Tulsa Area United Way Agencies' Website Assessment & Recommendations

Tulsa Area United Way
Agencies’
Website Assessment
& recommendations
September 14, 2009
by Matt Galloway

Motivation & Scope

Motivation: To gain insight into the state and
needs of the web presence of agencies that receive
funding and support from the Tulsa Area United
Way.
Scope: A cursory review was performed for each
website of the 64 TAUW agencies with websites*.
All reviews were conducted between August 1,

Copyright 2009 Matt Galloway
2009, and September 7, 2009.

*As listed on the TAUW website (http://www.tauw.org/tauw/Member_Agencies.asp?SnID=1388822234) on August 1, 2009.

Included TAUW Agencies
2-1-1 Helpline Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Inc.
12 & 12, Inc. LIFE Senior Services
A New Leaf Margaret Hudson Program
Ability Resources Mental Health Association in Tulsa
American Heart Association - Tulsa Chapter Metropolitan Tulsa Urban League
American Lung Association of the Central States Okmulgee County Family Resource Center, Inc.
American Red Cross - Tulsa Area Chapter Okmulgee County Homeless Shelter
Arthritis Foundation Okmulgee-Okfuskee County Youth Services
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma Operation Aware of Oklahoma
Boy Scouts of America, Indian Nations Council Owasso Community Resources
Bridges Foundation, The Palmer Continuum of Care, Inc.
Bristow Social Services Parent Child Center of Tulsa, The
Broken Arrow Neighbors RARC, Inc.
Broken Arrow Seniors RSVP
Camp Fire USA Green Country Council Salvation Army - Community Centers
The Center for Individuals with Physical Challenges Salvation Army - Social Services
Child Care Resource Center Sand Springs Community Services
Circle of Care - Frances E. Willard Ministry Center Show, Inc.
Community Action Project of Tulsa County Street School
Community Care, Inc. of Sapulpa Total Source for Hearing-Loss and Access (TSHA)
Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa Tulsa Advocates for the Rights of Citizens with Developmental Disabilities
Credit Counseling Centers of Oklahoma Tulsa Boys' Home
Creek County Literacy Programs Tulsa C.A.R.E.S. (Center for AIDS Research, Education & Support)
Crossroads Tulsa Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)

Daily Family YMCA of Bixby Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless
Domestic Violence Intervention Services (DVIS)/Call Rape United Community Action Program, Inc.
Eastern Oklahoma Donated Dental Services (EODDS) Visiting Nurse Association of Tulsa
Family & Children's Services YMCA of Greater Tulsa
Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma Youth at Heart, Inc.
Goodwill Industries of Tulsa Youth Services of Creek County
Homelife Association Youth Services of Tulsa
Hospice of Green Country YWCA Tulsa

Local vs. National
Is the website locally or nationally managed?
4.5% of agencies have
sections of their
national organization’s 91% of agencies
website localized with
for the Tulsa area.
are either local
to the Tulsa area
or have local
Local Tulsa Area Websites websites
58 Agencies independent of
4.5% of agencies have 91% their national
national organization’s organization.
site only (i.e., no Tulsa

localization.)

Tulsa Local National Only Tulsa Section on National Site

Mission: Possible
Is the mission clearly communicated by the site?

No
No 28%
2%

Yes
98% Yes
72%

Is the mission explicitly

Is the mission obvious? stated or paraphrased on
(subjective)
the home page?

Phone Home
Is a phone number easily found on the site?

No
No 39%
2%

Yes Yes
98% 61%

Is a phone number

Is a phone number
available on the site? displayed on the
home page?

You’ve Got Mail!
Is a contact email easy to ﬁnd on the site?

No
23%
Yes
20%
No
80%

Yes
77%

Is a contact email

provided somewhere on Is a contact email provided
the site? on the home page?

You Are Here
Is a physical address easy to ﬁnd on the site?

No No
2% 48%
No
69% Yes
31%
Yes
Yes 52%
98%

Is a physical Is a physical
Is a map or a
address provided address
link to a map
somewhere on provided on the

provided?
the site? home page?

In Good Form
Is there a “contact us” form on the site?

No
69% Yes
31%

Is a contact form

provided somewhere on
the site?

It’s Better To Give...
Is donation information available on the site?

No No
13% 27%

Yes Yes
88% 73%

Is information on how Is information on how & what

& what to donate to donate available within
available on the site? one click of the home page?

Even Better To Give Right Now...
Is online donation available from the site?

No
34%
No
59%

Yes
41%
Yes
66%

Is online donation Is online donation available

available anywhere on within one click of the
the site? home page?

You & What Army?
Is volunteer opportunity information provided?

No
36%

Yes
64%

Is information on

volunteering available
anywhere on the site ?

When & Where?
Does the site have a calendar and/or events page?

No
22%

Yes*
78%

Does the site have a calendar

and/or information about
upcoming events?
* “Yes” was given liberally. Many events pages and calendars had no future events listed.

Take It to the People
Does the site collect addresses for email campaigns?

Yes
22%
No
78%

Does the site collect email

addresses to distribute
newsletters or other email
campaigns?

No Press is Bad Press
Is the site journalist-friendly?

