Your New Web Site 1 – Introduction

By Greg Hluska

A strong web presence can be very beneficial for a non-profit organization. A good web campaign can increase awareness and attract volunteers/money.  This ten part series is designed to help non-profit organizations take the plunge, get their first web site online and attract visitors.

Why Should Non-Profit Organizations Go Online?

• Exposure
• Community Building
• Control
• Permanence

More on Your Internet Strategy:

Exposure – Exposure is all about increasing awareness – it is about grabbing people who have never heard of you, attracting them to your web site and teaching them all about your organization.  There are billions of potential supporters, partners and/or volunteers out there – they just have to get to know you, your cause and your organization.
Community Building – Exposure is about bringing new people into your organization – community building is about serving the people you already have.  A web site is a great way to communicate with your supporters, partners and volunteers.  It can also be a great way to develop relationships, brainstorm, share ideas and plan events.
Control – Control can best be summed up with an acronym – ABR – Always Be Relevant.  A web site is a great way to be able to change your message to suit the times.  And, it can be a great way to comment upon news/events that affect you and your organization.
Permanence – Sometimes, when you start a non-profit, your ‘business address’ is also your home.  A web site adds a sense of professionalism, a virtual location and a feeling that your entity is permanent.

Depending upon how much time you have and your organization’s goals, you may choose to focus upon one or two, or you may choose to devote equal time and effort to all four of those main areas.  To make planning a little bit easier, I have made a list of some tactics that are associated with each of the above strategies….

Each Strategy Has Associated Tactics.  Here are Some:

Exposure – search optimization/marketing
Community Building – social optimization
Control – pick the right content management system
Permanence – pick the right web host/domain name

Sounds confusing, doesn’t it?  Don’t worry, I’m going to explain each of those over the rest of this series.  My goal in writing that was to give you a framework to study what follows.

You have to know where you are going if you have any hope of getting there.

This means that you must plan, plan and plan some more.  Devote time to thinking about why you are going online and what you wish to accomplish when you are online.  You also have to think about how you are going to reach those goals and what specific tactics you are going to employ.

Building a Web Site is Like Going on Vacation (and if you think it is just as fun, you need help):

Part of going on vacation is figuring out where you are going and how you are getting there.  Building a web site is no different.  Best of luck…