Visceral

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sr. Manager, Communications of NACTO

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

NACTO is an association of North American cities and transit agencies formed to exchange transportation ideas, insights, and practices and cooperatively approach national transportation issues.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Visceral to accomplish?

• Redesign website

SOLUTION

How did you find Visceral?

Online Search

Why did you select Visceral over others?

• High ratings
• Best proposal

How many teammates from Visceral were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Visceral entirely redesigned our website on a very compressed timeframe. Our website is complex–hundreds of pages and many page types–and has multiple audiences that we had to speak to. In addition, Visceral created a content architecture that much better explained the work we do publicly–dramatically increasing the visibility, legibility, and stature of our work. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The website has been well-received by interviewed constituencies. Our page views are up. The site loads faster. Our membership (city officials) have told us it is much easier to find what they need. We are noticing an increase in conversions by potential sponsors. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Visceral has impeccable project management. I have never worked with a firm that is as well-oiled as they are. 

What was your primary form of communication with Visceral?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Visceral is by far the easiest company I've worked with doing this caliber of project– they are extremely approachable, cut through the noise, and have impeccable project management skills. I can't think of any reason not to choose them. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Visceral could have done differently?

No – we're incredibly satisfied with Visceral. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director, Marketing of a philanthropic organization.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are the center for Jewish philanthropy, set up in a community foundation model to help donors support the causes most important to them through a variety of giving vehicles and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Visceral to accomplish?

• We needed a completely new website designed and built including creating information architecture that reflects the broad range of work we do.

SOLUTION

How did you find Visceral?

Referral

Why did you select Visceral over others?

• Referred to me
• Company values aligned
• Provided a great proposal &were thorough in our search process

How many teammates from Visceral were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Visceral built us a completely new website, starting from the ground up. We were on a hard deadline to create a new site before the end of December 2024. Our organization is very complex and we provide a wide range of services and programs. We needed completely new information architecture, as well as a new visual system. We did not have much we could migrate from our old website.

Visceral created a project plan that was detailed and disciplined and got us our beautiful new website on time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Visceral created a very in-depth plan with deadlines for approvals and content delivery and hit our launch date perfectly. The process was seamless and very well managed and the website they delivered is beautiful and functional.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

AMAZING! So organized, disciplined, kept us on scehdule and gave us tools (calendars, templates) so we could be a successful client.

What was your primary form of communication with Visceral?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Every person at Visceral is kind, great to work with, responsive, and wonderful to partner with. The final result is a beautiful and functional site for our various audiences and stakeholders. Their project management was really top notch and the team was great to work with!

Are there any areas for improvement or something Visceral could have done differently?

Nothing. They were great!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Senior Design Manager of Generation180

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Generation180 is a non-profit working to inspire and equip people to take action on clean energy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Visceral to accomplish?

• Complete website redesign
• Create a way to intuitively navigate our many pages/programs
• Create pages that are templatized in a way that will maintain brand consistency as the site grows

SOLUTION

How did you find Visceral?

Referral

Why did you select Visceral over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Visceral were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Strategy 

• Homepage and program pages that makes our purpose clear and allow us to showcase and update our most current work/events/media hits 

Usability 

• Intuitive navigation 
• Search bar 
• Intuitive/clean design for the entire site with attention to unique needs of: 
  • Events Page
  • Resource Downloads
  • Clean Energy School Leaders Network Bios. 
• An easy-to-use back end for internal design/marketing team 
• Optimized with SEO best practice 
• ADA compliant 
• Clear path to conversions/lead generation 

Style 

• Pages are created/templatized in a way that will maintain brand consistency as the site grows 
• More consistent imagery showcasing people 
• Showcase more videos 

Content 

• All applicable content imported from current site 
• Old content to be identified and removed

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Received a Gold AVA Award 2024 for the site redesign 
• Positive feedback from partners 
• Higher traffic to resources

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Visceral always delivered materials on time. They responded to our team's needs with thoughtfulness and best practices.

What was your primary form of communication with Visceral?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Truly the work, I absolutely loved our site and how it continued to serve our team every day - aesthetically and functionally. We have also continued a contract with Visceral, and watching them continually problem solve through our requests is extremely impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Visceral could have done differently?

Truly not a thing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Communications of Public Agenda

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Public Agenda is a national research-to-action organization that digs deep into the key challenges facing our democracy to uncover insights and solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Visceral to accomplish?

• Refresh organizational branding
• Create new website

SOLUTION

How did you find Visceral?

Formal RFP

Why did you select Visceral over others?

• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned
• Other

How many teammates from Visceral were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

In the first phase, Visceral developed a brand strategy and identity designed to better resonate with our target audience. This process included: 

• Brand audit 
• Strategy & positioning
• Creative production: Production of new visual look, including: 
  • Brand guidelines/style guide including color palette and schemes, fonts, and logo files (design in different formats for multiple channels)
  • Brand identity templates such as letterhead, presentation template, and email signature 

After the above deliverables were completed, the second phase consisted of Visceral applying our new look, building our new site. Those deliverables include:

• Application of new branding
• Conceived a site structure that addresses the project goals
• Provided a solution for organizing content, including existing site content from publicagenda.org (resources, programmatic and organizational content, microsite content) as well as any new content that would need to be developed 
• Created a look and feel for the site: 
  • design template pages
  • standard visual elements
  • style recommendations
• Developed a plan for migration of content where the work is split between Public Agenda and the developer in a logical and cost-effective way 
• Managed site launch and ensure a smooth transition between the old website and the new one

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• 18% uplift in web traffic in the first month following the new website launch 
• The time on page metric increased by 25 seconds from the old site to the new site (43 seconds vs.1 minute, 8 seconds) 
• Praise about the new visual identity from key external stakeholders along with the Public Agenda Board of Directors

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Visceral produced all of our deliverables on time and on budget. We scheduled weekly meetings with them to track the progress of the project. They are organized and keep us informed about project developments.

What was your primary form of communication with Visceral?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Visceral delivered a high-quality product and took the time to understand our brand. They were highly skilled, strategic, and cared about producing high-quality work. They are all wonderful people who are very easy to get along with.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Visceral could have done differently?

I have nothing negative to say - all experiences were positive.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the outgoing chief communications officer for The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation (retiring in October, 2022). The Weinberg Foundation is dedicated to meeting the basic needs of people experiencing poverty. In 2022, the Foundation expects to provide approximately $150 million in total grant activity supporting nonprofits that provide direct services in the areas of Housing, Health, Jobs, Education, and Community Services. Grants support organizations that serve a range of populations, including older adults, women at risk and their children, people with disabilities, and veterans, as well as the Jewish community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Visceral, and what were your goals?

The Foundation had engaged unsuccessfully with another vendor to create a web-based grants mapping and database tool to help visualize the Foundation's grants focus and reach. We learned about Visceral and their demonstrated work within this space and decided to explore a partnership. We wanted to create a visually clean, easily managed mapping tool and database that would "talk to each other" allowing both grants visualization *and* customized grants reporting output, including various filtering options.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We learned of another foundation which had used Visceral. We liked what we saw in terms of the other foundation's mapping and database functionalities. After initial conversations, we felt very comfortable with Visceral's grasp of our needs and concerns, as well as their clear vision for deliverables, as well as appreciation of our budget framework.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

There were too many steps in the process to detail here. Suffice to say that the Visceral team laid out a detailed, reasonable workflow, including milestones, multiple check-ins, clear guidance on what they needed from us, and ongoing confirmation of project alignment/expectations.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

There were three to four people on the core team, depending upon that particular phase of the project (for example, data aggregation and input versus map design and functionality or web integration).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We knew that we would measure success for this project not by traditional metrics but, rather, achievement of our vision for a web-based platform where grantees and the general public would be able to see--quite dramatically--the visualization of our grants reach nationally and within our priority communities. In addition, we wanted users to have access to an additional "layer" of more detailed information about each grant,

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Visceral projects a very relaxed, but highly professional, vibe that makes the entire team a pleasure to work with. In particular, they listen. At every step of the process, Visceral made sure that they understood our needs and vision and that we understood their solutions. They met every deadline and were incredibly helpful and supportive of us

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We had direct access to the entire team (as appropriate/relevant for each phase of the project) which makes it much easier to clearly communicate goals, questions, and progress as opposed to just reporting to a project manager. Most of all, however, we were impressed by their willingness to customize their services and skills to our needs. We never heard "no--we can't do that."

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the strategic communications consultant for a family foundation committed to making a positive impact. Our mission is to promote wellness and access to opportunities so that individuals and communities can thrive. As the strategic communications consultant, I am responsible for advising, developing, and implementing external communications plans.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Visceral, and what were your goals?

