HOUSTON, October 15, 2013 – Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, one of the premier nonpartisan public policy think tanks in the country, has kicked its visibility efforts into high gear by launching a dynamic new website, https://bakerinstitute.org/, powered by Tendenci (www.tendenci.com), the open source Content Management System (CMS) for cause-related organizations. The goal of the upgrade was to redefine how the Web can be used to connect the work of think tank researchers to the array of outcomes of their work – and tie it all back to real time events percolating around the globe.

The website, featuring more than 1,000 pieces of research, 800 videos and hundreds of events, was designed and developed by Schipul – the Web Marketing Company (www.schipul.com).

“We are looking to make a bold statement, build awareness and ensure our online presence conveys to the world how strong the work is that we do,” said Ryan Kirksey, director of operations and finance with Rice University’s Baker Institute. “As an open source solution, this platform gives us freedom to develop and maintain the site however we choose.”

The Baker Institute leverages many of Tendenci CMS’ unique capabilities. The organization can manage and organize website content without having to go through a third party, and Tendenci has built-in automatic search engine optimization features. The site also includes donation and fundraising management that makes it easy for users to contribute financially, online event management that enables the Baker Institute to quickly and easily add events to the online calendar, allow registration, take payment and access registrant information.

The new website also includes rich media management to make it easy to upload, view and search photos and videos, and responsive design to ensure users have a consistent and positive experience regardless of the device they use to access the site.

“Tendenci offered us a platform to feature our multimedia in a way that is both visually pleasing and functional,” said Kirksey. “We do more than 100 events per year, each of which is streamed online and then archived for on-demand playback, along with photos. The new website makes all this accessible to those who can’t come here to Houston to see what we do.”

Tendenci was released as an open source CMS to give cause-related organizations, including NPOs and associations, greater freedom and control over their online presence. Tendenci has more than 1 million users and powers hundreds of websites for nonprofit organizations and associations around the world, including Metropolitan New York Library Council (www.metro.org), Houston Technology Center (www.houstontech.org) and DePelchin Children's Center (www.depelchin.org).

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About Schipul - The Web Marketing Company

Schipul – The Web Marketing Company develops and builds websites on the Open Source Tendenci CMS (www.tendenci.org) system for NPOs, a revenue generating online tool with over a half million people logging in during the past year and millions of users overall. Schipul is headquartered in Houston with an office in Silicon Valley, and provides web marketing services to an international client base that encompasses a variety of service industries in local, national and international markets. Schipul’s clients include DePelchin Children's Center, Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles and Tony Chachere's® Creole Foods, among many others. Additional information about Schipul is available at www.schipul.com and www.tendenci.com.

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