Case Study: The Sentencing Project

How do you empower audiences through data and storytelling?

The Challenge

The Sentencing Project (TSP) provides critical research for journalists, thought leaders, activists and other core audiences to lead the fight against racial injustice and mass incarceration. The needed a website to bring that research and data to life through a more interactive and dynamic experience that features personal stories and data visualizations.

Markets & Services

Data design

Data that’s easy to use and maintain

The site strategy focuses on making it easier for audiences to access and understand complex data. New modules offer explanations of metrics and an accessible design, providing context within the data. For example, people can now compare data across jurisdictions and U.S. totals. Another goal was to alleviate TSP’s administrative burdens managing the data. Our client can now upload a formatted spreadsheet, which is also available for users to download, cutting out the step of reaching out to TSP for the raw data.

Website design

Humanity and hope behind every decision

The TSP and IS teams made sure our approach never felt exploitative for individuals and families impacted by mass incarceration: the “Experiences” section highlights personal stories to humanize the issues. The new look-and-feel marks a significant brand shift for TSP, as we streamlined their design system to create greater visual impact. The redesigned site expresses a hopeful tone through imagery, color palette and content design—all wrapped in AA-level accessibility. A creative standards guide is in the works, which will help TSP express a consistent brand throughout their digital and marketing platforms.

Donation goals

Channel emotion into action

The new site works harder to convert audience emotion into action. We surfaced donation opportunities to increase conversions, including a sticky donation button. Calls-to-action throughout connect content to relevant steps that audiences can take, while a more robust “Ways to Give” section lays out the options for how to contribute.

Digital fundraising strategy

Marketing that meets the moment

TSP experienced a surge of new donors and advocates after George Floyd’s murder. Our client wanted to explore how to channel that passion for racial justice into sustained support. They asked our marketing team to spearhead a digital fundraising audit and strategy—including email, advertising and media—to identify the opportunities for growing their digital fundraising program. We continue to partner on TSP’s digital fundraising efforts, including a new paid media program that’s generating thousands of prospective donors.

Resource library

A foundation to build understanding

The new website equips audiences with tools and guidance for diving deeper into key issues. A new glossary links terminology within data tools, driving comprehension of concepts. Publications are the #1 driver of site traffic, so we created a taxonomy-based resource library. Knowing that some of the resources are outdated but still needed for historical context, we added callouts that point people to more recent versions. That way, audiences can connect past and present to see a fuller picture of the issues.

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