The Tow Foundation sought to redesign its Wordpress website to reflect our organization’s current goals and branding. This was achieved through both a design refresh and the development of additional functionality to enhance engagement with our core audiences. OUr project goals were as follows:

1. Create an attractive, clear, and professional website 
2. Tell the story of our work and the work of our grantee partners 
3. Provide easy access to the information our users seek through improved navigation and usability 
4. Elevate the legacy of the Tow family

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We reached out to about a dozen vendors and conducted interviews with each. Visceral stood out because of its design aesthetic, friendliness, collaborative spirit, and reasonable pricing.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a kickoff meeting, followed by information architecture review and wireframes, several rounds of design discussions, and the functional buildout of the website. We communicated over email and Zoom. Visceral used Figma for sharing wireframes and design. Collaborative documents were done in Google Doc.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We mainly worked with four staff members, including the chief creative officer, production director, technical director, and design director.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We've received positive feedback on the new design. Managing the site for staff has also been easier and more flexible.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Project management was great! Dana always kept us on track and was flexible when we had delays on our end. All expectations and timelines were clear and we never felt any hesitation about reaching out to the team.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The most impressive part of the company was the people. Everyone had such a positive attitude, even when dealing with difficult requests. They are very solutions-focused and willing to work with the client's needs.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No. Visecral did an amazing job. Any issues we had were quickly addressed. It always felt like we were all on the same team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the communications director of the Montana Health Care Foundation, a healthcare nonprofit organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Visceral?

We wanted to update our website; we had a lot of content we produced that our old website couldn’t host. I also wanted a way to let people know about our services in a user-friendly and attractive way.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Visceral updated our website using WordPress; they kept the same platform but created a completely new site for us. They created a new navigation structure and added new visuals to enhance the site’s look and feel.

Currently, they provide support for our site.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with Jay (CEO), Dana (Production Director), and their implementation team.

How did you come to work with Visceral?

We found them through an online search for web developers.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent $75,000–$100,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Thanks to Visceral's work, our platform is now more user-friendly and visually appealing. Also, our engagement metrics improved, including the number of people visiting and staying on the site. In addition, I spend less time working on our site than I used to, making it a more effective platform.

How did Visceral perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve taken care of the whole project management process, which has been helpful for me because everything runs smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to take complex information and display it simply through a good design is fantastic. Also, they’re elegant and creative with their solutions to problems, which makes them stand out from other providers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director at ECOLIFE Conservation, a 501(c)(3) organization based in San Diego. We have two major program areas: one involves designing and building sustainable agriculture programs with aquaponics, and our second is designing and building fuel-efficient stoves in Mexico. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Visceral?

We were due for a website overhaul, but I was particularly looking for an organization that could go beyond that and could really help us define and present our brand. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Redesigning our website was a year-long process. We had been using WordPress prior to that, and they helped us design the architecture, the content, and branding. We continue to use WordPress, but everything else — the architecture, coding, and other things — was built from scratch. 

We stuck with our current logo; we’re happy with it, so they didn’t change that. They worked more on the website's overall feel, such as shapes and colors that evoke certain feelings. 

What is the team composition?

I think there probably were four or five people throughout the redesign process. Our team worked with a creative person, a project manager, and a developer, and we had a handful of conversations with the CEO, so he knew what was going on. We also have a person on staff who does all the creative work.

How did you come to work with Visceral?

I personally know the CEO. That aside, we were really looking for a company that does good work. I like the fact that they’re a B-corporation — that is important to us — and that they work specifically with organizations that are also doing good work. Their portfolio of previous clients closely resembles us in terms of what we do and our size. 

I also wanted to work with someone locally. I think it’s important to sit down face to face or see their office and whiteboard things out, so I wanted to work with a San Diego-based company. 

We chose them because I’m interested in developing a long-term relationship with a company so that if we want to do tweaks to pages or a big redesign on things, they’re available and on-call to walk us through things. 

For example, if we’re going to have a big fundraiser, we’ll need a new page for that. They either can help us design it, or they’ll just straight up do it, depending on how much time is left in our retainer agreement. That was very important in our decision to pick a company. 

How much have you invested with them?

For the redesign process, it was around $50,000–$55,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the initial conversations in November 2018 and launched the website in August 2019. We have them on retainer now, and we’re still working with them. I imagine our working relationship will continue.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We were obviously pleased with the way that the end product turned out. Three months prior to and after the launch, they provided us with a report on SEO metrics or other deliverables. They told us what was happening with our website and social media and where our redirects were coming from because of the product they created. 

Visceral also took the time to sit down and talk with us regularly and get a sense of who we are, what we do, and why we do it. They were also able to ask the right questions to get to the right answers so that we were very much part of the creative process. They didn’t tell us what to do, but it was iterative, and they helped us arrive at a place we were happy with. 

How did Visceral perform from a project management standpoint?

What I like about working with them is that they made the process really easy for us. Their project management process was phenomenal — I’ve never seen anything like that. It was the project management that made them really stand out to me. 

We set up a shared folder in Google Drive, and we would fill in the blanks. They laid instructions out very explicitly, especially when we’re doing content creation. They also use Smartsheet to track ongoing updates and projects so we can always see that, for instance, we submitted this request, where it was on the queue, or when it would be finished. They’re very transparent. 

