Save the Children

Scaling Global Impact through a Unified Digital Ecosystem

Save the Children is a globally recognized NGO with operations spanning multiple countries and a mission to improve children’s lives through better healthcare, education and economic opportunities. Across the organization, skilled digital, content and technical teams worked passionately within their own regional or functional verticals — but the lack of a unified digital ecosystem made collaboration difficult. Teams maintained separate websites on platforms like Kentico, AEM and an aging Drupal 8 system. This decentralized setup resulted in high licensing fees, redundant maintenance efforts, inefficient content management and poor scalability. Performance issues and below-benchmark accessibility further limited their ability to engage supporters and drive donations.

To unlock better collaboration, shared ways of working and greater digital maturity, Save the Children partnered with Material to consolidate its global digital presence into a single, scalable and multilingual Global CMS (GCMS) built on Drupal.

WHAT WE DID

Omnichannel Experience
Drupal Consulting Services
Drupal Development
Content Management Systems

Approach

To unify and manage multiple country-specific sites – while maintaining the flexibility for future regional site expansion – we architected, designed and developed a centralized, scalable Drupal-based global CMS platform. We also optimized the platform for performance, scalability and security with advanced caching and CDN readiness.

Leveraging existing brand guidelines, we developed a comprehensive design language system (DLS) along with a core component library that enabled reusable UI elements. This ensured visual consistency and accelerated content deployment across global markets. The editorial workflow was also simplified to make content management more intuitive.

We integrated enterprise-grade systems – including Digital Asset Management (DAM), Single Sign-On (SSO) and personalization-ready modules – to streamline operations. Starting with priority markets, we redesigned and relaunched several country sites, ultimately laying a scalable foundation to enable the migration of additional sites – including the international website – to Drupal 10. Additionally, we developed a petitions module that connected cause-related content directly to fundraising and campaign flows.

100%

Increase in Engagement Time

400%

Increase in Conversion Rates

20%

Boost in Operational Efficiency

Outcomes

By unifying Save the Children’s websites within a single cohesive platform, the GCMS has established stronger pathways to a centralized system, enabling teams to work independently while supporting alignment and delivering consistent, high-impact digital experiences.

On the Save the Children International website – one of the first to go live – fundraising targets were exceeded, engagement time increased by over 100% and conversion rates rose by nearly 400%. Conversions on the US site remained stable, affirming the platform’s adaptability across mature markets.

The migration and platform overhaul delivered a unified, future-ready digital ecosystem that significantly elevated Save the Children’s global presence. Editorial publishing time dropped by 30%, enabling rapid delivery of localized, time-sensitive campaigns. Centralized governance drove a 25% increase in efficiency for onboarding new country sites, resulting in a substantial fundraising pipeline and positioning the organization for sustained growth. Platform consolidation, automation and the integration of key tools led to a 20% boost in operational efficiency.

This digital transformation has amplified the Save the Children’s global mission, empowering it to advocate more effectively for children worldwide.

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CONTACT