Planning Your Site

What a Web site can do for you:

• Transmit your message to many more people than older forms of outreach
• Enroll new members
• Conduct surveys and transmit valuable data into a database on the server
• Take donations via credit cards and secure servers
• Display documents such as directories or proposals
• Keep current information accessible to the public
• Display employment opportunities
• Include valuable resources in one area (i.e., related links)
• Help you build communication and community among your members, clients, the general public

How Much Overhead is Involved in Creating and Maintaining a Web site?

Remember, it is important to be aware of the full staffing needs of a Web site before you develop one. It is not uncommon to jump in without knowing the hours it takes to sustain a current site. People tend to revisit a site if there is new information on it. If you plan to develop a Web site without planning its maintenance, you will have a site that will soon be out of date. If you have any time-sensitive information, this is critical.

• Development tasks need to be planned and scheduled
• Content must be developed, organized and edited
• Site needs to be marketed
• A design firm should be employed for initial coding and graphics
• Content must be updated to keep the site relevant and interesting (this will most likely involve modifying the entire flow and ownership of information in your organization, not just making it the responsibility of the webmaster)
• HTML-knowledgeable person needs to be on site

Think in terms of five positions that need to be introduced into your organization when you introduce a website. These five positions can be held by a single person, but an effective website is a lot of work to maintain.

Staffing for a Web site:

1. Content Manager
2. Server Manager
3. Project Manager
4. Marketing Manager
5. Web Design Firm (contracted)

Questions to Ask Yourself and Your Organization:

• What is our message and whom are we targeting?
• Is it economically feasible for our organization to have a Web site?
• How can we get funding for our site (information on funding is available in the Funding section )?
• How can we present our point of view more effectively?
• Will our Web site be a research or a development tool?
• Can we do it in-house?
• What will it bring us that we don't already have?
• How will it improve what we do have?
• What will be the benefits of online exposure?
• How will we reassign staff duties to provide for ongoing maintenance and updating?

If You Do Want to Proceed with a Web site:

You should have an idea of what you want and what you don't want. A glittering, flashing site that plays music may be exciting, but distracting, not necessary, and not appropriate for many causes.

If you want to use your Web site as a direct fundraising tool, you will need either secure e-commerce capabilities on your site or an arrangement with a commercial site like Entango or a nonprofit site like Helping.org that can provide you with secure donation tracking services. But it may be enough, for now at least, for your site to be more of an interactive cyber brochure.

Your Web site can become not just a face for your organization, but a nexus of activity that can enhance online community collaborations and the mission of your organization. Remember, however, that the more complex the site is, the more difficult it will be to maintain. Try to keep it simple. Follow the 80/20 rule -- 80 percentof content is static, 20 percentis updated on a consistent basis. Think in terms of phases of Web development: a good Web site is a work in progress. Finally, every organization should ensure that there is a tangible return for the time and effort required to establish and maintain a website. For example, adding 300 new members to your organization may be a good reason to sustain your site.

Think Easy, Efficient Exposure

A Web site should ultimately function as an efficient and easy means of exposure. There is no efficiency in having a Web site with out-of-date information, or a Web site that load properly. Determine before making the production leap who will be responsible for the maintenance of the site. Once again, we reiterate, Keep It Simple and it shouldn't take over all of your organization's staffing resources. Be realistic about your exposure. Just because your organization's name exists somewhere in the Internet, it doesn't mean the whole world is tuned in. Think thousands, not millions, and you won't be disappointed.

Your Web site might include the following:

• An Organizational Mission Statement
• Highlights of events
• Staff Information
• Services
• Volunteer information
• Achievements
• Donor Information
• Bulletin board/news update section
• Subscription option available
• Related links

Your Web site must include the following:

• Information to attract people who share a common interest or need
• Information to help new users feel connected to the site and to encourage return visits
• A community-building feature (like an online resource library) that will encourage collaborations between different NPOs
• A sense of membership to attract support, obtain subscribers and induce loyalty for the future of the organization

Things to Do, Places to Go, People to See:

Before you begin your project you should write down the following things:

1. A statement of the goals to be achieved, the work to be done, the people involved and their roles, the resources available and those to be gathered, etc.
2. A calendar of check-in dates for everyone involved to communicate via face-to-face meetings, and/or email or phone
3. The most convenient method for transferring source materials (a network)
4. A schedule for completing the project

OK, you've got your theoretical reasons mapped out of why you want a Web site, whom you intend to reach, and what you think you will gain from it. You are also aware and equipped with all the necessary staffing needs to put forth an impressive Web site. Now all you have to do is make the site...where do you start? Fear not, TechSoup has some simple guidelines to help you in the web development phase (see the article: "Site Wise: Laying the Foundation ".)