Reading is Fundamental
Building the messaging and digital home that decades of work deserve
When an organization has been doing important work for decades, being known isn’t a concern, but keeping your audience energized and engaged can be.
Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) has spent more than 6 decades at the center of the U.S. literacy crisis by bringing the joy of reading to children nationwide. We partnered with them to re-energize their messaging strategy and build a digital presence that matched its urgency and ambition.
The challenge wasn't awareness. RIF was already known and loved. The gap was in how clearly and compellingly their comprehensive work was being communicated to the donors, partners, and supporters.
What we did
- Content
- Content governance
- Content migration
- Content strategy
- Fundraising strategy
- Messaging
- Visual design
- Website development
1
W3 Silver Award
1%
increase in page views on the “Partner with Us” page in first month post-launch
The focus
RIF had the history, the research, programs, and momentum. They needed a site that made the stakes of their work and the path to getting involved impossible to ignore.
Our strategy
We started with the research, let the audience shape the message, and built the experience outward from there.
Grounding the strategy in real insight. Before we wrote a word of messaging, we conducted qualitative and quantitative research to understand how audiences were thinking about literacy and what would actually move them to donate, volunteer, or take another action. That research became the foundation for everything: narrative framing, content priorities, and the overall arc of the site experience.
Sharpening the call to action. RIF's mission of sparking the joy of reading in children is clear at the program level. The site now communicates it with the same clarity and confidence, using concise, powerful storytelling that brings a visitor from awareness to investment in a few clean steps.
Loading
Building a case for partnership. Corporate and foundation partners are central to how RIF scales its impact. We built a dedicated section of corporate donor spotlights, informed by external and internal interviews, which makes the mutual benefits of engagement visible and the ask clear. This section included more testimonials, measurable outcomes, and a direct point of entry for prospective partners.
The results
The new site transforms the organization into a digital presence that matches the weight of the work. The messaging is sharper, the urgency is tangible, and the site now actively supports the relationships RIF depends on to grow. The W3 Awards also took notice, recognizing our work with a silver award. Most importantly, our messaging and content strategy helped make the case for literacy in a way that moves people to act, so RIF can continue reaching the children and communities that need them most.
Action Against Hunger