Yes
17%
No
83%

Does the site provide contact

information and/or resources
speciﬁcally intended for
journalists?

Getting Social?
Is social media promoted on the site?
Yes Yes Yes
9% 14% 6%
No No
86% No
91% 94%

Blog RSS
Yes Yes
Yes 2% 2%
16%
No
84% No No
98% 98%

NOTE: Numbers reﬂect links from organizations’ websites to speciﬁc social media platforms. Organizations
using social media accounts that are not promoted or linked from website, if any, are not included.

You Scratch My Back...
Does the site promote the TAUW?

No No
22% 38%

Yes
Yes 63%
78%

Is the TAUW logo Is the TAUW logo

displayed anywhere on proudly displayed on the
the website? home page?

That’s So Last Year
Does something on the site indicate it’s out of date?

No
59%
Biggest Offenders:
Yes •outdated copyright notice
41%
•long past events
•no new newsletters

Is there something visible on

the site that indicates that the
information may be out of
date?

Part II: Setting
A Good Example

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Part III: Ten
Recommendations
for Improvement

1. Do the most
important thing first
There are so many different things a website can do,
and so many different people it can serve. Before you
get too deep, ask yourself this question...
If your website could only do one thing and
one thing only, what would it be?
That’s the most important thing. Make your
website do that thing first. And make certain it
does it really, really well. Then be vigilant; never
lose sight of it as you add other elements.

If someone you’ve never met, say from Idaho, visits your
website for the first time, they should inherently know what
your one thing is.

2. If you’re gonna ask
for money, be heard
For Online Donations:
•Top half of home page
•Big visible button
•One click to donation form
•Explain why it matters

For Other Donations:
•Links from menu
•Explain why it matters

•Give clear, concise &
complete instructions

3. Ditch the splash
page
If your ﬁrst page isn’t useful to the user then eliminate it.
(Like right now, before you move on to the next slide.)

Useful to the user means that it provides information the
user desires. HINT: Cool graphics, TV commercial-esque
videos, Flash animation, your awesome logo and talking
points are not useful. Sorry.

Everything you put in front of the page that contains your
one thing is a chance for the user to go to another site.

Wouldn’t that be a shame?

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4. Gimme the 411 r
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For the love of Pete, put your phone number and address
on your home page. Don’t make me dig.

If having people call your
organization or show up at your
ofﬁce is generally a good thing, then
your website should make this as
quick and easy as possible.


5. Be Easy
to contact online
Provide an obvious and easy way for folks to contact you
online. Don’t make me pick up the phone if I don’t want to.
I may be more comfortable typing than talking.
Provide at least one email address.
If there’s a chance your target audience
might not have email access, provide an
online form - and don’t require an email
address.
If you deal with sensitive issues, consider

providing ways to communicate
anonymously online.
Be certain inboxes are frequently
checked and regularly tested.

6. Don’t Make Me
Google
Anytime you present information on your site that may induce
the Google-reﬂex, provide a link that opens another browser
window.

For example, always provide a map link
next to your address. This simple gesture
helps the user save time (they were gonna
Google it anyway) while ensuring that your
browser window stays open a little longer.

Win-win.

7. Collect Email
Addresses!!!!!
Email is still the single most effective online communications
tool in existence. It’s cheap. It’s easy. Use it.

Email campaigns can be used to:

om
•Distribute newsletters
•Find those needing your services

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•Find volunteers

du
•Solicit donations

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•Invite folks to join your social media programs

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•Bring folks back to your website

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•Advertise special events

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uh

8. Change we need
At a minimum, keep your Pop Quiz: Online, outdated
content current! content can makes an
organization seem?
If you can’t/won’t keep your
content up-to-date, then avoid a.) out-of-business
date related material. b.) aloof
c.) disinterested
The best strategy, however, is d.) all of the above
to update your content
frequently*.
Fresh content gives users a reason to return and it dramatically
improves Search Engine Optimization. Blogs are awesome for

dynamic content. Added bonus: blogs are cheap and easy**.
* “Frequently” is a relative term. Biweekly, monthly or even bimonthly updates can be very effective.
**Way, way easier than a newsletter, or a conversation with your average teenaged boy.

9. Everything you
need; absolutely
nothing else
The difference between a good site and a great site is often
pages of pleasant but unnecessary rambling that prevents the
user from recognizing the one thing.

If your site contains extraneous content that isn’t contributing
to your ultimate goal, then it’s detracting from it.
Eliminate it.

If it helps, send your well written but extraneous content to me. I’ll read it. I promise.

10. Do the most
important thing ﬁrst
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If your website could only do one thing and
one thing only, what would it be?

Questions & Comments
• Please use this report in whatever way you’d like. While
I’d appreciate it if you’d attribute my work to me where
appropriate we both know that nothing (but bad karma)
awaits if you don’t. Meh.

• Contact info for questions or comments:
Matt Galloway
Email: matt@thebasement.com
Phone: 918-808-3072
Twitter: @mattgalloway
Blog: http://thebasement.com

• I’m available to present or discuss this report, and/or
your speciﬁc web efforts with your organization. Drop
me a line if you’re interested.

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