Customer Story: St Albans Cathedral
St Albans Cathedral’s Journey to a Dynamic Digital Presence
St Albans Cathedral, a historical and spiritual centre costing over £6,000 daily to maintain, faced significant challenges in balancing visitor engagement and supporting its local congregation. With Access Charity Website Suite, they transformed their online presence, enhancing user experience, streamlining donations, and benefiting from expert guidance tailored to their unique needs as a cathedral.
Access Charity Websites
Challenge
- High maintenance costs requiring substantial donations to keep the cathedral running.
- Struggle to serve both visitors and the local congregation effectively through their website.
- Outdated design and navigation issues, particularly on mobile devices, which hindered user engagement and donations.
Approach
- Comprehensive redesign of the website to streamline user journeys and make donation options prominent yet unobtrusive.
- Collaboration with Access experts to ensure the site met the needs of various user groups, including worshippers, visitors, and the local community.
- Integration of user-friendly features and ongoing support from Access to refine the website based on data-driven insights.
Results
- Significant improvement in user experience, leading to increased engagement and donations.
- Streamlined navigation catering to both visitors and local congregation needs, resulting in longer site visits.
- Enhanced flexibility and control for the marketing team, with a simplified process for updating content and managing events.
Key takeaways
- Boosted donations: Prominent yet discreet donate buttons have streamlined the donation process, increasing contributions.
- Improved user experience: Enhanced mobile navigation and clear user journeys cater to diverse audiences, from first-time visitors to local worshippers.
- Expert support: Access Charity Website Suite provided invaluable guidance, offering an outsider’s perspective backed by data and experience with similar organisations.
- Flexible, data-driven decisions: With the integration of AI tools like CoPilot, the cathedral is set to harness data insights for future improvements.
Introducing St Albans Cathedral
St Albans Cathedral is a historical gem, blending its rich medieval heritage with a vibrant place of worship and a visitor attraction. Kate Klevit, part of the marketing and communications team, shared insights into their ongoing efforts to balance serving visitors, encouraging donations, and meeting the needs of a large local congregation through their website.
Having experts who understand our unique challenges and goals was crucial. Their insights, combined with the flexibility of the platform, have been game-changing for us. It’s more than just a website builder; it’s a partnership that has empowered us to enhance our online presence and maximise our impact.
Understanding the challenges
Operating a historic site like St Albans Cathedral comes with unique challenges. The costs to maintain the cathedral exceed £6,000 per day, making donations critical. The cathedral's previous website struggled to cater effectively to both visitors seeking historical insights and the local congregation looking for worship information and community updates. The site also lacked mobile optimisation, which became a significant issue as more users accessed it from their phones.
A comprehensive overhaul
In 2019, the cathedral with the support and guidance of Access Charity Websites, aimed to revamp the website, enhancing both functionality and user experience. In a recent update over the summer, Access worked closely with the cathedral team, focusing on three main objectives:
- Enhancing mobile accessibility: Given the rising number of users accessing the site via mobile devices, a mobile-friendly redesign was prioritised.
- Streamlining donations: A new donate button was added to the top navigation, making it easier for visitors to contribute without overwhelming the site’s aesthetic.
- Tailoring user experience: The Access team provided guidance on restructuring the site to meet the varied needs of worshippers, tourists, and event attendees.
Delivering results
The impact of these changes has been substantial:
- Enhanced user engagement: Kate noted a marked increase in user retention, with visitors spending more time on the site exploring content.
- Increased donations: The streamlined donation process has made it simpler for both online visitors and local worshippers to contribute, boosting overall contributions.
- Empowered team: The ease of updating content and managing events has freed up significant time for the marketing team, enabling them to focus on strategic initiatives.
Expertise beyond software
A key advantage of using Access Charity Website Suite has been the ongoing expert support. The Access team brought valuable insights from working with other charities and cathedrals, helping St Albans to refine its approach. Kate highlighted the importance of having experienced professionals who could offer tailored advice and an outsider’s perspective, especially when internal stakeholders had differing priorities. This guidance ensured that decisions were not only user-focused but also backed by data and best practices from similar organisations.
Exploring the future with AI: The role of CoPilot
St Albans Cathedral is also trialling CoPilot, an AI tool integrated into the Access platform. Although they are in the early stages of adoption, the potential is already evident. Kate mentioned how CoPilot could help automate routine tasks and provide data-driven insights, such as identifying popular content and optimising donation strategies. The cathedral team is excited about the possibilities this tool offers in shaping their digital strategy and making informed decisions.
Why St Albans Cathedral recommends Access Charity Websites
Kate highly recommends Access Charity Website Suite to other charities, emphasising the invaluable support from the Access team. “Having experts who understand our unique challenges and goals was crucial,” she noted. “Their insights, combined with the flexibility of the platform, have been game-changing for us. It’s more than just a website builder; it’s a partnership that has empowered us to enhance our online presence and maximise our impact.”
Access Charity Websites: A partner for your digital journey
Access Charity Website Suite offers charities the tools to build effective, engaging websites while providing ongoing support and expertise tailored to the needs of not-for-profits. With features designed to streamline donations, improve user experience, and support data-driven decisions, Access ensures your charity’s website meets its goals.