We Are Blood
Since 1951, We Are Blood has served as the sole nonprofit blood center for Central Texas. What started as the Travis County Medical Society Blood Bank has grown into a vital community institution, united by a shared mission: protect the local blood supply and save lives close to home.
We Are Blood had been through a lot of names. Each one captured the mission, but none captured the heart. A comprehensive rebrand finally gave the organization an identity worthy of its community and separation from a sister brand, but the website still carried the old DNA.
With a brand launch already on the calendar, Monkee-Boy had to think short-term and long-term, knowing that the fine folks at We Are Blood had immediate needs and great ideas for the future.
Monkee-Boy rolls up a sleeve.
Priority Goals:
- Highlight the New Brand - Bring the new We Are Blood identity to life online, weaving brand guidelines into every visual, word, and interaction so the site feels like a natural extension of the rebrand.
- Educate Visitors - Help Central Texans understand the organization's mission, its roots in the community, and the ways they can get involved, whether that's donating, volunteering, or spreading the word.
- Build Engagement & Support - Position We Are Blood as a cornerstone brand in Central Texas, fostering the kind of community connection that sustains the mission and sets them apart from competitors.
- Streamline Content - Create a clear, intuitive content structure that gives visitors the information they need without the runaround, while reducing the burden on internal staff fielding routine questions.
- Think of the Future - Build a flexible WordPress foundation that We Are Blood can grow with over time, including laying the groundwork for a first-of-its-kind donor portal.
Challenges:
- First Impressions Count - This was the community's first encounter with the new brand. The website wasn't just a deliverable; it was part of the introduction.
- Phased Path - We Are Blood had both immediate needs and ambitious ideas for the future. Balancing what to build now versus what to plan for required careful prioritization and a clear roadmap.
- Advanced Tools & Integrations - The site needed to support an advanced event calendaring system, a social media hub, and seamless integration with We Are Blood's existing donor software.
- New Domain, Old Equity - A new identity meant a new primary domain name. Search rankings, domain equity, and existing traffic all needed to carry over without skipping a beat.
Bringing the Brand to Life Online
A rebrand only works if it shows up everywhere, and the website is where most people meet We Are Blood for the first time. Monkee-Boy translated the new visual identity into every corner of the site, from color palette and typography to photography treatment and graphic elements, ensuring the digital experience feels like a natural extension of the brand, not an afterthought. The red and blue color pairing, the mid-century-inspired design sensibility, and the warm community-first tone all carry through consistently, reinforcing who We Are Blood is with every scroll and click.
Never Miss a Chance to Give
Greater Austin is filled with generous Texans and Texas-based businesses eager to roll up their sleeves. To keep pace with that demand, Monkee-Boy worked closely with We Are Blood to develop an advanced event calendaring system that makes it easy for donors to find upcoming blood drives, community events, and donation opportunities across the region. The tool does more than list dates on a page. It engages, informs, and inspires action, helping users discover where and when they can make a difference. For We Are Blood, it means fewer missed connections and more pints in the cooler.
The Pulse of the Community
We Are Blood is out in the community every single day, whether it's a mobile blood drive at a local business, a partnership with first responders, or a celebration with donors who just hit a milestone. Monkee-Boy developed a custom social media hub on the homepage that pulls that activity front and center, giving visitors an immediate sense of the organization's culture, heart, and presence across Central Texas. It's not just a feed; it's proof that We Are Blood lives its name.
A Seamless Second Chapter
One of the project's core goals was to extend the We Are Blood experience beyond the main website. In a later phase, Monkee-Boy worked closely with We Are Blood's donor software provider to build a fully custom user interface for their platform that matched the updated brand from top to bottom. The result is a donor portal that feels like a natural continuation of the website, not a jarring handoff to a third-party tool. For donors, the transition is invisible. For We Are Blood, it means every digital touchpoint reinforces the same identity and trust they worked so hard to build.
Find Your Drive
Searching for a place to donate should be as easy as finding your nearest coffee shop. The donor portal's robust search tool lets users browse by list or map for locational context, then narrow results with filters for date range, zip code, group code, or location type (mobile or brick-and-mortar). Once a user finds the right fit, they move through a clean, step-by-step scheduling process that takes the guesswork out of booking. Less friction, more donors through the door.
Know Your Numbers
Curious about your blood? The donor portal gives users a window into their donation history along with general wellness info like pulse, hemoglobin, temperature, cholesterol, and blood pressure readings. It's the kind of transparency that turns a one-time donor into a regular, and it deepens the trust between We Are Blood and the community it serves. Giving blood becomes more than an act of generosity; it becomes a personal connection to your own health.
Give Blood, Get the Goods
Every donation earns points, and those points add up. The donor portal features an online store where donors can redeem their rewards for custom We Are Blood merchandise, all featuring original designs that celebrate the act of giving. It's a small thank-you that keeps donors engaged and coming back, turning goodwill into something you can wear. And every branded item out in the wild? That's another conversation starter about donating blood in Central Texas.
Increase in unique visitors to the site
Increased in time spent on the site
Increase in schedule appointments