GBRF Website Redesign — Proposal

02 What this project solves

The problem

The current site buries key content, fragments the donation journey across two domains, and lacks the visual credibility to match GBRF's scientific and institutional standing.

A site that can't clearly communicate the urgency of the Reef's situation, or make it easy to give, is leaving mission-critical impact unrealised.

What success looks like

A rebuilt site that turns complex conservation science into clear, compelling storytelling. A donation journey that removes friction at every step. An architecture that works for donors, scientists, media, and communities alike.

A CMS that GBRF's own team can operate confidently, and a digital presence that reflects the scale and importance of the Foundation's work.

03 Key strategic considerations

Brand dependency

New brand identity required before UI design begins

UI Design (Phase 3) is dependent on an approved visual identity. If a new brand identity is being developed concurrently, it must be signed off before UI design commences. This should be confirmed and planned for during Phase 1.

Donation conversion

Donation is the primary commercial outcome

Every design and architecture decision is evaluated against its impact on the donation journey. The give.barrierreef.org integration is a critical technical dependency and will be mapped in detail during Phase 1.

Content volume

Content volume and quality needs early planning

The current site has 200+ pages of varying quality. Only the top 30 pages are migrated by the project team at MVS scope. GBRF will need dedicated editorial resource to handle the remainder alongside day-to-day responsibilities.

First Nations

Traditional Owners content needs co-design

The Traditional Owners and communities section requires consultation, not just content migration. Dedicated co-design time should be built into the project plan in coordination with GBRF's communities team.

Accessibility

WCAG 2.1 AA is a minimum, not an aspiration

Accessibility standards are embedded from Phase 2 onwards. Retrofitting accessibility is significantly more expensive than building it in from the start.

Launch timing

Avoid key fundraising and Reef calendar blackouts

Launch should not coincide with peak appeal seasons or Reef events. The GBRF fundraising calendar should be mapped during Phase 1 to protect against launch conflicts.

04 Project phases

Discovery

Strategy & UX

UI Design

Build

Launch & handover

Discovery
& Audit

MVS includes

Stakeholder interviews, up to 6 people across leadership, fundraising, comms and science
Lightweight content audit of top 40 pages, scored for clarity and performance
GA4 analytics review including conversion funnels and donation drop-off
Technical audit confirming CMS platform, integrations, and hosting
Brief discovery report to present to leadership

Not included

Full 200+ page content audit
External user interviews
Formal competitor benchmarking
Full SEO baseline and crawl report

Strategy,
IA & UX

MVS includes

Revised site map and IA, max 3 levels deep with audience-first hierarchy
Donation journey map from awareness through to giving
Wireframes for 5 core templates: Home, Hub, Article, Donate, About
Navigation redesign including primary nav, mobile, and footer
CMS platform recommendation based on Discovery findings

Not included

User testing on wireframe prototype
Full content strategy document
Tone of voice guide
Secondary page wireframes beyond the 5 core templates

UI Design

MVS includes

Visual design direction executed from approved brand identity
Core design system: colour, typography, components, spacing, states
Desktop designs for all 5 core templates
Mobile designs for Homepage and Donate page only
Dev-ready Figma handoff with annotations and asset exports
Design QA against dev build during Phase 4

Not included

Mobile designs for all templates
Multiple art direction concepts
User testing on high-fidelity prototype
Motion and animation specification
Custom iconography or illustration

Build &
Migration

MVS includes

CMS rebuild based on platform confirmed in Discovery
Frontend build of 5 templates, responsive and WCAG 2.1 AA compliant
Donation platform integration reconnected and tested end-to-end
GA4 reconfiguration with goals and donation event tracking
Top 30 priority pages migrated and QA'd by project team
301 redirects mapped for top 30 pages

Not included

Full migration of all 200+ pages
Salesforce CRM integration
Email platform integration
Custom search functionality
Full 301 redirect mapping beyond top 30

Launch &
Handover

MVS includes

Staged go-live with 48-hour monitoring window before full promotion
Documented and tested rollback plan
CMS training session for GBRF editorial team with written guide
GA4 dashboards and goals verified and handed over
30-day bug fix period post-launch

Not included

Ongoing post-launch retainer or support beyond 30 days
A/B testing programme
Post-launch SEO monitoring
60/90-day performance review

05 Budget breakdown

Minimum Viable Site (MVS)

