Website mockup of the homepage hero carousel

Meyer Memorial Trust, one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest and most impactful philanthropies, had a new strategic focus and needed a new, dynamic website to carry its message forward.

As a trusted partner for more than a decade, we were honored to return to lead their rebrand and the visual design and development of their most important communications asset — a digital platform that empowers their team to move at the speed of their work.

Meyer’s website needed to have optimum flexibility and custom storytelling features for their communications team to easily manage. We built a custom WordPress theme designed to carry them forward as they evolve. 

Goals and Principles

Clarity, transparency, connection, and flexibility

Meyer’s previous site lasted a long time, but after a decade, they were ready for something more agile. Their goals were to use vibrant storytelling to bring visitors deeper into the work, and for the site to be modular and extensible so it could grow along with the organization.

Experience Principles

Empowering & Engaging

The site should reflect Meyer's forward-thinking and evolving approach, presenting new initiatives and strategies boldly and highlight progress.

Inclusive & Accessible

The site should make all visitors feel welcomed and valued, regardless of their background or language, and underline Meyer’s commitment to gender and racial justice.

Transparent & Trustworthy

The site should build trust with its visitors by offering a transparent overview of Meyer's activities and outcomes and show Meyer's commitment to its values.

Simple & User-Centric

The site should remain responsive to both internal and external needs, facilitating a seamless experience for all.
User journey graphic for a grant partner: an Executive Director of Oregon housing nonprofit searches "Oregon grant opportunities", finds the application dates and requirements, reads an article about long-term funding, and downloads the Community Impact Report
An infographic titled "Strategic Goals & Insights" listing three numbered objectives on a dark background
We mapped audience needs across two key axes and let that guide the content strategy.

A Dynamic System

Everything works together

The content strategy came directly from Meyer’s communications needs and our deep audience analysis. We identified key content needs, such as a flexible storytelling block, timeline blocks, case studies, and more. Each of their many components can fit together in various ways within the design system, and for site editors, it’s easy to assemble the type of experience they want for their visitors. 
The featured stories component highlights multiple recent stories from their newsroom, including grantee stories and important leadership updates.
Side-by-side mockups of Meyer Memorial Trust website pages, including a secondary grantmaking page, and a tertiary page of grant opportunities.
The site infrastructure is organized into primary, secondary, and tertiary pages, with intentional cues that make that depth obvious to visitors.
Storytelling webpage for Meyer Memorial Trust titled "Rise Moor Healing Center," featuring a story about four community-led organizations parterning to explore the creation of a Black wellness center, with supporting imagery, statistics, and testimonials.
The storytelling block enables the team to integrate impactful narratives throughout the site, incorporating diverse media formats to create a rich story experience.
Timeline webpage for Meyer Memorial Trust presented in a vertical format, spotlighting key milestones with photographs.
Meyer’s new custom timeline communicates the organization’s rich history, presenting key milestones in a dynamic, visually engaging format that brings their legacy to life.
Overview of modular website components for Meyer Memorial Trust, showing examples of an intro block, accordion, mobile basic hero, call-to-action variations, testimonial, statistics, and the site footer.
The new color palette and component library makes for a visually compelling site experience on every page.

Brand Expression

All about the details

We developed a set of visual tools that allow the communications team to create variety and interest while keeping the signposts to visitors really easy to follow. Certain components, such as calls to action, have multiple colorways and flexible elements, to keep things interesting. The digital craft comes through as a commitment to quality and care. 
GIF rotating through a set of four basic hero collages.
Graphic displaying the primary, secondary, and tertiary button styles for the Meyer Memorial Trust website.

Smith & Connors has been a trusted, strategic partner to Meyer for over a decade. They guided us in launching a new brand, website, and suite of materials that sharpen our story and strengthen our ability to achieve our goals. Their thoughtful approach and deep expertise consistently turn vision into tangible results.
Toya Fick's headshot

Under the Hood

Stability, security, and ease-of-use

The new site runs on Upsun, providing a stable, modern hosting environment with streamlined deployments. Meyer’s site is supported by a hardened security framework designed to protect sensitive content and ensure platform stability. The Wordfence plugin handles brute force monitoring, and multi-factor authentication is mandatory for all users. To protect staff privacy, we built a custom contact form that maps to staff profiles in the backend so visitors can reach team members directly without ever exposing their email addresses.

We also implemented an enhanced search experience powered by Relevanssi to deliver more accurate, intuitive results across a growing content library. Mailchimp integration streamlines audience engagement directly from the CMS, while Cookiebot provides automated consent management to support privacy compliance. Together, these systems create a secure foundation that makes the experience better for both site manager and end user.
"Website User Guide" showing sample pages from Meyer Memorial Trust's design system documentation, including information architecture, color theming, and page design layout tips.

Smith & Connors is not only incredibly talented but also a true joy to work with. Their process is fantastic: they help us navigate different perspectives, offer smart recommendations and solve problems creatively. Most importantly, they always deliver. We trust them. We love them. We wholeheartedly recommend them.
Helen Shum's headshot

Project Scope

  • Change Management
  • Staff Engagement
  • Workshops & Focus Groups
  • Hosting, Infrastructure & Deployments
  • Technical Strategy & Architecture
  • Content Strategy
  • Documentation
  • SEO Strategy & Optimization
  • Web Design & Development
view of a person using a laptop to browse the Greater Cincinnati Foundation website
Grid of themed homepage content blocks for Greater Cincinnati Foundation featuring headlines like “A place to call home, for all,” “A future we build together,” and “Opportunity for all,” paired with lifestyle and community photography and call-to-action buttons.