CASE STUDY

Website Resurrection Saves Non-Profit Organization

Industry: Non-Profit / Education
Project Type: Website Recovery & Rebuild

"WhatArmy rescued our Not for Profit's website from the ashes. They helped recover data, rebuild and completely get our website recovered and up and running. They are terrific for any challenge one may need for website functionality, maintenance and service."

Marine Studies Consortium Non-Profit Organization
217%
increase in registrations
1
Website Recovered
$46K
Tuition Generated

The Challenge

The Marinestudiesconsortium.org website disappeared from the web in the middle of the night without warning and without a trace. The website, which was built years ago by a third-party developer, had been hosted on a third-party platform that shut down its servers without any notification to its customers.

The website owner reached out to us for help. She was upset and confused about where the site had gone and what could be done to get it back. It appeared to be a total loss; her calls and emails to the platform's customer support went unanswered and the platform did not take any backups at all. Time was of critical essence: the website is used by students to register for marine studies courses at participating colleges and universities, and fall registration was about to begin.

The Solution

We helped recover the website from an original archive, rebuilt it on WordPress, resolved DNS issues, and launched it in time for fall course registration, all while working within the organization's limited budget.

Initial Recovery Plan

Recommended completely rebuilding the site from scratch on WordPress with an accelerated project plan, reputable hosting, and our Small Business maintenance plan for daily backups.

Archive Recovery

When budget constraints made a full rebuild unfeasible, we helped track down the original designer and obtained an original archive of the website.

DNS & Technical Resolution

Helped coordinate password reset for DNS hosting account and prepared to repoint the IP address to the new server when the site was ready to go live.

Site Restoration & Launch

Restored the archive (which was just a skeleton and a bit broken), arranged new hosting, updated content and images, applied SSL certificate, and launched the site just in time for fall registration.

Recovered Website
Course Registration

The Results

Students were able to register for their classes and professors were able to post their syllabus online on time. The site will suffice until the organization is ready to rebuild.

3
Marine Studies
Fall Courses
15
Participating
Institutions
92
Students
Registered
$46K
Tuition
Generated

About Marine Studies Consortium

Marine Studies Consortium is a nonprofit organization that offers marine-related courses in Boston for undergraduate students throughout the area. The organization connects students with participating colleges and universities to provide specialized marine studies education.

"WhatArmy rescued our Not for Profit's website from the ashes. They helped recover data, rebuild and completely get our website recovered and up and running. They are terrific for any challenge one may need for website functionality, maintenance and service."

Marine Studies Consortium Non-Profit Organization