Phase / Deliverable	What it covers	Key constraint	Amount
Discovery & Audit	Stakeholder interviews, content audit, analytics review, technical audit, CMS platform confirmation, discovery report	4 weeks. Decisions made with less evidence than a full discovery but mitigated by GBRF's existing institutional knowledge.	$12,000
Strategy, IA & UX	Revised site map, donation journey mapping, 5 core wireframe templates, navigation redesign, CMS recommendation	5 wireframe templates only. Secondary pages adapt from core templates at build time via component library.	$14,000
UI Design	Visual design direction, design system, 5 desktop templates, Home and Donate mobile, Figma handoff, Phase 4 design QA	Dependent on approved brand identity before this phase begins. One art direction, two revision rounds maximum.	$20,000
Build & Migration	CMS rebuild, frontend build of 5 templates, donation platform integration, GA4 reconfiguration, top 30 page migration and QA, UAT	This phase total covers the development agency contract (~$35,000, contracted directly between GBRF and the agency with no margin to Nick), plus Nick's build governance and QA time. Nick identifies, briefs, and manages the agency on GBRF's behalf.	$40,000
Launch & Handover	Staged go-live, rollback plan, CMS training, GA4 handover, 30-day bug fix window	Support ends at 30 days post-launch. Ongoing retainer available as an add-on through the development agency.	$14,000
Total			$100,000

All costs exclude GST.

Phase allocations represent the total client investment per phase and include Nick's time, managed freelancer costs, and the development agency contract. Nick has committed to a reduced day rate on this project as a reflection of his belief in GBRF's mission and his commitment to delivering the best possible outcome within the available budget.

No contingency at MVS scope. At $100,000 the budget is fully allocated with zero contingency remaining. For a project of this complexity and duration, the absence of a contingency reserve is a meaningful risk. Any scope variation, additional days, or unforeseen requirement will need to be funded through a separate change order or additional budget approval. This is the primary commercial argument for the recommended scope ($120–130K), which includes a 5% contingency buffer (~$6,000).

MVS only

$100K

Functional site, 5 core templates, donation integration reconnected, top 30 pages migrated, 30-day support. No contingency included.

Recommended

Recommended scope

$120–130K

MVS plus user testing in Phase 2, full mobile designs for all templates in Phase 3, email integration in Phase 4, a post-launch retainer through the development agency, and a 5% contingency buffer (~$6,000).

Comprehensive

$150–160K

MVS plus user testing, full mobile designs, content audit and creation, full SEO redirect mapping, Salesforce integration (scope dependent), email integration, custom search, performance optimisation, and a post-launch retainer.

06 Optional add-ons

Recommended first

User testing — Phase 2

5 participants on wireframe prototype. Catches structural UX errors before design begins, the cheapest point in the project to fix them.

+ $5,500

Mobile designs for all templates

Full mobile designs for all 5 templates rather than Home and Donate only. The majority of traffic to barrierreef.org is mobile.

+ $4,500

Full SEO baseline and redirect mapping

Complete crawl, keyword map, backlink profile, and 301 redirect mapping for all 200+ pages. Protects organic traffic through the transition.

+ $6,000

Content audit and recommendations

A structured audit of all 200+ pages with a scoring matrix for clarity, relevance, and performance. Includes a prioritised content improvement roadmap for the GBRF editorial team.

+ $6,500

Content creation

Copywriting and editorial refresh for priority pages beyond the standard migration scope. Includes homepage, core CTAs, donation page narrative, and up to 8 key hub pages rewritten to the new editorial standard.

+ $9,000

Further investment

Salesforce CRM integration

Bidirectional contact and donation activity sync. The highest-value integration after the donation platform itself.

Scope dependent

Email platform integration

MailChimp or Campaign Monitor subscribe flows and list segmentation connected to the CMS.

+ $3,500

Custom site search

Algolia or native CMS search across all content types. Particularly valuable given the breadth of scientific and editorial content on the site.

+ $5,000

Performance optimisation

Core Web Vitals targets: LCP under 2.5s, CLS under 0.1, INP under 200ms. Includes image pipeline and caching configuration.

+ $4,000

Post-launch retainer

3-month support retainer through the development agency: approximately 1 day per week covering bug fixes, minor enhancements, and performance monitoring post-launch.

+ $9,000

07 The team

Fractional Creative Director

Nick Hoskin

Strategic and creative lead embedded within GBRF across all phases. Responsible for discovery, IA direction, art direction, project governance, and supplier management. Nick has committed to a reduced rate on this project to help GBRF achieve the best possible outcome within budget.

Freelancer, managed by Nick

UX Designer

Translates IA and brief into structured wireframes. Five core templates, navigation patterns, donation journey flow, and annotated Figma handoff. Works under Nick's direction with a fixed day scope and written SOW.

Freelancer, managed by Nick

UI Designer

Executes Nick's art direction brief to produce the design system, five templates, dev handoff, and Phase 4 design QA. Creative decisions are directed by Nick rather than self-directed.

External, direct to GBRF

Development Agency

Nick identifies, briefs, and manages the development agency on GBRF's behalf. The contract is directly between GBRF and the agency, with no margin to Nick. The agency must be specialists with relevant platform and NFP integration experience.

Client, GBRF

GBRF Product Owner

Nick's primary point of contact across all phases. Needs genuine decision-making authority, not a coordination role. Responsible for content migration beyond the top 30 pages and UAT coordination. Must be named and committed before the engagement begins.

