Kenya Education Fund Website Redesign and Brand Refresh

The Kenya Education Fund (KEF) empowers underserved youth in Kenya by providing high school scholarships and life skills training. However, their previous website suffered from outdated visuals, inconsistent branding, unclear messaging, and poor conversion paths for donations and partnerships. I was hired to refresh their brand identity (while retaining the core logo icon) and redesign the website to better reflect their mission, enhance storytelling, and improve usability and fundraising performance.

The redesign included KEF’s first-ever brand guidelines and a complete overhaul of the website experience, balancing clarity, emotion, and trust.

Poor information architecture: While most content already existed on the old site, it was either presented or placed poorly, making essential information difficult to find or understand.

Poor UI design: The site lacked visual hierarchy, consistency, and modern design patterns, making it harder for users to engage or take action.

Weak social proof and transparency: The absence of certifications, trust badges, and clear donor impact reduced user confidence.

Unclear messaging and low visual impact: Key pages, including hero sections and donation CTAs, lacked clarity and emotional resonance.

Ineffective donation flow: The donation process was under-optimized, lacking urgency, structure, or motivation to complete.

I started by refining KEF’s existing logo and developing brand guidelines for consistency across all platforms. I restructured the website’s information architecture to make content easier to access and understand. I reorganized the layout to support clear user journeys for students, donors, and partners.

I integrated storytelling across the site through real student content and emotionally engaging copy. I also aligned visual consistency and tone to strengthen KEF’s identity and connection with users.

I introduced social proof elements to build trust, i.e., Certifications and impact statistics placed in visible areas. I redesigned the donation experience with improved CTA placement, clear fundraisers, and accessible payment channels.

I redesigned the site to tell KEF’s story through real student journeys, testimonials, and emotionally driven visuals and copy. This included showcasing student profiles and alumni stories, using authentic photography of students smiling, studying, or interacting, and integrating headlines and CTAs grounded in empathy and purpose. From the homepage to program pages, the tone and structure aimed to emotionally connect visitors to KEF’s mission and show the tangible human impact of their support.

To build donor trust, I created a “Give with Confidence” section featuring KEF’s awards and certifications, such as Candid Platinum Transparency and Charity Navigator’s 4-star rating. I also added visual impact stats and made annual reports and financial disclosures easy to access. These improvements positioned KEF as transparent, credible, and worth supporting.

I redesigned the donation flow to be more visually compelling and goal-oriented. Major CTAs like "Donate" and "Partner with a Student" were repositioned for clarity. Fundraiser sections (e.g., for sanitary pads, school shoes, and uniforms) were restructured with progress bars and motivational visuals to encourage giving. I also improved the layout of payment channels: M-Pesa, Givebutter, iATS, GoFundMe, and checks, making the donation process smooth and user-friendly.