should Be Working as Hard as You Are.
If it’s not — if your best donors can’t find you, or they land on your site and leave without giving — it’s time to fix that. Hero Initiative did. So can you.
