Late last year, when we began to get serious about updating our website, the design team we were working with asked us to tell them what we liked in a website. So we started looking at the websites of other non-profit organizations with missions similar to NCSE—environmental and educational groups, for example.
We quickly discovered that we were all drawn to websites such as those of the Nature Conservancy, National Geographic, and the World Wildlife Fund that featured gorgeous photographs of the natural world. So inspiring! So beautiful!
After coming back again and again to those sites, we began to ask ourselves why they worked so well. The realization was obvious in retrospect—those websites worked because the beautiful images directly reflected their missions: the images said: “support our organization and we will preserve the beautiful landscapes and animals you see here.” Much as we loved these sites, we realized that gorgeous nature photography just wouldn’t work for NCSE.
Because, ultimately, what we want is for anyone who finds their way to our website to understand NCSE’s mission and what we are doing to achieve it. And we’re not in the conservation business.
So what is the heart of NCSE’s mission? Not the beauty and majesty of nature (although we're all for nature around here), but the beauty and majesty of science. Our fundamental goal is to ensure that all students receive an accurate and effective education about evolution and climate change.
