Save the Children is a globally recognized NGO with operations in over 100 countries, dedicated to improving the lives of children worldwide through better healthcare, education and economic opportunities. To amplify this critical mission, the organization faced a major barrier: a fragmented digital infrastructure. With each country office managing its own website on disparate platforms like Adobe Experience Manager, Kentico and legacy Drupal, the organization faced significant inefficiencies, high costs and a limited ability to mobilize supporters.
To overcome these challenges, Save the Children partnered with Material to transform its digital ecosystem. Our primary objectives were to:
Unify Digital Presence: Consolidate over 100 country websites onto a single, scalable Drupal-based platform to create a cohesive global brand experience.
Cut operational waste, freeing vital funds for children’s programs: Slash turnaround from weeks to hours—at a fraction of the cost, associated with content publishing, site maintenance and launching new country websites, allowing resources to be reallocated toward programmatic work.
Amplify Impact: Build a future-ready digital ecosystem designed to accelerate fundraising, advocacy and supporter engagement, ultimately driving measurable improvements in the lives of children around the world.
By achieving these goals, we aimed to create a digital platform that would not only solve technical problems but fundamentally empower Save the Children to better serve its mission.
Our strategy was to create a digital foundation that balanced centralized governance with local flexibility. Material set out to architect and build a scalable, multilingual Drupal platform that could serve as a single source of truth for all global content, while still allowing country-level teams to tailor their sites for local audiences.
The core of our approach was the development of a comprehensive design language system (DLS) and a reusable component library. Instead of building each country's website from scratch, local teams could now quickly assemble pages using pre-built, accessible UI components. This dramatically reduced development time and costs, while also ensuring a consistent, high-quality user experience across all markets. We also implemented a simplified editorial workflow, making it easier for non-technical staff to manage and publish content, especially during time-sensitive campaigns.
A unique and impactful feature was the creation of a custom petitions module. This module seamlessly integrated advocacy actions with fundraising flows, allowing a supporter who signed a petition for a cause to be presented with an opportunity to donate, linking their passion to a direct financial impact. This innovation was key to connecting digital engagement to real-world outcomes.
This project was not without its challenges. We had to navigate a highly fragmented ecosystem and migrate a massive amount of content from various legacy platforms. We overcame this by taking a phased rollout approach, starting with key priority markets to validate the core framework before onboarding additional countries and the international site. We also optimized the platform for performance, scalability and security through advanced caching and CDN readiness, ensuring it could handle the traffic of a global organization and remain resilient and fast for supporters everywhere.
Ultimately, our strategy wasn't just about technology; it was about empowering people. We created a unique, human-centric platform that directly connects a supporter’s passion to Save the Children's mission, ensuring every click, share and donation has the greatest possible impact.
The results of this digital transformation clearly demonstrate that we not only met but exceeded our objectives, driving significant, measurable impact for children around the world. On the Save the Children International website – one of the first to go live – the unified platform delivered outstanding results:
Engagement time increased by over 100%, showing that the improved user experience is compelling supporters to stay longer and interact more with the content.
Conversion rates rose by nearly 400%, translating directly to a major boost in the number of people taking action, whether by donating, signing a petition or joining a campaign.
Editorial publishing time dropped by 30%, enabling rapid delivery of localized, time-sensitive campaigns.
Operational efficiency improved dramatically, with a 25% increase in efficiency for onboarding new country sites, resulting in a substantial fundraising pipeline and positioning the organization for sustained growth.
Platform consolidation, automation and the integration of key tools led to a 20% boost in operational efficiency.
These outcomes are a testament to the platform's power to drive both growth and stability across diverse digital landscapes. By providing a unified, resilient and high-performing digital ecosystem, the digital transformation has amplified the Save the Children’s global mission, ability to inspire a new wave of supporters, advocate more effectively and ultimately create a lasting positive impact on the lives of children worldwide.
