Sector(s)
YMCA of Greater Brandywine is an association of eight branches serving over 80,000 members in Chester County, Pennsylvania. As a non-profit organization, they have limited financial and staff resources to meet their goals. To address this challenge, Five Jars was brought in as the digital partner to manage the YMCA's online presence, starting with a migration project to the latest version of the Drupal platform.
About the project
The original Drupal site was built on a pre-release version and needed to be modernized to utilize the most advanced features of the Drupal platform. The goals of the migration were:
- Making future Drupal upgrades more affordable and manageable
- Reducing the number of customizations and aligning the website with the Drupal core codebase
- Improving website security and stability
A comprehensive analysis of the site was conducted to identify areas for improvement. Content types, media elements, and components were reviewed and prioritized for simplification, optimization, or removal.
Migration Results
The migration to the latest version of Drupal allowed staff and members to take advantage of new features and lower the cost of future upgrades. The site response time and stability were also significantly improved.
ACTIVE Net Integration
ACTIVE Net is a popular CRM and e-commerce system used to manage the YMCA class schedule.
However, the original integration with Drupal was not real-time. To improve the member experience, Five Jars created a new integration using the latest ACTIVE Net APIs. The goals were to:
- Display ACTIVE Net updates with minimal delay
- Make the integration stable and simple to track updates
- Provide ability to download PDF schedules
- Make Group Exercise schedules mobile-friendly
The new integration between ACTIVE Net and Drupal improved the accuracy and accessibility of schedules and overall customer satisfaction, leading to an increase in the Net Promoter Score.
Program Registration
The program registration process was improved to allow members to easily filter activities by age, day, branch, and program type.
The results were a dramatic increase in program registrations, improved awareness of YMCA activities, and an increase in the number of engagements.
Promotional Digital Signage
Five Jars implemented an interface to manage the content of digital signage screens throughout client facilities, reducing costs for digital signage software. The Drupal Digital Signage solution is an open-source product that supports playlists, screen management, and its own media library, making digital signage management easier.
The Drupal Digital Signage solution improved the in-branch experience and provided an additional content platform for the marketing team. Schedule screens were also added to display schedules in real-time on digital signage in YMCA lobbies and program rooms.
Are you interested in the actual solution we’ve provided? Check out our GitHub repository.
A truly successful project
In conclusion, Five Jars was successful in creating a digital solution for the YMCA of Greater Brandywine that improved the member experience, increased program registrations, and provided an effective platform for marketing content.
The team at Five Jars treats our site with the same care and fervor that we expect from our own employees, and that is a rare find in a vendor. In short, I could not imagine partnering with any other vendor for our development needs.Jim Paro, Chief Information Officer, YMCA of Greater Brandywine
Why Drupal was chosen
Drupal's advanced features: The original Drupal site was built on a pre-release version and needed to be modernized to utilize the most advanced features of the Drupal platform.
Future upgrades and manageability: The migration to the latest version of Drupal allowed staff and members to take advantage of new features and lower the cost of future upgrades, making future Drupal upgrades more affordable and manageable.
Improved security and stability: The migration to the latest version of Drupal significantly improved the site's response time and stability, improving website security and stability.
Open-source digital signage solution: Five Jars implemented an interface to manage the content of digital signage screens throughout client facilities, reducing costs for digital signage software. The Drupal Digital Signage solution is an open-source product that supports playlists, screen management, and its media library, making digital signage management easier.
Technical Specifications
Drupal version:
