M7 is a for profit company. We work with some of the world’s greatest thinkers and we apply our proven digital products design and development expertise to solving great challenges that move the world forward. Occasionally, we do it for free. Sometimes, doing our best work means tackling a pro bono project that is both rewarding for the nonprofit we are serving and for our team, who have the opportunity to use their skills in a way that is extra meaningful. Our recent nonprofit experience with Goochland Pet Lovers (GPL) hit the mark for all of the above.

GPL was founded with the intent to work with county government to raise money for a new animal shelter. Funds were raised, and as the building was nearing completion at the end of 2019, GPL began to turn its sights to its online presence. With a physical shelter almost ready to open, the community would need to know how to use the shelter – how adoptions would be handled, what to do if a pet needs to be surrendered, and other support inquiries, from how to donate and volunteer to whether the shelter would offer community services like training and medical care for adopted animals.

M7 stepped in to help the organization boost its online presence and reach the community. Our goals were as follows:

• Incorporate a new branding look and feel seamlessly into the web design
• Provide an easy management platform for GPL to communicate with the community
• Integrate payment processing to allow the efficient collection of donations
• Provide long-term support to ensure GPL’s continued success

We use the same approaches to our nonprofit projects as we do with any client; for GPL we created and reviewed mood boards to influence design and conducted site visits and interviews to understand user needs and organizational culture. We chose to develop in Drupal to allow GPL to easily update and maintain its content. With our long history of work in Drupal, we exercised our deep knowledge base to deliver a final product on a contracted timeline so GPL could unveil its new branding and online presence at its annual fundraising event.

Part of the work included integrating with GPL’s Stripe account for monetary donations, like the ability to select which fund a user wished to support, and the option to create recurring donations. We also leveraged Drupal’s Webform component to consolidate in-kind donations, sponsorships, and volunteer sign-ups, for easy administration. These digital tools became especially important in 2020 when in-person events, long relied on as donation-drivers, became few and far between.

The effort was successful, and the shelter opened in June 2020. The timing was impactful; several months into the pandemic, many households were looking to add a pet to the family, something Marker Seven staff understands well. Most M7 employees have some type of furry pet, and some even adopted theirs in the past year.

Today, we continue to provide support with site and hosting updates, as well as content management should the need arise. This allows GPL, and their digital presence, to adapt as new initiatives are launched and the needs of their community change.

At Marker Seven, we take pride in supporting organizations that are making a difference, not only on the world stage, but in our local communities as well. We look forward to supporting other non-profits and their initiatives in the future.