Union Gospel Mission Dallas has served the homeless and addicted population in Dallas since 1949. Their legacy of compassion was not reflected in their outdated website, which was difficult to navigate and failed to clearly communicate the breadth of services offered. The goal was to modernize the website, align the digital presence with their mission, and make it easier for users to donate, get involved, or seek help.
Goals & Objectives
Create a clean, mobile-first design that communicates hope and dignity
Simplify user journeys for donors, volunteers, and those in need of services
Highlight UGM’s transformational impact through storytelling and media
Make ongoing updates manageable for staff with no coding experience
Integrate donation tools, newsletter signup, and event registrations seamlessly
Challenges
Disorganized site structure made it hard to understand the organization’s services
The donation process was multi-step and poorly optimized for mobile
The site lacked a cohesive voice, consistent branding, and high-quality visuals
Approach
Audit & Strategy
Built user personas: Donors, Volunteers, Individuals in Need, Churches & Partners
Information Architecture
Created a unified “Impact” section with real stories, data, and video testimonials
Design & Development
Embedded video headers and testimonial blocks to boost trust and engagement
Donation Flow Optimization
Introduced “Monthly Giving” and “In Honor” donation options
Content Strategy
Consolidated 20+ scattered blog posts and updates into a dynamic “News & Stories” section
Training & Launch
Performed pre-launch quality assurance and accessibility checks
Results
+52% increase in online donations in the first 60 days
+35% increase in mobile engagement time
Page load speed improved from 5.2s to under 2s
Bounce rate decreased by 44% sitewide