Executive Summary
RMBL is preparing for a once-in-a-century milestone—its Centennial Celebration and Capital Campaign—and requires a world-class digital presence to match its impact. This project rebuilds www.rmbl.org into a modern, accessible, story-driven website that elevates RMBL’s scientific legacy, strengthens donor engagement, and serves five distinct audiences with clarity and ease.
Project Purpose
Rebuild the public website to better communicate RMBL’s story of place, time, community, impact, and innovation, while offering intuitive pathways for:
The existing Salesforce Community Portal will remain in place; the new site will provide frictionless, persistent wayfinding to it.
Strategic Objectives
Achieve WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility and strong Core Web Vitals
Highlight scientific storytelling through profiles, research narratives, and seasonal content
Strengthen donor conversions with multi-channel giving and campaign storytelling
Provide a modern, flexible CMS with reusable components and scalable governance
Improve mobile usability, search effectiveness, and site performance
Key Deliverables
Comprehensive Information Architecture, navigation system, and audience pathways
Modular design system, wireframes, and interactive prototypes
Fully responsive website with search, events, news, storytelling modules, and donation flows
Clear and consistent pathway to the Community Portal
Analytics, SEO setup, redirects, accessibility testing, and performance optimization
Staff training, CMS documentation, and 90-day post-launch stabilization
RMBL’s Role
Provide full content inventory and sitemap export
Lead migration of 150–200 pages using provided templates
Collaborate on high-impact page refinement and narrative alignment
Timeline
Target launch: May 15, 2026
Phases include Discovery, Design, Development, QA, Training, and Pre/Post Launch Support.
Budget
A fully itemized, phase-based budget with optional ongoing support and retainer packages are included.
Why This Matters
A modernized RMBL website will:
Advance scientific understanding through accessible communication
Improve researcher and student onboarding
Grow philanthropic investment during the Centennial Campaign
Strengthen RMBL’s reputation as the world’s premier high-elevation field station
This rebuild positions RMBL for the next century of scientific discovery, community engagement, and environmental leadership.