Special Olympics and Brightspot recently launched multisite websites for Special Olympics Tennessee and Special Olympics Virginia, equipping them with tools to restructure the information architecture to make it easier for athletes, caregivers, coaches, volunteers, and prospective donors to find the content they need.
Connecting digitally with our athletes and their caregivers has never been more important and Brightspot is the engine that enables us to do so. Our most recent rollout puts the power in the hands of the people of our global movement so they can engage, experience, and learn across borders.
Brightspot has been the lead digital partner of Special Olympics globally for more than a decade, powering a range of sites including SpecialOlympics.org and AbuDhabi2019.org. The migration of Special Olympics Tennessee and Special Olympics Virginia’s websites to Brightspot applies the lessons learned from SpecialOlympics.org and creates a seamless platform as Special Olympics aims to further digitize its movement.
This new platform gives local Special Olympics Programs the power to easily share resources and stories and maintain consistent branding. On a global scale, Brightspot and Special Olympics are rolling out geolocalization integrations to enable the organization to publish additional translated content and connect people with their local Programs, reaching athletes around the world.
“Since the re-launch of SpecialOlympics.org in August 2018, we have continued to collaborate with our partners at Brightspot to develop new features and improvements to grow our movement around the world,” commented Crystal Hudson, Director of Digital Fundraising & Strategy for Special Olympics. “Connecting digitally with our athletes and their caregivers has never been more important and Brightspot is the engine that enables us to do so. Our most recent rollout puts the power in the hands of the people of our global movement so they can engage, experience, and learn across borders.”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many in-person Special Olympics events were adapted for digital environments, and Brightspot provided a modern platform to generate timely content like training videos and health articles created specifically for individuals with intellectual disabilities to engage remotely. Investing in this technological infrastructure during this crisis has been critical in allowing Special Olympics to meaningfully connect with its athletes.
“The launch of our redesigned site and our migration to Brightspot could not have come at a better time,” remarked Rick Jeffrey, Special Olympics Virginia President. “With in-person practices and competitions canceled because of COVID-19, having a modern CMS has allowed us to effectively pivot our content strategy and transition our key fundraising initiatives—Polar Plunge and Dulles Day Plane Pull—into high-impact virtual events.”
“Partnering with Special Olympics to connect athletes, caregivers, coaches and volunteers to useful content is incredibly important, especially as we know Special Olympics is a critical part of many athletes’ lives,” said David Gang, CEO and Co-Founder of Brightspot. “We’re happy to continue over a decade of work with them to ensure they’re building a great online presence. With Brightspot powering an easy-to-navigate web experience, Special Olympics can better reach stakeholders to ensure they’re providing the most important information in a seamless and fast way.”
By leveraging Brightspot’s multisite capabilities, building multiple properties within a single instance, and reusing the front-end, Special Olympics created efficiencies within the movement and maintained brand consistency.
