Making Great Websites (for Non-Profits)

A presentation to the Annual Meeting of the Voluntary Resource Centre in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

1. making great websites (for non-profits) peter rukavina – reinvented inc. presented to the annual general meeting of the voluntary resource centre, charlottetown, pei september 11, 2007
2. Don’t.
3. Don’t. • Nobody will want to actually do the work. • It will take a lot of time. • It will be immediately out of date. • It will cost you money you could spend better elsewhere. • It will take a lot of meetings. • As soon as the daughter of your secretary- treasurer goes off to college you will be stuck with a website that nobody can figure out and that you cannot modify.
10. Ask. “Would the time and money we spend making a website be better spent doing something else?”
11. If you decide to do it anyway...
12. 6 Questions 1. Who is your audience? 2. What will it contain? 3. Who will maintain it? 4. Where will it live? 5. Who will create it? 6. How will you know if it’s working?
13. Who is your audience? • Islanders or people from anywhere? • Allies or possible converts? • An internal tool or a marketing vehicle? • Public information or private? • Passive readers or active contributors?
14. What will it contain? • Your phone number and address. • What you do: mission, activities, projects. • Who you are: board, members, volunteers. • Online donation processing. • Coming events. • Minutes, agendas, resources, etc.
15. Who will maintain it? • Paid staff? • Volunteers? • Relatives of volunteers? • Web development company? • Nobody?
16. Where will it live?
18. Asking for a web page You Webserver
19. Receiving a web page Webserver You
20. Where will it live? • You need a place to host your website. • A host providers a “webserver” that contains all your content, designs, images, etc. • You can pay for this, or get it for free.
21. Who will create it? • Paid staff? • Volunteers? • Relatives of volunteers? • Web development company?
22. How will you know if it’s working? • Are people visiting your website? • Is there discussion, donation or other activity happening? • Do you receive feedback? • Is it making your organization more effective?
23. Case Study L.M. Montgomery Land Trust
24. LandTrust.ca • Went online in January 2005. • Originally intended as an internal tool. • Uses the Drupal Content Management System. • Uses a “blog-like” format for presenting information.
25. The Good
27. Simple “canned template” design cost nothing.
28. Simple web address
29. Contact Information Up Front
30. Online Donations
31. Volunteers can maintain
32. Blog format makes it easy to find latest information
33. The Bad
34. Blog format makes it hard to find specific information
35. The content management system doesn’t make adding photos easy.
36. The actual “content management” process has a learning curve.
37. Keeping the site up to date is never the top priority.
38. The website is hosted on my own server, for free. What happens when I leave?
39. • Your domain name is your site’s address. • It’s also your organization’s “online identity.” • It should be registered in the name of the organization (not an individual). • Use a permanent address, and a permanent email address to register it. • Make it short, easy to remember. Tips: Domain Name
40. Tips: Design • Visual design doesn’t matter. • How you structure and present your information does matter. • When in doubt, be consistent, and use simple, easy-to-follow designs. • Don’t obsess about “reflecting your brand in cyberspace.”
41. Tips: Free Stuff • Google Analytics for traffic reports. • Gmail for email. • Google Applications for collaboration. • YouTube for hosting video. • Free Calendar site (Google, Yahoo, Upcoming) for coming events.
42. Tips: Almost Free Stuff • TypePad or WordPress for hosting weblogs. • .Mac for email, website hosting. • Low-cost hosting companies for hosting. • Low-cost domain registration companies (GoDaddy.com) for domain names.
43. Tips: Open Stuff • Linux and Apache and PHP for creating sites and services. • Open standards for publishing documents and information. • Open source anything you create. • Creative Common as a content license.
44. Tips: Designers • Insist that everything is documented (passwords, tools, server addresses). • Insist any solution is portable. • Sign a contract, even if it’s with a volunteer, and outline timelines, expectations. • Plan for change (in people, needs, skills). • Don’t spend a lot of money.
45. Best Advice • If you do it, do it seriously. • Add a new position to your Board – “Web Secretary” • Dedicate a budget line-item for ongoing hosting and maintenance. • Leverage free and open tools, but don’t expect to not spend money.
46. Don’t.
47. http://ruk.ca/ peter@rukavina.net