Kelly Brush Foundation – Building a Connected Community with “The Active Project

The Kelly Brush Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with disabilities lead active lives through sports communities, scholarships, grants, and customized sports equipment. The foundation partners with various organizations to provide resources and support to individuals who have been impacted by accidents, enabling them to stay engaged and empowered.

Industry

Nonprofit

Healthcare

Adaptive sports

Services

Branding

Web Design

Web Development

Timeline

3 months

Website

0 %

Increase in user engagement

0 X

Monthly Community Growth Rate

0 X

Longer Average Session Time

“Boomdevs brought our vision for The Active Project to life. They truly understood what we were trying to build and made it better than we imagined. Our community finally has a space that feels like home.“
Zeke Devisson

Executive Director, Kelly Brush Foundation

The Goal

The goal of The Active Project was to create a web-based platform that connects members of the Kelly Brush community, allowing them to:

• Find other community members in their area

• Discover events, partner organizations, scholarships, and grants

• Stay engaged through forums, messaging, and news updates

• Learn more about the foundation’s activities and offerings

The platform needed to foster engagement and provide seamless access to a variety of cross-functionalities, creating an integrated and connected community experience.

The Challenge

The Kelly Brush Foundation was facing several challenges before they approached Boomdevs:

• Multiple Functionality Integration: The foundation required a platform with multiple features, including events management, organization management, classifieds, forums, a member map, user messaging, and notifications. The challenge was to seamlessly integrate all these functionalities into a single, cohesive platform built on WordPress.

• User Engagement & Navigation: Creating an engaging and intuitive user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) was critical. With so many features to offer, the challenge was to ensure smooth navigation and easy access to all resources, making the platform inviting and easy to use.

Project Scope

Boomdevs was responsible for the entire development process:

• Wireframing and UI/UX Design: Designing an engaging and intuitive interface.

• Front-end and Back-end Development: Building the platform on WordPress, integrating various features and custom code to ensure all functionalities work together seamlessly.

• Testing and Launch: Ensuring that the platform is fully functional, with all integrations working smoothly across devices.

Key Features

Some of the core features of The Active Project include:

• Event Management: A system for organizing and managing community events, making it easy for users to find and register for activities.

• Partner Organization Management: Information about partner organizations offering scholarships, grants, and camps.

• Classifieds and Forums: A space for community members to connect, discuss, and share information.

• Member Map: A complex map that allows users to filter and find community members, events, partner organizations, and camps near their location.

• User Messaging and Notifications: An advanced messaging system to keep users engaged and connected, with notifications about events, grants, and other updates.

• Learning Resources: A section dedicated to educating users about adaptive sports and resources available through the foundation.

Challenges Overcome

The most significant challenges of the project were:

• Creating an Engaging UI/UX: The sheer number of features required careful design and testing to ensure an intuitive navigation system that allows users to browse, interact, and stay engaged with ease.

• Integrating Multiple Technologies: Combining WordPress with custom-coded elements for events, forums, and the member map required meticulous planning and development to ensure all functionalities worked smoothly together.

• Scalability and Cross-Functionality: Connecting different features like the member map, events, and forums into a single platform while keeping the user experience seamless was a complex task that required extensive research and testing.

Process & Strategy

We followed a methodical process to ensure that all aspects of the platform met the client’s needs:

01
Requirement Gathering
Weekly client meetings to understand their vision and gather detailed requirements for each sprint.
02
Research & Design
After researching different solutions, we designed wireframes and UI elements in Figma and Miro.
03
Development
Using PHP, JavaScript, and WordPress as the foundation, we integrated all the necessary functionalities. Custom coding was done where WordPress plugins fell short, especially in the areas of event management, the member map, and messaging.
04
Testing & Deployment
Rigorous testing was done to ensure the platform was both functional and user-friendly, with smooth cross-functionality.

Technologies Used

The following tools and technologies were utilized:

• PHP and JavaScript for back-end development and custom coding

• WordPress for the core platform

• Figma and Miro for design and wireframing

Results & Outcomes

The platform has had a significant impact on the Kelly Brush community:

• Increased Engagement: User engagement increased by 100%

• Community Growth: The community is growing at twice the rate every month.

• User Retention: The average time users spend on the platform has increased fourfold.

Conclusion

The Active Project demonstrates Boomdevs’ ability to build engaging, user-friendly platforms that meet complex, multi-functional requirements. By creating a space where the Kelly Brush community can connect and engage, we helped the foundation enhance their outreach and provide even more value to their members.