Client, GBRF

GBRF Fundraising Lead

Involved at key points in Phase 2 and Phase 3 for donation journey requirements and design sign-off. Input at these stages is critical; absence creates rework that is costly to fix later in the process.

08 What must be true for the MVS to succeed

A new brand identity is approved before UI design begins. Phase 3 cannot commence without a signed-off visual identity. If brand work is running in parallel, a clear handoff date must be agreed before the project starts.

The CMS platform is confirmed during Discovery. The current platform will be assessed in Phase 1. If a migration to a new platform is required, this will be treated as a change to scope with a revised budget and timeline.

GBRF migrates its own content beyond the top 30 pages. The project team migrates and QAs the top 30 priority pages. All remaining content is GBRF's responsibility. This must be contractually clear and resourced before Phase 4 begins.

One empowered decision-maker at GBRF. Committee-based approvals will extend the timeline and push costs beyond the 7-month window. This person must be named and available before the engagement letter is signed.

One art direction, two revision rounds maximum. Additional design rounds will be billed as a change order at the agreed rate. This is a contract clause, not an informal agreement.

The existing donation platform is retained. A new donation platform or custom payment flow is a separate project. The existing give.barrierreef.org integration is reconnected and tested, not rebuilt.

The development agency contract comes in at or below $35,000. At $100K total, this is the fixed ceiling for the build contract. It is non-negotiable when briefing agencies and must be confirmed before the full budget is presented for approval.

No complex custom integrations beyond those scoped. Each additional third-party integration adds $3,000 to $8,000 and several weeks to the build. Any new integration requirements identified during Discovery will be treated as additions to scope.

Launch timing avoids peak fundraising and appeal periods. To protect revenue, the launch should not fall during Christmas appeal season, Tax Time, or other major fundraising moments. The calendar will be mapped during Phase 1 to ensure the timeline is protected.

Key risks identified

High risk

Scope creep

At a fixed budget, additions at any stage are the most common way projects exceed cost and time. A particular risk is content migration responsibility defaulting to the agency without contractual clarity. All change requests go through a written change order process with cost and timeline impact confirmed before work begins.

High risk

Brand identity not ready in time

If a new brand identity is delayed, it will push Phase 3 and compress the entire delivery schedule. This dependency must be managed as a parallel workstream with a clear sign-off date agreed before the project starts.

High risk

Slow internal approvals

Committee-based reviews or unclear approval authority will compress the timeline. A single empowered decision-maker at GBRF is a pre-condition of the engagement, not a nice-to-have.

High risk · MVS specific

Design freeze not respected

At this budget, every post-freeze design change is a risk. The two-revision-round limit must be a contract clause. Any further design rounds will be billed at change order rates and must be approved in writing before work begins.

Medium risk

SEO traffic loss post-launch

Structural URL changes without a complete redirect map can cause significant organic traffic drops. Full redirect mapping for priority pages is included in scope; a complete 200+ page map is available as an add-on.

Medium risk

Content migration underestimated

200+ pages of content that need editing, not just copying, is a substantial workload. Dedicated GBRF editorial resource must be identified and committed before Phase 4 begins.

Medium risk

CMS platform unknown until Discovery

The current CMS platform will be confirmed during the Phase 1 technical audit. If a platform migration is required, this will be treated as a change to scope with a revised budget and timeline.

Medium risk · MVS specific

Reduced mobile design coverage

At MVS scope, mobile designs are provided for Homepage and Donate only. Developers adapt from desktop for remaining templates. There is a quality risk on editorial and hub templates where mobile experience is critical.

Medium risk · MVS specific

No post-launch optimisation budget

The MVS scope ends at 30-day bug fixes. Without a retainer, performance issues, conversion optimisation, and content improvements post-launch will depend entirely on GBRF's internal capacity.

10 How we move forward

GBRF confirms scope and budget

Decision on MVS ($100K) or recommended scope ($120–130K with core add-ons). Confirmation of which optional add-ons to activate. GBRF Product Owner identified and committed.

Engagement letter signed

Nick's engagement formalised with day rate, day cap, management margin disclosure, and change order process. This needs to happen before supplier recruitment begins.

Suppliers engaged and scoped

Nick recruits and locks fixed-price statements of work from the UX Designer and UI Designer. The development agency is briefed to market and shortlisted. All supplier costs confirmed before final budget is locked.

Kickoff — Phase 1 begins

Project charter, communication protocols, and milestone calendar agreed. Stakeholder interview schedule confirmed. Discovery begins within 2 weeks of engagement letter execution.

Timing note: To achieve a late November 2026 go-live and avoid a December launch during the Christmas appeal period, Phase 1 needs to begin by early May 2026. Engagement letter execution and supplier scoping should be completed by the final week of April to keep this timeline on track.

A new
barrierreef.org

Let's build a site
the Reef deserves.

A newbarrierreef.org

Let's build a sitethe Reef deserves.

A new
barrierreef.org

Let's build a site
the Reef deserves.