Rising Above
Purchasing six acres of land on Eastern Parkway, the Kosair Shrine Temple formed Kosair Charities Committee, Inc. in 1923. Opening the hospital in 1926, the first ten patients were admitted on May 11th. The hospital added a new wing in the 30s, reaching a capacity of 100 beds by 1934 and continuing to expand in the 40s and 50s during the Polio outbreak. After working with the Children’s Hospital under the direction of U of L pediatric physicians in the 70s, Kosair Crippled Children’s Hospital merged with the Children’s Hospital on May 1, 1981.
Evolving into a grant-making organization to better support the changing needs of children in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Kosair Charities broadened its scope of support in 1982 and began providing grants to support various pediatric programs. Today, Kosair Charities enhances the lives of children through organizational grants, the Face It Movement to end child abuse, direct financial assistance for families, charitable leases for local nonprofits serving children, and one-of-a-kind experiences for Kosair Kids. In addition to providing rent-free office space to nonprofits, they are able to support agencies around the state in offering crucial medical care to children. There is no better way to help the community than by investing in our children.
Reaching for the Sky
Spanning the entire state of Kentucky and Southern Indiana, Kosair Charities realizes that all children have needs that are unique and special. As those needs change and evolve, so does Kosair Charities. Needing to have a website that not only accurately communicates the vision of the organization, yet also allows visitors and advocates to easily navigate the information they are seeking was one of the primary motivators for the new website. Whimsical without being childlike, the website needed to properly reflect the large-scale impact donors help to create while clearly communicating that they are not a direct service provider. Images, the right context, and correct copy all help to convey this message.
The bold decision was made to lead with their mission at the forefront of the website in order to clarify who they are and what they do. Their identity is clarified through the clear, concise menu options. “Kosair Charities seeks to have our visitors connect, help, and apply for support,” says Lindsay Wehr, Kosair Charities’ Senior VP of Strategy and Outreach. “The menu makes this navigation very easy and intuitive.” The expandable hamburger menu, cloud motions, as well as the timeline and event blocks are at the top of the list of Kosair Charities’ favorite features of the website. These elements can come to life in a variety of different ways, depending on the content.
Internally, Kosair Charities’ team needed to be able to seamlessly and independently operate the website from the smallest to larger scale changes. “The blocks and WYSIWYG editors make this possible internally with a clear, crisp display externally,” says Wehr. “The new website pays homage to our history, clarifies who we are now, and better stewards our current and future donors. Whether a first-time visitor to the site, or someone who has known Kosair Charities their whole life, visitors will learn something new as well as be able to easily find what they are looking for.”
Going Above and Beyond
A charitable organization centered around children, the website’s design and layout reflect Kosair Charities’ mission to enhance the health and well-being of children. “It was important that Kosair Charities' work with children was central to the website’s theme and direction,” says Hatfield Media’s Front-End Web Developer, Matt Swanberg. Showcasing pictures of the kids they work with, the new website provides an updated and modern design to promote Kosair Charities’ work and mission, as well as the many and varied programs for children that they offer.
Combining their original logo — children at play with a kite — the website features a motion video of the sky running continuously in the background. A continuation of their previously established brand, the website incorporates three variations of watercolor kites throughout the site. Hatfield’s design team implemented light blue, sage green, and dark green colors to the site. Located in the footer, the buttons highlight the three main ways visitors to the site can support Kosair Charities.
Clearly promoting their support of local hospitals and resources for children, the new website prominently displays their mission statement, as well as ensures a clear funnel for donations. “Leading back to the ‘About Us’ page, the ‘Donate’ and ‘Our Mission’ sections are the most important parts of the site. That’s how people learn about Kosair Charities’ and how they can help other kids,” says Hatfield Graphic Designer, Morgan Fletcher. “Kosair Charities needs to collect donations to fund its important charitable endeavors. Many charitable organizations don’t invest in a good web presence. Prioritizing communication on the internet allows Kosair Charities to reach users where its competitors do not currently operate,” says Swanberg.
Flying High
The Hatfield team observed firsthand Kosair Charities’ passion for helping the children. “They really wanted to launch the site so that it would help them bring in more money and resources for the kids,” says Fletcher. Easy to work with, “...they had a clear vision for what they wanted and our team was happy to work alongside them to bring this project to fruition,” says Swanberg. “Kosair Charities had a lot of precious stories to tell, and the new website houses them in a light and airy way. Finding creative ways to use their branding, like the sky and clouds, was a pleasure for the Hatfield creative team. Kosair Charities helped tremendously in expediting the project by delivering their content needs,” says Hatfield Media Sr. Account Representative, Christina Pfeifer.
Enhancing the health and well being of children by providing financial resources, Kosair Charities does this with the utmost financial prudence, trust, honesty, collaboration, and inclusion. Their goal is for all children to grow up happy, healthy, and safe. Grant makers are many things to many people depending on if you are a donor, board member, or grant applicant and Kosair Charities has stood the test of time for 98 years. Truly having no competitors, they do their best to collaborate and resource share as a nonprofit. “Kosair Charities is so thankful that our website now matches who we are and what the organization is about,” says Wehr. “A reflection of their past, present, and future, the new website will guide us toward our 100th birthday. Working with Hatfield was a breath of fresh air, from the quoting process, to the contract, execution, and launch of the new website. My colleague and I have participated in over three new website launches, and this was by far the best, most professional, comprehensive process.”
