Planning an Effective Online Presence for Non-Profit Organizations

Online fundraising: harnessing technology to build and maintain relationships
Planning an Effective Online Presence
Carolyn Shelby, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago

Have a Plan
You can’t get there
if you don’t first decide
where you need to go.

Vision and Goals
Who is your target audience?
What kinds of information do you want them to have?
What kinds of information do they want?
What actions do you want them to perform?
How will they find you?
How will you reach out to them?

Vision and Goals
Who is your target audience?
What kinds of information do you wantthem to have?
What kinds of information do they want?
What actions do you want them to perform?
How will they find you?
How will you reach out to them?
KEYWORDS& INFO ARCHITECTURE
MARKETINGPLAN & CALLTO ACTION

Assess Your Situation
A realistic assessment of your technology assets, in-house skills and budget (for 3-5 yrs) enables educated decisions regarding:
What kind of web hosting you can afford
How much maintenance/development can be done in-house
What the budget is for hiring outside tech assistance
What kind of software you can build your site on
What skill sets will be required by future employees (or contractors or volunteers)

Other Considerations
Promotion needs to be part of the plan, too. Make sure you consider how you will integrate the following into your overall strategy:
Organic Search Traffic (SEO)
Blogging for exposure and rankings
Make sure you understand how links work.
Social Media
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MeetUp, etc.
Search Marketing (PPC, banner advertising)
Email Marketing

Points to Note
Don’t fall into the “If it’s free, it’s for me” mindset.
Just because you have a Cold Fusion expert today doesn’t mean you’ll have him/her forever. Plan for succession.
Will you be able to afford to replace your current genius?
Will you be able to even find someone to replace your current genius?
Not everyone who offers to help has your best interests at heart.
Many decisions can be revisited and revised, but some decisions are permanent. Know which are which.

Stick to the Plan
Armed with your Vision & Goals and Tech Assessment, you can make informed decisions about:
Domain name
Software (content management system)
Web hosting, software purchases, computer hardware needs
Salary requirements and/or budgets

Dangers of Deviating (from the plan)
Website doesn’t “do what it’s supposed to”
Online presence lacks purpose and direction
Website is redeveloped over and over
Organic search traffic (the free kind) suffers or dies because redevelopment destroys existing domain or site authority.
Website/blog is abandoned
It becomes an unmaintainable Frankenstein thatno one has time or desire to deal with.

Have a “Plan Manager”
At all times, there should be at least one person who is 100% on top of managing the online presence and making sure the organization is sticking to the plan.
Keep domain name registrations current
Make sure hosting payments stay current
Ensure software upgrades and patches are applied in a timely fashion
Periodically make adjustments to the Plan when necessary

Regarding Your Plan
The plan is not the Ten Commandments
It’s not carved in stone and unchanging for all eternity.
It’s more like the Constitution…
It can be revised and amended, but only with a great deal of thought, consideration and effort.
All decisions should be judged by how well the fit in with, or do not adhere to, the strategies and goals detailed in the plan.

Finally…
All of your promotion efforts should enhance or strengthen your main website – it’s the only online real estate you truly “own”
Be aware of the value of your online assets
Strength of website/value of links
Email list members identities
Community/forum members identities

Planning an Effective Online Presence for Non-Profit Organizations

by Carolyn Shelby on May 05, 2010

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Planning an Effective Online Presence for Non-Profit Organizations — Presentation Transcript