Students Today Leaders Forever like jet fuel at Overnight Website Challenge

It doesn’t take a web nerd or a design whiz to look at the old site for Student Today Leaders Forever (STLF) and see that this Minnesota nonprofit’s online presence could use a bit of freshening up.

“We had some pretty serious problems with the old website that had really compounded over the past year or so,” Brian Peterson, STLF Co-Executive Director and Director of Operations and Finance, said. “It was a site built on Dreamweaver and none of us had ever received any type of training. The Dreamweaver for Dummies book definitely carried us through, but as our organization grew, the importance of a website to keep it all connected and to engage people in the organization became a high priority – a necessity.”

Peterson said the new website provided by Pollywog Stew is going to make a world of difference for his organization.

“It’s hard to describe how much this means to us and how much we appreciate the work of Pollywog Stew and Sierra Bravo for making this happen,” he said.

AFTER

The admiration Peterson has for his web challenge team, Pollywog Stew, matches the admiration the team has for STLF. Pollywog Stew was a team was made up for volunteers from Sierra Bravo, Zeus Jones, and the Minnesota Institute of Arts, and they drew a lot of inspiration from their nonprofit.

“The passion and energy of Nick and Brian from STLF was like jet fuel for Pollywog Stew during the overnight website challenge,” Tom O’Neill VP of Development at Sierra Bravo and Pollywog Stew member said. “It’s no surprise that their organization is so strong with such powerful leadership.”

But it wasn’t just the leadership of STLF that impressed O’Neill. He was also amazed by the dedication of the students themselves.

“The commitment of the STLF volunteers blew me away,” O’Neill said. “When we requested subjects for testimonial videos at midnight a dozen excited members appeared within minutes to help. I am truly inspired by STLF.”

Which only seems fitting, considering the new site that Pollywog Stew will be responsible for inspiring and organizing young people across the country.

“I know there are thousands of young people who are excited and appreciate this beyond words,” Peterson said. “The new site solves all of the problems we had and adds a whole lot more than we could have imagined. As an organization lead by and consisting of young people, it is of utmost importance for us to have the ability to engage and connect people through technology. This website is a critical component of that and provides an entirely new identity and level of credibility for the organization. Not only will this help to engage students, it will help to gain the credibility and respect needed for parents, community members, and donors to trust and support the organization.”

While Peterson had a lot of great things to say about his new and improved website, and his challenge team, he saved his highest praise for the Overnight Web Challenge event itself:
“This is the coolest and best ways for a tech company to give back to the community,” he said. “The creativity and energy put forth in making this event happen and making it possible for nonprofits to have new websites was incredibly impressive and showed a lot about the character and personality of the company. The amount of time, energy, and money they put into this I think says a great deal about the company’s genuine interest in making a difference in this community.”