2012 skills based summit - thomson reuters, web design & development

Web Strategy for Non-Profits.

GOALS

• Start a conversation

• Get you thinking about your online presence and

interactions

• Present a proven model and the tools to help you

get a handle on the online landscape and your

place in it

• “Level set”

• Answer some questions, but hopefully raise more

Purpose and Process.

Best practices for a smooth Web build.

LIST YOUR GOALS

State a list of goals first

• Who are you?

• What is your purpose? Is the site primarily to allow existing members to stay updated? Is it to solicit

donations? Is it to get new volunteers or members? Is it to raise awareness

in general?

• Do you have a brand?

• Who is your target audience?

• What does “conversion” mean to you?

FOCUS ON CLEAR COMMUNICATION

• Steer clear of “design by committee” by having a

final decision maker on your team.

• Establish a point of contact from your team that

can work on the site until completion.

• Establish a point of contact from the web team

(e.g., project manager)

• Cultivate a board member who understand

technology/marketing.

UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS

• Web sites take time to build. Expect a minimum of

30 days.

• People on the job:

• Designer

• Developer

• Project manager

• SEO

• Writer

• Engineering

HOW A WEBSITE IS BUILT

MAKE YOUR WEB TEAM HAPPY (and save time)

• Gather as much content as you can up front.

• Expect to make revisions and add as much as you

can into each round.

• Get all necessary buy-in and revisions finalized on

your end before sending to web team.

Mobile.

One thumb and one eyeball.

WHY MOBILE?

• 371K babies born per day

• 378K iPhones sold/1M Android devices activated

per day*

• Over 6 BILLION activated cell phones in the world

*Source: http://tnw.co/yUafAx

MOBILE WEB SITE OR APP?

• Which serves your purpose?

• Does it fit your budget?

• Will end-users adopt?

WHEN DO APPS MAKE SENSE?

• Gaming (Angry Birds)

• Complex calculations

• Utilities (regular usage or personalization)

• No Internet required (most of the time)

• Heavy processing power

WHEN DOES MOBILE WEB MAKE SENSE?

• Immediate access

• Cross platform compatibility

• Cost-effective (vs. app)

• Ongoing support and maintenance

• Can be found easily

• Mobile sites can be apps!

• Donate online

GO RESPONSIVE!

• Access across all platforms for a better user

experience

• Google likes it

• Change content only once

Non-Profit Responsive Pioneers

• https://pittsburghkids.org/

• http://www.wildaid.org/

• http://worldwildlife.org/

FINDLAW BUILDS RESPONSIVE WEBSITES

REAL-WORLD RESPONSIVE WEB SCENARIOS

• SMS – text campaigns

• Form filling

• GPS/location pinpointing

• QR (quick response) codes

Web Usability.

“Don‟t make me think.” -Steve Krug

DON‟T MAKE ME THINK

• Content up front – purpose up front

• Donor friendly

• Social (media) friendly

• Volunteer friendly

• Branding consistency across all media and

platforms

• 2-3 clicks maximum to get to where you are going

• Think like an end user

Email Marketing.

Tips for conversion.

COLLECT

• Ways to get email addresses

• Opt in/opt out

• Frequency of email blasts

• Mailchimp

• Constant Contact

• iContact

CONVERT YOUR EMAIL BLASTS

• Simple. Simple. Simple.

• Catchy subject line

• Direct readers to website

• Give the user something

they want

Online Donations.

Ways to simplify giving.

ONLINE DONATION TIPS

• Make it easy to donate or become a member – big/obvious

buttons

• Promote across all platforms (print/web)

• Give donors options

- Online through payment service (one-time or recurring)

- Via text message

- Phone or mail via website

- Through mobile device

• Online donation services

- Paypal

- Donorperfect

- The Raiser‟s Edge (Blackbaud)

- Network for Good

- The Square

Be Interactive.

It works, and it‟s expected.

