Modernizing History – A Multi-Platform Digital Transformation for a prominent American Foundation

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> Case Study

Modernizing History – A Multi-Platform Digital Transformation for a prominent American Foundation

2 min read
UX
Commerce
Digital Transformation

Overview

This Foundation plays a vital role in preserving and sharing the heritage of American immigration. As stewards of one of the most iconic landmarks and cultural archives in the world, the Foundation needed to modernize its digital infrastructure across multiple touchpoints—web, museum, CRM, and eCommerce—while maintaining historical integrity and delivering a seamless experience to global audiences. We partnered with the Foundation across several key digital programs, including cloud migration, CRM upgrades, front-facing portals, heritage search tools, and eCommerce enablement, to support both their operational goals and storytelling mission.

Objective

The Foundation's goals were multi-pronged:

 

  • Build a central digital presence via a dedicated web platform to serve as the marketing and content portal
  • Enable online shopping for collectibles, books, and honorary memorabilia through a dedicated eCommerce store
  • Create interactive heritage search tools (e.g., Wall of Honor, Passenger Search) for researchers and descendants
  • Migrate from a legacy CRM to Salesforce for better data management, donor relationships, and campaign performance
  • Digitally enable the Museum kiosks for visitor access to historical records
  • Move all major platforms and services to the cloud for better scalability, performance, and cost optimization
     
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Our Solution

We delivered a series of interconnected solutions, built with scalability, accessibility, and historical preservation in mind:


Marketing & Visitor Portal Development
A dynamic, mobile-optimized portal was designed and built for the organization, serving as the primary digital touchpoint for millions of annual visitors. It offers event info, donations, history, and content related to this island and the monument.

 

eCommerce Storefront for Collectibles
We launched an integrated online store on WooCommerce, enabling users to purchase heritage items, books, Wall of Honor plaques, and other memorabilia—bringing revenue opportunities while honoring historical legacy.


Heritage Search Tools
We developed a custom heritage search experience allowing users to browse immigration records, the Wall of Honor, and passenger manifests via intuitive filters and high-speed search indexing.

 

CRM Modernization
We led the CRM transformation initiative — moving from a legacy Zend donor database to Laminas and Salesforce Integration, creating streamlined data pipelines for fundraising, donor management, and personalized engagement.

 

Interactive Kiosk Enablement at the Museum
The heritage search and content tools were adapted and deployed on-site in museum kiosks, helping thousands of visitors interact with immigration history in an immersive, self-service way.

 

Cloud Migration
Legacy systems and content-heavy platforms were migrated to the cloud, improving scalability during peak seasons and reducing hosting and maintenance costs.
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Results

Through this multi-year digital transformation, the Foundation saw:

  • A 50% increase in engagement on the digital portal post-redesign
    Seamless integration of eCommerce, heritage search, and marketing tools.
  • Improved operational efficiency and fundraising outcomes via Laminas CRM.
  • Backend search engine SpinX for 64 Million+ passenger records
    Better museum experience with kiosk-driven search capabilities on-site.
  • Cloud-native infrastructure with lower downtime, better performance, and future-proof scalability.

70%

 Increase in engagement on digital