Navigation & Sitemap
The full page hierarchy and the reasoning behind each section
Site overview
Primary navigation
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| Donate | Primary CTA, visually distinct in the nav |
| What We Do | Services and impact |
| Get Meals | For meal recipients and caregivers |
| Volunteer | For individual and group volunteers |
| About | Trust, transparency, and contact |
| News & Events | Latest news, stories, and upcoming events |
Section breakdown
| Page | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Donate (main page) | Quick path to giving + overview of options |
| Donate Now | One-time donation form |
| Monthly Giving (Sustainers Circle) | Recurring donation pitch and form |
| Ways to Give | Corporate, planned giving, mail, meal contributions, and the Sustainers portal (where recurring donors manage their giving) |
Key decisions:
- "Donate Now" is designed to be the fastest path to giving
- Meal contributions are clearly separated from general donations
- Sustainers Circle is easy to find and no longer buried
| Page | Purpose |
|---|---|
| What We Do (main page) | Plain-language summary of all services |
| Meals Delivered | Home delivery program |
| Community Dining | Dining center program |
| Additional Programs | Other services |
| FAQ | Common questions |
Key decisions:
- Overview prevents clicking through multiple pages just to understand the org
- Supports both donors (understanding impact) and meal recipients (understanding services)
| Page | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Get Meals (main page) | Entry point with eligibility and options |
| Request Meals | Meal request form |
| Who Is Eligible | Clear eligibility info |
| Find a Dining Center | Location finder |
| For Caregivers & Family | Resources for those helping others |
| Contact for Help | Direct assistance |
Key decisions:
- Task-oriented, not just informational
- Designed to reduce calls and emails
- Phone number prominent on every page
| Page | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Volunteer (main page) | Introduction and role overview |
| Individual Opportunities | Detailed role descriptions |
| Group & Corporate | Team and company programs |
| Sign Up | Application form |
| FAQ | Common volunteer questions |
Key decisions:
- Simple and welcoming
- No sub-navigation deeper than one level
- Clear signup path
| Page | Purpose |
|---|---|
| About (main page) | Mission, history, leadership preview |
| Leadership & Board | Team and governance |
| Financials & Transparency | Financial reports and ratings |
| Careers | Job opportunities |
| Contact | General contact info |
Key decisions:
- Financials easy to find for donors who look for them
- Trust signals prominent
| Page | Purpose |
|---|---|
| News & Events (main page) | Combined listing of news posts and upcoming events |
| News & Stories | Organizational news, impact stories, announcements |
| Events | Upcoming events, fundraisers, and volunteer days |
| Article / Event detail | Individual post or event page |
Key decisions:
- Low-cadence by design: updated when there's something to share, no required publishing schedule
- A natural home for impact stories that support donor and volunteer messaging
Footer
| Section | Items |
|---|---|
| Donate | Full Ways to Give list |
| What We Do | Service detail links |
| Get Meals | All Get Meals links |
| Volunteer | All Volunteer links |
| About | Leadership, Financials, Careers, Contact |
| News & Events | Recent news, upcoming events |
| Legal | Privacy Policy, Donor Privacy/Refund Policy |
| Organization | EIN, Address, Phone, Sitemap |
Changes from the current site
The current site uses "Who we are" (we're proposing "About") and "Ways to Give" (we're proposing "Donate" as the primary CTA with "Ways to Give" as a subpage). These are intentional IA decisions to make navigation more action-oriented and conventional.
News & Events stays. It carries over from the current site — the rebuild reorganizes how it's presented, but the section and its content are preserved.
Where a page's URL changes in the new structure, we set up a redirect from the old path so existing links continue to work. See Redirects.
Why this structure works
- Organized around ranked priorities (Donate is the primary CTA; Volunteer and Get Meals are prominent but secondary)
- Reduces visual and cognitive overload
- Makes donation paths obvious and intentional
- Fixes the known confusion points from the current site (meal contributions vs. general donations, the buried Sustainers portal, MOWP vs. Meals on Wheels America)
- Scales without becoming messy
A note on order: the menu runs Donate → What We Do → Get Meals → Volunteer, which is not the project's priority ranking (Donations, then Volunteers, then Get Meals). Menu order follows how visitors scan for tasks — someone looking for help should find Get Meals right after learning what MOWP does. The priority ranking shows up in emphasis, calls to action, and visual weight instead.
In the diagrams, color marks emphasis: lime is the primary action (Donate), teal the meal-service sections, slate everything else — the same weighting the real navigation carries.