The Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) is the world’s leading private funder of lupus research. Established in 2016 from the merger of three organizations the Lupus Research Alliance was created to improve treatments for lupus while advancing toward a cure. These efforts include raising funds and advocating on behalf of the lupus community in the public policy arena.

Project Goals

  1. Manage the successful implementation of LRA’s newly branded and redeveloped website. DNL provided consulting and guidance to the agency building the site, to ensure the final results included:
    • Utilization of best practices in the site’s development
    • A manageable and secure environment
    • Appropriate training and documentation for LRA’s ongoing maintenance
  2. Assess what fundraising platform would best serve LRA’s needs from three perspectives:
    • Technical integration with existing systems
    • Functionality
    • Ease of use
  3. Provide data management expertise and digital marketing support to bolster LRA’s solid foundation.
  4. Utilize a platform that’s easy to use so internal staff could make content updates.
  5. Demonstrate the story of the organization’s mission.

Project Outcome

As a result of meaningful discussions, cooperation, and teamwork among LRA, its vendors, and team DNL, we achieved the following outcomes:

  • Team DNL managed efforts to secure approval from senior management for the site design and content.
  • After completion of discovery and a technology audit, an informed, tested, and objective fundraising platform decision was reached and presented as the best solution to meet LRA’s needs.
  • Test events were conducted on selected platforms to scope ease of use, availability of quality reporting, and general acceptance by internal users and LRA constituents.
  • Where necessary, team DNL intervened on LRA’s behalf with platform vendors, seeking out technical solutions and additional training and guidance on how to optimally use their platforms.
  • While not an original project objective, we evaluated email platforms to identify the best fit for LRA’s needs. We established a contingency plan to bridge the gap until the recommended mail platform could be fully adopted.
  • A data migration plan was developed that supports LRA’s long-term data management and email marketing strategy.
  • In partnership with LRA’s data migration vendor, team DNL set in place a plan to equalize data between parallel systems, to achieve data equity and consistency between systems. However, due to the vendor’s resource limitations, team DNL stepped in to kicked off the project and continued to act as a surrogate, so LRA maintained momentum on progress.
  • The new website launched seamlessly ahead of schedule.
  • LRA staff received useful, relevant, and role-appropriate training and documentation to maintain the site on an ongoing basis.
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