Genealogical research is a growing and complex trend. Advances in technology have made it easier than ever to explore your ancestry, heritage and cultural background. And this personal connection to the past not only preserves family legacies and builds community, but it can be helpful for academic pursuits and medical insights.
The process of lineage investigation involves the tracing of family histories across many generations and requires the collection and verification of documents such as birth, marriage and death records from various sources. It is further complicated by inconsistent record-keeping and gaps in historical data. It is a meticulous and time-consuming task that demands accuracy and perseverance.
GAP recently had the honor of working with the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), a client that takes on this difficult task to confirm, recognize, and create a community for United States Revolutionary War ancestors.
SAR is a non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and promoting education to our future generations. The non-profit's leadership has embraced technology and innovation to better serve its members.
A Website Revolution
The membership structure of SAR is complex. Regional chapters report to statewide societies, which in turn funnel up to the National Society. Managing this multi-layered hierarchy effectively required a new digital system that was robust enough to handle both the internal and external needs of the organization, while also providing an easy, intuitive user experience.
In 2016, SAR launched an ambitious membership site that attempted to manage everything from donations and store operations to membership management. However, it had not properly integrated with the client’s internal systems, leaving the site in need of further development in order to become fully functional.
However, such an overhaul doesn’t happen overnight. GAP’s project lead for SAR’s membership site, Darren Day, outlined the organization’s multi-year journey of modernizing its membership platform and the ongoing efforts to bring its digital tools up to contemporary standards. GAP set a detailed plan to improve the platform in a collaborative way that aligned with SAR’s goals and objectives.
Complex Structures Demand Revolutionary Solutions
Stakeholder alignment is key for any project of this nature, and GAP had a great vision for the website to avoid any conflicts or delays. However, there are often early challenges in any situation common for organizations implementing a new website.
“Unfortunately, when a website is 80% complete, it usually means it is 95% unusable,” Day said. “Our client understood this and knew they had to overhaul the system without disrupting member services.”
As work began, the GAP team initiated a series of upgrades:
- Infrastructure Enhancement: The first step was migrating the membership site to AWS hosting to ensure a more sophisticated and scalable infrastructure.
- System Upgrades: The team upgraded the system to PHP 7 and integrated it with the internal database, allowing state chapter officers to fully utilize the platform. This improved synchronization enabled the client to shut down the outdated membership site, resulting in cost savings on redundant technology.
- Digital Transformation: The next phase focused on digitizing the membership application process, transitioning from a paper-based workflow to an online system.
- Future-Proofing Technology: The final phase was to ensure the platform’s longevity through planned core technology upgrades.
To streamline the existing and future upgrade processes, the team used Laravel Shift, a product that automates most of the migration.
Although Laravel Shift handles a significant portion of the migration, it still requires thorough quality assurance reviews.
Day said, “It still needed a lot of testing because there were things it didn’t catch.”
As with all projects GAP takes on, this team prides itself on making sure there are no issues or errors left unsolved before the job is done.
Together We Can Accomplish Anything
Effective project execution is often marked by the quality of collaboration. And to see a client respond with enthusiasm and dedication can transform challenges into triumphs.
"Working with the team at SAR has been a great experience, especially because of their proactive and supportive approach,” Day said. “While the project required extensive testing due to a few unexpected challenges, they’ve been eager and willing to participate in the process. Their responsiveness and cooperation in testing the system have been instrumental in ensuring the platform’s success, making the collaboration smooth and efficient.”
With careful planning, consistent upgrades, and a commitment to innovation, the leadership at SAR is well on their way to providing members with the tools they need to engage in genealogical research, education, and a shared dedication to American history.
This journey from an outdated, incomplete platform to a future-proofed, digitally transformed system is just the type of website revolution that GAP delivers to its clients.
GAP’s history of managing these types of complex migrations and software-driven transformations is a proud and consistent one. We’d be honored to help you with yours!
