Lightning Stories - Drupal for Nonprofits

In this 2014 talk, I walked through a series of real-world case studies to demonstrate how Drupal can be used as a flexible, scalable platform for solving complex organisational problems, particularly in nonprofit, education, media, and advocacy contexts. Drawing on projects ranging from learning management systems and global event platforms to grant adjudication, streaming media, and data-driven advocacy tools, I showed how Drupal’s modular architecture, workflow capabilities, and API integrations dramatically reduce cost, development time, and long-term risk. The talk focused on practical outcomes rather than theory, highlighting how reusability, thoughtful system design, and open-source collaboration allow organisations to move faster, operate more efficiently, and deliver higher-quality experiences without rebuilding everything from scratch.