If I ever am not sure about something, their team is also helpful. I can just shoot them a text message or an email and ask for updates, even if it’s on Smartsheet. If I don’t have the time to look it up or I’m on the go, they’ll tell us the status. 

As a small nonprofit organization, we’re always underworked and underpaid and wearing many hats, so when a vendor makes our job easier — that to me is pure gold. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The collaboration was really fun. Designing websites sounds like my worst nightmare, but we felt like we could stand up and describe a process or a feeling or talk through things, and they would come back with a translated version of that — and it was spot on. 

Visceral took a deeper dive into who we are, what we do, and what we want to say to the world. We almost got to a point where we would dread our meeting with Visceral because it was like intense therapy sessions. Through trying to get us to put words to our identity, it felt like they were helping us through an existential crisis. 

Sometimes there were exhausting conversations because they would ask questions like who we are, why we do this, and why it is important. We hadn’t had those discussions internally before, so I felt like we got more than we paid for. They helped us really identify our team, core values, and goals throughout making a website. 

Working with them wasn’t just making a website. It was really getting into our identity and branding — that was unexpected to me. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

At first, I was a bit shocked by the price even though they gave us a nonprofit discount, which was awesome. Having gone through the process now, I totally think it was worth what we paid for. I thought that was a lot of money for us, but it was completely worth it. 

From my end, it seemed like a really long runway —  I was wondering why it would take 8–12 months to make a website because we needed it in six weeks. Then, as they started to unpack their process, it became clear why it would take that long and why it was important for them to get under our skin and know us —  and that shows in the final product. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They have a very diverse team in terms of points of view and skills, so I would encourage companies to bring their whole team into the conversation. Some ideas can resonate well with people in a team and even with the CEO. 

Instead of having one person interview them, have the whole team come on because I think that would help to flesh out some of their other skills that might not be on paper. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and president of the board of the Economic Justice Fund, a newly formed, nonprofit microloan fund dedicated to providing affordable loans and free entrepreneurship development services to help underserved entrepreneurs build strong, sustainable businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Visceral, and what were your goals?

We initially hired Visceral to design and create our new organization’s first website and logo.

After Visceral successfully completed those projects, we elected to upgrade from their ongoing website Maintenance Plan, to their Success Plan, through which they provide reporting and assistance beyond the basic website and plugin updates.

From the beginning, we recognized that, as a new organization, we needed to get this right. We knew that it wouldn’t work to have a website and logo that were merely good enough; for us to introduce our organization in the best possible way, we would need them to be great.

And so our goals for the project were to work with Visceral to create a website and logo that would embody our mission, make a strong, positive impression on potential borrowers, partners, donors, and funders, and serve as the foundation on which we could build our business.

SOLUTION

How did you select Visceral and what were the deciding factors?

Before selecting Visceral, we had tried working with a few other web design firms. Unfortunately, their work fell short of our expectations, and we continued to look for a firm.

We actually found Visceral on Clutch. We were especially impressed by their commitment to working with mission-driven nonprofits and also by the positive (and clearly legitimate) reviews they had received on Clutch.

We reached out to Visceral, had a few conversations that confirmed our initial, positive impressions, and decided to hire them.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

It proved to be a big project. The challenge was that Visceral wasn’t simply updating or refreshing our existing website and branding but were creating a digital presence and brand identity for us entirely from scratch.

Moreover, they were working with a client that had never gone through the process before and was figuring out what worked and what didn’t as the project progressed. From the start, the process was highly collaborative.

Visceral created the look and structure of the website, proposed several versions of the logo, presented their ideas to us through a series of reviews, made revisions as needed, and provided all the technical expertise required to get the site up and running.

Our organization provided initial guidance about the nature of our business and our target audiences, wrote all of the content for the site, selected most of the images, and provided feedback on Visceral’s design ideas.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Visceral is a collaborative company and included almost all of their team on different aspects of the project. We appreciated the unique skills that they all provided.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We have received very positive feedback about the website and logo from our board and stakeholders.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

The management of the project was very well organized and efficient. Visceral had a detailed process in place to work through each of the many stages of the process—design development, reviews, revisions, final review, and so on.

They explained each stage and the timing for each at the outset of the project and remained focused on moving the project forward. Visceral also provided specific guidelines (for example, character counts for headlines, subheads, and paragraphs) for the website’s pages, which our writer appreciated.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We were impressed by many things: Visceral’s commitment to serving nonprofits that are dedicated to making a difference in the world; their talent and skill; their willingness to listen and to find solutions that worked for us; their patience and flexibility; their professionalism; and their determination to do great work.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Visceral did great work for us, and they got this right. There may be areas where they can improve, but we didn’t find any. We recommend Visceral highly.