Use WordPress for your Nonprofit or Small Business Website
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The document discusses how nonprofits and small businesses can use the free and open source content management system WordPress to build their own websites in order to gain more control over their online presence, save costs on website development and maintenance, and quickly respond to changes while also addressing important considerations around intellectual property, social media integration, and measuring return on investment. It provides an overview of important topics to address when preparing a DIY WordPress website such as defining the audience, mission, and content as well as tips for blogging, capacity, and branding.
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Use WordPress for your Nonprofit or Small Business Website
- 1. The DIY Website Using WordPress for your Nonprofit or Small Business
- 2. Well, How Did I Get Here? CONTROL Content Management Cost Savings Response Time WORDPRESS Highly recommended FREE!
- 3. DIY: It’s Not Just for NPs Anymore What Nonprofits and small business have in common . . . Offer a product or service Employ staff (& volunteers) Need revenue to stay in business Utilize a marketing plan Impacted by economic conditions Pay taxes (oh yes we do!)
- 4. DIY: It’s Not Just for NPs Anymore . . .and what they don’t NPs operate for the purpose of a particular public interest Businesses operate to earna profit for individual shareholders
- 5. When to Use the Pros Design Technical Issues Formatting Changes Coherence
- 6. Pros We Know
- 7. Prepping for Design Who is your audience? Dictates language and design features Mission Objectives Getting content to the designer
- 8. Blogging for Dollars Enhance the Mission Raise public awareness Raise $$ Connect with the community
- 9. Capacity Who? What? When? Consistency and Scheduling
- 10. Intellectual Property What is it? Who can claim it? What about guest bloggers/contributors? What are the exceptions? How do you secure it? Learn more here: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf
- 13. Contact Us Angie Albright, Executive Director Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter@angiealbright @NWAWS Jody Dilday, Executive Director Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Northwest Arkansas @jdilday @SPSFNWA
Editor's Notes
- Angie and JodyPlug othersReasonings, cost savings, control, content management
- JODYJODYGoalsBusinessGet maximum profit with available investment and sales; owners get profits.Non-ProfitDeliver maximum service with available donations and sales; any surplus must be used solely for the non-profit agency's authorized mission.Decision CriteriaBusinessDiscontinue activities that don't contribute to profitabilityNon-ProfitDiscontinue or restructure activities whose costs exceed available funds from sales, donations, and internal subsidies No simple "profit" criteria -- different programs can have different criteria, making choices more difficult to agree on.Donations and GrantsBusinessNone. All income can be used as determined by owners.Non-ProfitYes, in addition to fee and membership income. And they must be used as designated by donor. Adds special accounting requirements not present in business (fund accounting, special audits for grants and government contracts), plus financial planning requirements beyond those needed in most other charitable organizations.ComplexityBusinessSmall businesses (under $2-5 million in annual sales) rarely have more than 2-3 'lines of business', and most have only one.Non-ProfitA typical income-producing non-profit organization has 5 or more different 'lines of business', ranging from rehab and training to community outreach to job placement to child care to production and sale of multiple products and services.
- Personnel/StaffingBusiness100% paid staff and contractors.Non-ProfitSignificant share of work in non-profits is done by volunteers who receive little or no financial compensation and may not be shown on the financial statements. Volunteers expect/demand more participation in decision-making, are more likely to quit if not appreciated properly.Government RegulationsBusinessMust conform to wide range of rules related to labor, environment, health and safety, etc. Free to enter new business areas if owners choose to.Non-ProfitMust conform to same rules as business, plus special rules for non-profit 'exempt' organizations. In addition, it is generally restricted to activities that are consistent with its "exempt purpose". Today non-profit organizations are subject to more government regulation than most businesses regarding what they can do, how they can do it, and what information they must provide to the public.TaxationBusinessPays FICA, Workmen's compensation, state unemployment insurance (SUI), and withholding taxes for all employees; pays property taxes and sales taxes on purchases not resold; pays federal income taxes if it's a "regular" corporation, but not if it's a partnership, "subchapter S" corporation, or proprietorship; may also pay state income taxes.Non-ProfitSame as partnership or "subchapter S" corporation, except may have state exemption from state or local property, sales, or income tax. Tax exempt status for non-profit organizations does not mean they pay no taxes; it means only that they are exempt from Federal income taxes.SurvivalBusinessCan't continue to operate if it doesn't take in enough income to cover all its costs, both direct and indirect.Non-ProfitSame as business.
