Websites on a Shoestring

1. Websites on a Shoestring N-TEN New York Regional ConferenceSeptember 30th, 2004

2. Introductions • Laura S. Quinn • Heather Halstead • Susan Gaffney • What do you hope to get out of this session?

3. Overview

4. What is a Website? • A method of publicizing your organization • A way to distribute information • A tool to collect information • A key to expanding your geographic reach A communication tool A medium, like a pamphlet

5. What is a Shoestring? Distribution of amounts that nonprofits might pay for a website*** Many orgs Some orgs Few orgs *** figures are a hypothesis, not based on actual nonprofits It’s really hard to generalize about prices

6. What We Will Cover We will look at ways to make the most of your budget • Guidelines for Shoestring Websites • Using Application Service Providers (ASPs) • Case Studies

7. Guidelines for Shoestring Websites

8. Get Reliable, Experienced People A reliable partner can: • Suggest cheaper ways to build • Offer strategic suggestions • Ensure your money isn’t wasted on an ineffective site Try to figure out: • Have they done this before? • Can you rely on them into the future? • What do their references say about them?

9. $$ Plan Before You Build • Define your goals for the website • Define your audiences • Define what your audiences’ goals are • Brainstorm ways to achieve their goals and yours

10. Invest in Your Graphic Design To which of these organizations would you be more likely to donate? www.mfta.org

11. Make Your Homepage Speak for You • It’s the visitor’s first impression - and many won’t go past it • Needs to convey: • what your organization is • what can be done on the site • how to get around the site This is the entire homepage. Who are you? What do you do? How the heck do I get anywhere?

12. Create Prominent Calls to Action Use clear “teasers” to encourage visitors to do what you want them to www.plannedparenthood.org www.careusa.org www.whitney.org www.wavehill.org www.moveon.org

13. Design for Your Visitors • What do your visitors want to do on your site? • Many just want to do simple things – like find your phone number • Weigh your goals against what they’d like to do How do you know what they want? Ask them.

14. Create an Updateable Site • Make sure you know how you will update your site • Think through how much time it will take • Or at least design it not to be updated This site has some photos and text blurbs that change automatically, some that are updated with a Content Management tool, and some with a front end tool called Contribute. www.wavehill.org

15. Use Template Pages • Pages that have the same layout but different info • Cheaper to build, easier to maintain • Supports a growing “library” over time • Can easily hook up to a database Two event page from www.wavehill.org

16. Collect Email Addresses • Keep the relationship going after the visitor leaves • Send them emails at least occasionally • Consider an email newsletter • Or email calls to action • More on tools for email later Just a simple email field allows you to communicate with those interested in your organization www.positiveyouth.org

17. Think Through Online Donations • Can be profitable if you have a high volume of visitors • Weigh against transactional costs • Make process extremely clear • Tell visitors where their money will go • More on tools for donations later Care USA provides a great overview of how they use donations – right on the home and donation pages www.careusa.org

18. Application Service Providers (ASPs)

19. What Is an ASP? • An Application Service Provider • Also known as Third Party Tools • A company that offers their technology “for rent” • Delivers software tools over the Internet • You usually pay monthly or yearly fee A great option to get common, complex functionalities on the cheap See CompassPoint’s fabulous ASP Guide at: www.compasspoint.org/enonprofit/

20. Website Building ASPs • Can allow you to build and maintain your entire site • Sites can be built and easily updated by non-technical staff • Limited ability to customize look, flow, or functionality The ASPs Altrue (www.altrue.net) Reasonable looking, simple sites, with ability to easily update for $20/month Others Homestead (www.homestead.com) Designs123 (www.designs123.com)

21. Online Donations • Allows you accept credit card donations online • Transaction fees – charged per donation - can be considerable • Good for organizations with a wide audience of tech-savvy donors The ASPs Network for Good (www.networkforgood.org) A basic “donate button” service. No fees except a 3% transaction fee. Groundspring Donate Now (www.groundspring.org) An excellent solution that can be integrated into your website. $15-25/month (depending on org size) + 3% per transaction. Entango (www.entango.com) Similar features to Donate Now. No fees except a 8% transaction fee. Just a few of the many others… PayPal (www.paypal.com) JustGive (www.justgive.org) Donate.net (www.donate.net) Contribute.com (www.contribute.com) 4Charity.com Egrants.org

22. Email Newsletters • Manages the sending and administration of email newsletters • Allows visitors to give their email address on your website • Helps prevent your organization from being listed as a spammer The ASPs Check with your web hosting company! Groundspring Email Now (www.groundspring.org) A good basic email management tool for $19/month. Topica Basic Edition (www.topica.com) Not the free tool; they have a very full featured $25/month version that can be completely integrated into your website, and allows sophisticated tracking. Just a few of the many others… Email Now (www.groundspring.com) NPO Groups (www.electricembers.net) MailerMailer (www.mailermailer.com) Sparklist (www.sparklist.com)

23. Searching • Allows visitors to search your site based on keywords • Should ideally look like part of your site The Tools Atomz (www.atomz.com) A good, free, search tool that allows some basic integration into your site. Spiderline (www.spiderline.com) A good search tool, with a few powerful features, that can be completely integrated into your site for $50/ year. Some others… Google (www.google.com/services/websearch.html ) Master.com(www.master.com/texis/master/app NPO Groups (www.electricembers.net) FreeFind (www.freefind.com) PicoSearch(www.picosearch.com)

24. Other ASP Functionalities • List-serves • Member databases • Registration • Calendars • Message Boards • Client Support Tools • Etcetera Any tool that it seems that many other organizations must need too

25. And a Bonus Tool…. • Contribute (http://www.macromedia.com/software/contribute/) While not an ASP, Contribute is a fantastic software allowing non-technical staff to easily update and add pages in complex websites. While many such tools create havoc in sites that involve complex code, Contribute is very low impact.

26. Case Studies

27. Afghan Mother and Child Website Cost: Free

28. ReachTheWorld.org

29. ReachTheWorld.org - Process • About Reach the World • Finding the right people • Defining and designing the site • Maintaining the site over time

30. Turning Point Website Cost: About $5000

31. PositiveYouth.org

32. PositiveYouth.org - Process • About the Center • The initial planning process • Defining the key players • Finding the right partner • Using a structured process

33. PositiveYouth.org - Budget

34. Questions?

35. Contact Us Laura S. Quinn laura@alderconsulting.com www.alderconsulting.com/resources/ 718-208-8172 Heather Halstead www.reachtheworld.org Susan Gaffney www.positiveyouth.org