Content Management Case Study - London Metropolitan University: Reach

The Problem London Metropolitan University (LMU) faced an issue of managing all of the volunteers who wanted to undertake volunteering placements at the University. As one of the largest Universities in the country, they had to meet the increasing needs of the 35,000 students and staff as well as those in the local community. They required an online system to help manage volunteering, mentoring, training/workshops and group projects opportunities on the University website. The system also needed to facilitate the provision of this information that would normally be provided by telephone, email and on an individual 1-2-1 basis. The volunteering department had also re-branded to 'Reach' and this new branding had to be reflected in the new system.

The Solution

After discussing the needs of the Reach team, it became apparent that the system developed for Bournemouth University could be used to achieve the needs of the project. Due to the requirements identified, some additional amendments were needed to the system, which required extra development.

We worked closely with all members of the Reach team to develop the look for the system, as well as taking them through the process of collecting imagery and content for the website. Prior to launch, we added the content into the website in a clear and concise manner, to ensure users could find the information they wanted easily.

Like thehub project, the Reach website also made use of our content management system, Dub3. This allowed them to add, edit and remove any other content from the website at any point and allowed them grow the information as necessary.

Due to the centralised nature of the web system, the Reach team have been able to share information across multiple campuses which hadn't been possible in the past. This has allowed them to improve the services they offer and also the communication between all stakeholders. The reporting area in the admin section has also provided clarity and statistics on all activity. This has helped the team get a better understanding on the numbers of volunteers they are working with and where improvements can be made to processes currently used.

How We Achieved It

• Implementation of thehub system with additional amendments
• Dub3 Content Management System (CMS) implementation to allow admin users to manage the content as required
• Website design in line with Reach brand guidelines
• Ongoing support to Reach team pre and post launch

The Benefits

• Dub3 CMS allowed the website to be simply and easily updated keeping volunteers and organisations up to date with the latest information
• Online registration simplified and improved efficiency in matching volunteers with organisations; opportunities and interest were automatically cross referenced by the system and potential matches alerted via e-mail
• Accessing information becomes easier for both volunteers and organisations as Dub3 automatically builds pages to be accessible and usable
• Increased accessibility enabled Reach to increase the marketing as the volume of opportunities that could be processed by the existing staff increased

The Bottom Line

During the 12 month Phase One project the following was achieved:

• 328 approved opportunities added
• 600+ volunteers registered with the system
• Improvement in volunteers' and staff skills and employability
• Significant increase in website traffic over 12 month period

What they said

"We are extremely pleased with the website and database Adido Solutions has provided to us. The system they provided has helped us to automate our work flow and we no longer have to rely on spreadsheets and papers, this has given us the ability to increase our productivity in other areas to the benefit of our students. The website Adido designed has generated a very successful brand for our organisation and recognisable to both internal and external clients. Most of all we appreciate the time Adido has taken to understand our requirements, provide us with sound advice and suggestions to improve and market our product."

Steven Rowe - Department of Student Services - London Metropolitan University

Want to know more?

If you are interested in finding out about the online volunteering system which we have provided to Bournemouth University & London Metropolitan University, please get in contact with us on 0845 260 2343 or send us an email via our contact form.

Adido Experience

Adido is an online marketing and web design company working with businesses in Southampton, Winchester, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Poole, Dorchester, Weymouth, Surrey, Guildford, Woking, Camberley, Farnborough and surrounding areas. We have been providing local businesses with affordable e-commerce and CMS solutions, search engineoptimisation and PPC advertising services throughout UK.