- ANGIEDesignSerious technical issuesFormatting changesCoherence – design other marketing materials to complimentDesign—if you’re color or design challenged, then call in the pro for the original creation. Make sure it’s someone who can handle WordPress, html, design, and the needs of YOUR organization. Serious technical issues—as a matter of learning by doing, try fixing things or working on things at a level you feel comfortable with and a little beyond. WP just isn’t that hard. There are many useful guides, including WP for Dummies, WP help, other self-taught experts around you, etc. Turn to a real techie when the matters rise above editorial or simple issues. For example, I had to have Christopher Spencer work extensively with GoDaddy and our own tech company to get our site hosted on our own server. They were speaking a foreign language to each other. Formatting changes—along the way you’ll need updates or revisions that may need to be embedded in the original design or within the template being used that you may not have access to or that you need extensive design or html experience to deal with.Coherence – design other marketing materials to compliment the site or vice-versa.
- JODYDesign Features:Escape button for DV, Online application/portalObjectives – blogging provides useful (though not NECESSARY) content for our students, but by appealing to a broader audience, we’ll begin to drive traffic to our website. Potential applicants, supporters, volunteers, etc.Content to designer – good outline (Angie) or excel workbook (Jody) Having that all thought out and planned out on the front end, is cost saving in the long run. Not many changes. Didn’t frustrate our designer!
- JODY/ANGIE
- ANGIEConsistency – scheduling, tone, appearance, “voice”ANGIEConsistency – scheduling, tone, appearance, “voice”Who? who are the people in your organization who are the writers, techies, or need to have editorial approval? Should everyone in your organization be working in or on your site? I would recommend not. Keeping it to one or only a handful of knowledgeable people ensures consistency, message, and good grammar. What? What should you have on your site or in your blog? This is where to use the staff and guest contributors. A variety of information going out is best. It can be short, long, photographic, links to sites, but should always be connecting to your other media and driving traffic to your website.WHAT? The financial and technological capacity. What kind of budget do you have? Do you need to start with a site that is free with WordPress? Getting your own domain is better but may not be feasible. What kind of system do you run your site on? Is it outdated? Does it crash a lot? Make sure that what build can be accessed all the time. When? Do the homework on when the best times to post things are if you’re blogging. SCHEDULE the blog and associated social media! Set realistic expectations for what you can actually get done. This is based on your HR capacity. Consistency: This is basic to any marketing plan and all PR efforts. What you say in the blog should match in tone, appearance, and “voice” the other things you have on your site or in your other materials. Make sure everything on the blog and site are directed to your mission only.
- Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.Who Can Claim Copyright?Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is createdin fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorshipimmediately becomes the property of the author who createdthe work. Only the author or those deriving their rightsthrough the author can rightfully claim copyright.a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his orher employment; or2 a work specially ordered or commissioned for useHow to Secure a CopyrightCopyright Secured Automatically upon CreationThe way in which copyright protection is secured is frequentlymisunderstood. No publication or registration or other actionin the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright.
- ANGIEMeasuring website ROI very traditional—thinking about what you need to spend to get your site up and going. We spent very little of a decent-sized budget. Using a site analysis like Google Analytics or even the easy WP site stats will give you great information.Website metrics typically include things we’ve already discussed: Identifying objectives, audience, financial benefits—then consistently evaluating the success of thoseCommunicating resultsWhat I learned from our Google Analytics for www.nwaws.orgSocial media less conventional but still measurable to some extent:Again, what is the objective of your blog and other social media? Kanter suggests thinking of it in terms of “impact” and “insight” but also has to match or at least compliment your organization’s goals.Match your goals to the metrics. For example, if what you want is to “engage” the community and raise awareness for your cause, then counting the numbers of your FB fans, Twitter followers, or blog readers is appropriate. If your goal is to raise money, then count the $$$!!! Learn this by listening, being agile, and adapting. Watch the others in the genre. What seems to work? What doesn’t? Down the road, then tie your blog/social media to your organization’s goals/outcomes/strategic plan. Good example for us is with Twitter. Have a plan BEFORE you start (or get one immediately) of how you will handle comments on your FB or Twitter. Will you allow comments on your site? Make sure it’s clearly communicated to those who manage the various outlets. How you manage it will depend greatly on your mission or business. Examples of the intangible: NWAWS got mentioned in the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas newsletter. Content pulled directly from our site; same with NWA Apt Association. SPSF had a stock donation the day after posting how to donate stock and a form for doing so.
- While establishing a business presence in popular social venues like Facebook and Twitter may be crucial to your online community building initiatives, maintaining that presence can test your endurance and ability to maximize the impact of your efforts. Fortunately, several tools and techniques are available to help you meet these challenges. Hootsuite, TwitterFeed, etc.At the same time, you should be encouraging website visitors to become Facebook Fans, Twitter followers, etc. and to SHARE your content. Make it easy for them – add a “addtoany” button or use another 3rd party application to do so.Your company can benefit from valuable feedback through comments and suggestions. Do a call for action in your posts.