LeadingAge PA: A Website Redesign on DNN and Microsoft Dynamics CRM

About LeadingAge PA

LeadingAge PA is a trade association for Pennsylvania nonprofit organizations that provide housing, healthcare, and community services for older adults. Members come to the site for advocacy, education, and the practical tools of membership.

Why the site had to be rebuilt

LeadingAge PA asked for a redesign that would strengthen the visual presence, the functionality, and the experience, both for members and for the staff who administer content. The organization already had a CMS and a CRM. The new site had to work inside that pair of systems.

The rebuild marked the organization's 50th anniversary. The previous site had not been updated in many years. The design and the experience needed an overhaul, the site was hard to maintain, and integration with the association management system did not give members a usable path into member features.

DNN and Microsoft Dynamics CRM

We used DNN Evoq Content, formerly DotNetNuke, as the CMS and the foundation of the website, and Microsoft Dynamics CRM for membership. DNN is a .NET content system staff can publish in. Dynamics CRM was already how LeadingAge PA managed membership. The new site connects the two for content, membership management, and ecommerce.

Cloud hosting and the way the site was built were chosen for availability and performance.

The work, in three phases

Phase I. User experience consulting and architecture. User interface design. Help choosing and analyzing the CMS. A DNN skin. A WordPress theme. Hosting setup and the DNN installation. Content migration.

Phase II. Custom CMS modules. Microsoft CRM integration for membership, for authentication and authorization, and for business directories.

Phase III. DNN administration training. WordPress production deployment for the blog. DNN production deployment.

We also put a support and maintenance agreement in place, written for this organization, and continued that support after launch.

What changed for members and staff

• Content staff can change. With DNN as the foundation, the web team can swap content and control the message without a developer for every edit.
• A taxonomy. The site can cross-link and promote content on lower-level pages.
• A blog that matches. The LeadingAge PA blog runs on WordPress. The theme is designed so moving between the DNN site and the blog feels continuous.
• Search and social. Custom SEO and social channel integration were part of the launch.
• Membership through the CRM. Sign-in, member profiles, and directories come from the Dynamics integration, so members reach information they did not have a clean path to before.

The site launched on June 11, 2013, on time and on budget.

Member sites in healthcare and aging services

Need a member site redesigned and connected to your CRM? We do this work at Maxiom Labs, from the design through the build.