The Valley of the Moon Observatory Association, 501(c)3 non-profit of volunteer community members, is dedicated to inspiring curiosity about astronomy and science. The association operates under the Robert Ferguson Observatory (RFO), providing educational programs, stargazing opportunities, and community partnerships that make astronomy accessible to students, educators, and the public throughout Sonoma County.
RFO’s outdated website made it difficult for visitors to navigate events, programs, and opportunities to get involved, especially on mobile.
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As you can see, the website lacked visual appeal and failed to represent RFO’s mission. Key actions like volunteering, becoming a member, and donating were also not prominently featured, creating challenges for a nonprofit that heavily depends on community support.
To solve these issues, we designed and developed a modern, mobile-optimized site with intuitive navigation and a refreshed visual identity, enabling RFO to better engage visitors, increase donations, and support easy staff updates.
In our initial meetings with RFO, they emphasized the need for a more modern-looking website that also highlighted 3 key actions: Membership, Volunteer, and Donate. Since “modern” could mean different things to different people, we asked RFO to share examples of websites they admired. Their references included California Academy of Sciences, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Perth Observatory, and Griffith Observatory.