The Online

Landscape

the web is

simple

it‟s just people

doing online

what they do

in their

everyday lives

ONLINE INTERACTIONS CAN ENHANCE EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR ORGANIZATION

internal external

relationship building

issues advocacy

innovation

insights data

fundraising/

development

collaboration

public relations

outreach thought leadership

Your Message

Your Mission membership growth/

retention

WHY BE INTERACTIVE ONLINE?

Online marketing and social media technologies

provide the most powerful toolset available to

strengthen your brand and your relationships with

stakeholders -- members, funders, employees, peer

organizations and the communities you serve.

You should only care about having an

interactive online presence if you want to

reach Americans*.

Americans spend over a billion hours a

month in online social spaces.

That‟s over 215,000,000 people

spending 1,000,000,000+ hours per

month in the U.S. alone.

That‟s a lot of potential supporters.

That‟s a lot of opportunities to advance

your cause.

*or almost anyone, anywhere, for that matter

30

Some organizations can be a little “socially awkward” in online interactions.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/caseyfacee

But then came the Internet and Social Media

Blogs, wikis, discussion boards, tags, social networks – a massive platform of participation

Source: Francois Gossieaux, Human 1.0 & SNCR Sr. Fellow

Conversation

Content is

Stop thinking “campaigns.”

Start thinking “conversations.”

You can be joyless.

You can be monomaniacal.

But if you're joyless AND

monomaniacal,

it's death. James Lileks, Minnesota Blogger Conference, 2010

(„nuff said)

Your Interactive Presence.

Choose a proven model.

THOMSON REUTERS MODEL: HUB & SPOKE

The coordinated (Hub & Spoke) model is evolving as a best practice for large companies:

APPLYING THE HUB & SPOKE MODEL

• The hub & spoke model can also be useful for thinking about

how to create a robust online interactive presence for a new

or established nonprofit.

• Consider your main Web presence to be your hub.

• Could be a traditional website

• Could be a blog

• Could even be a Facebook page for a new or small organization

• Now look for opportunities to create spokes.

• “Social media” channels like Facebook, Twitter, G+, etc.

• “Traditional” channels like email, newsletter, press release, brag cards,

etc.

• Goal of hub & spoke model: To ensure a coordinated, well-

managed approach that takes into account strategic

objectives, branding and communications considerations,

resource requirements, and success metrics.

AN INTERACTIVE ECOSYSTEM Twitter

• Tweet blog posts

•Tweet announcements

•Live tweet events

• Re-tweet others

Website

• Home page feature -

updated daily?

• News & Ideas

• Integration of social features

• Easy membership/

contribution

YouTube

•Post videos

•Repost relevant videos

Blog

• Unique blog posts published frequently

• Embedded videos

• Commentary

• Re-posts from other blogs/news sources

• White papers

• News, events & announcements

• Analysis & commentary

• RSS feeds

• Blog Roll: Includes links to all other related blogs

• Twitter feeds & FB Open Graph

Facebook

• Daily posts and links back to blog

• Conversation with members, etc.

• Q&A

• Open Graph integration with blog

Blog Website

Facebook

YouTube

LinkedIn

Page

Groups

Twitter

ONE SMALL EXAMPLE: onekidneymatters.com

Using well designed, interlinked, co-

branded blog/website, Facebook page

and Twitter profile to promote kidney

disease awareness.

Design and Development Tools

CMS: Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla

Blogs: Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, Movable Type, etc.

Microblogging: Twitter

Social Networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest

Online Video: YouTube, Vimeo

Photo Sharing: Flickr, Instagram

File Sharing: Dropbox, Box.net, Skydrive

Collaboration Tools: Yammer, Jive, Skype, WebEx, GoToMeeting

Monitoring Tools: ChartBeat, radian6, Google Alerts

Publishing Tools: HootSuite, Shoutlet, various apps

Graphics Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, GIMP (free), Acrobat

Email Blast Tools: Constant Contact, iContact, Mailchimp

Specialty Apps: Virtual exhibitions, etc.

Questions?