2012 skills based summit - thomson reuterswebdesigndev

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

insightsdata

fundraising/development

collaboration

public relations

outreach thought leadership

Your MessageYour 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 ECOSYSTEMTwitter

• 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

BlogWebsite

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?