Hope lives here
DOORWAYS is the only organization in the St. Louis area focused specifically on people living with HIV who are facing homelessness and poverty. Founded in 1988 as a hospice for people dying from AIDS, DOORWAYS has evolved over nearly four decades into a comprehensive housing, health, and empowerment organization, serving more than 3,000 people each year and walking alongside them toward stability, dignity, and independence.
The Jefferson Avenue Campus, opened in 2022, brought housing and 360 degrees of onsite services together in one place: care coordination, behavioral health counseling, employment assistance, a pharmacy, and more. With 79 full-time and 26 part-time employees, 524 individual volunteers, and a committed board, DOORWAYS addresses the whole person, not a single diagnosis or crisis.
Technology without dedicated support
Like many nonprofits, DOORWAYS had staff whose primary responsibilities were fundraising, communications, programs, and operations, not technology. Keeping a website reliable, secure, and current was important, but it competed with everything else. Without assigned ownership and routine attention, small issues could accumulate until they became urgent, expensive, or disruptive.
What that looked like in practice:
- Website work was reactive. Updates, plugin maintenance, and troubleshooting were managed by staff already handling donor communications, campaigns, events, and program needs.
- When something needed attention, staff had to identify the issue, find the right resource, and manage the fix, often during fundraising campaigns or reporting periods when capacity was already stretched.
- As online fundraising tools, Salesforce data, and digital platforms became more interconnected, the risk of something going wrong grew alongside the cost of it.
A nonprofit website is a public front door, a source of trusted information, and a pathway for people who want to donate or get involved. That front door needed a dedicated, proactive caretaker, not just someone to call when things broke.
Five years with Buzzbold
DOORWAYS is a Buzzbold managed services customer, supported across three interconnected areas of their digital infrastructure: WordPress website management, Salesforce platform support, and Fundraise Up integration. For five years, the relationship has been built on regular communication, proactive planning, and a shared understanding of nonprofit realities: identifying risks early and helping DOORWAYS plan improvements before a problem affects donors, staff, or the people seeking services.
What the partnership covers:
- WordPress managed support. Proactive monitoring, plugin updates, security, backups, troubleshooting, and strategic improvements, so the website stays reliable without pulling staff away from mission-critical work.
- Salesforce managed services. Ongoing support for data governance, security, metadata monitoring, release readiness, and reporting, with regular conversations about priorities and future use cases.
- Fundraise Up integration. Online giving transactions connected to Salesforce reporting, giving development staff a clearer operational view of digital fundraising activity without manual reconciliation.
What steady partnership makes possible
The goal was never just to keep the technology running. It was to give the team at DOORWAYS the confidence to focus entirely on communicating impact, engaging supporters, and serving the mission, knowing technology has a dedicated, accountable home.
Mission and organizational impact
- Staff spend less time diagnosing technical issues and more time on donor communications, program work, and community engagement, capacity that goes directly back to the mission.
- In FY2025, 25,664 users visited doorwayshousing.org, a 22% increase from the prior year, reflecting a growing digital audience and the reliability of a well-maintained platform.
- Facebook page impressions reached 77,902 and post engagement increased 4%, as their digital presence becomes more consistent and intentional.
- The development team can approach technology improvements strategically, using regular reviews to prioritize work, connect fundraising data, and plan for emerging needs like the Key Clinic’s online presence and future donor analytics.
Infrastructure and confidence
- Stronger routines around maintenance, security, backups, and planning mean fewer surprises and faster response when something unexpected happens.
- Regular check-ins keep priorities visible and ensure technology decisions are made proactively, not reactively.
Managed support is not simply a technology expense. It protects staff time, donor trust, organizational continuity, and the public’s ability to reach you.
DOORWAYS
The latest from DOORWAYS
- In the Saint Louis community? Don’t miss DOORWAYS’ events, especially Buzzbold’s favorite, ByoBOO Trivia Night. Secure your table early.
- Have you visited the Key Clinic yet? It is located on the Jefferson Avenue Campus, bringing comprehensive primary care, STI/HIV testing and treatment, and PrEP and PEP prescribing to the community DOORWAYS serves, with same-day appointments, sliding-scale fees, and seamless referrals to SSM Health specialists when needed.
- Real stories, real impact: watch the DOORWAYS video.
Support the work at DOORWAYS
DOORWAYS depends on the community to further its mission. Volunteer, give, attend events, join the Keystone Society, or explore planned giving. Every contribution of time, resources, or connection helps create stability, dignity, and hope for 3,000+ people each year.
Visit doorwayshousing.org.