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Kitchen Angel’s Seamless CiviCRM Migration from Drupal to WordPress

Customer Database (CRM) Visual Design Website Development
people preparing food in the kitchen

Client Overview

Kitchen Angels is a nonprofit organization in Santa Fe, New Mexico, dedicated to providing free, nutritious meals to homebound individuals facing serious health conditions. Since 1992, the organization has relied on volunteers and donations to fulfill its mission, making sure those in need receive the support they deserve. Their website plays a vital role in fundraising, volunteer coordination, and community engagement.

mac computer screen with Kitchen Angels website

The Challenge

Kitchen Angels had a WordPress website and a separate Drupal site running CiviCRM. The two weren’t connected. Donations came through third-party platforms and had to be manually entered into CiviCRM. This created unnecessary steps and extra work. While Drupal works well for complex setups, the team preferred WordPress for its ease of use. They needed a way to keep using WordPress while fully integrating CiviCRM.

Our Approach

To solve this, we followed a clear and structured process:

  1. Instance Setup: We created a new WordPress installation and prepared it to host CiviCRM.
  2. Data Migration: We moved the CiviCRM database from Drupal to WordPress, making sure everything remained intact.
  3. Integration & Testing: We connected CiviCRM with the new WordPress site, allowing donations to be automatically recorded and eliminating manual imports.
Wordpress Divi Builder with CiviCRM contribution Shortcode

The Solution

Instead of a complicated Drupal rebuild, we successfully migrated CiviCRM into their WordPress site. This allowed Kitchen Angels to keep the CMS they preferred while gaining the benefits of a fully integrated donor management system.

Key improvements include:

  • A fully functional CiviCRM setup within WordPress.
  • Automatic donation tracking in CiviCRM, reducing manual work.
  • A simple and intuitive WordPress interface for content updates.
  • No need for third-party donation tools or manual data transfers.
  • Built-in CiviMail functionality, eliminating the need for Constant Contact.
Mosaico email template builder in CiviCRM

The Results

With CiviCRM now fully integrated into WordPress, Kitchen Angels’ website runs more smoothly. Donations are recorded instantly, eliminating extra steps and reducing administrative tasks. The team can manage content effortlessly without needing technical expertise.

Additionally, Kitchen Angels now uses CiviMail for bulk email communications, removing the need for Constant Contact. This means they have streamlined both their fundraising and outreach efforts while reducing costs. By eliminating two paid third-party services, they can allocate more resources toward their core mission.

This project demonstrates that organizations don’t have to rely on Drupal for CiviCRM. WordPress is a powerful alternative, offering nonprofits an easy and effective way to manage donor data, handle communications, and keep content management simple.

Learning how to create an e-newsletter and use the Divi page builder is super easy. It's user friendly and visually simple. I am by no means a techy person and with the CiviCRM documents, I easily designed my first e-newsletter. I can now train the rest of my team. Easy to learn. Easy to complete. 

Dwayne Trujilo, Kitchen Angels