Here's How to Solicit Free & Vital Input on Your Web Site Design, & Make Your Base Love You More than Ever!

NTEN is redesigning its Web site, and it's calling far and wide for its network (members and non-members alike) to participate in the process. Here's one of the invites.

Audience research is the only way to ensure that any communications initiative has maximum impact. And Web site design is so complex (look at how many folks it keeps in business) that soliciting input on your site design is even more important than it is for most other communications channels.

I admire NTEN's openness in its call for input (they're reaching out via their blog, to members via email and in other ways). It speaks volumes about the organization's desire to serve the nonprofit sector, and will definitely generate a new Web site that's far more effective.

Give your two cents today! You can do it here, in only 10-15 minutes. When you do, you'll get a bonus -- some great ideas on putting your network to work to strengthen your org's communications.

P.S. Read this guide to shaping your org's Web site to generate the actions you need.

Ask Nancy: Our Org Wants to Launch a Web Site w/o Much $, Time or Expertise. Where Do We Start?

Dear Nancy,

I am a member of a small non-profit organization for the deaf, and we're now embarking on building our first-ever Web site.

With tight funding, few available hours and little expertise, where's the best place to start?

We're looking for a launch pad that doesn't require too much of an initial outlay but is designed to evolve as does our understanding, needs, content and expertise. It would also be nice if the web can be easily modified by our members to post various events.

Thank you,
Bill Dukarski
GGRAD/HH (Greater Grand Rapids Association of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing)
_________________

Dear Bill,

First of all, let me commend you for your realism and focus. You know what you need now, and what your organization can invest. That understanding is THE critical first step!

Your challenge is avoiding a static, unchanging, old-fashioned site for your organization when there are these significant limitations on your time, effort, and/or expertise generally required to create and maintain a dynamic site. You'll need a set up that is easy to build, launch and provides some support -- all at a reasonable cost.

I'm happy to say I have a clear recommendation for you -- Nonprofit Soapbox. Soapbox is a content management system (CMS, a what-you-see-is-what-you-get content editing tool) that will enable GGRAD/HH to build and grow an engaging, dynamic site without the headache. In fact, anyone who can use Microsoft Word can create and run a web site.

What's great is that the Soapbox folks are expert in working with orgs tight on time, budget and know-how. And they've set up a process that works for them, and for their clients. If you end up needing more help, let's say in strategy or graphic design, you can purchase those services on an as-needed basis at a reasonable cost.

So get in touch with Nonprofit Soapbox, Bill. Then please email me and let me know how it goes. I'll share your experience with Getting Attention readers facing the same challenges.

All the best,
Nancy

P.S. The right messaging is critical to the success of every nonprofit Web site! Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

National Wildlife Federation Puts Base to Work to Design Website that Works For Them

Nothing's more vital to your org's health than constant interaction with your base to ensure your marketing, programming, etc. is intersects with their needs, wants and interests. So I was pleased to see the National Wildlife Federation's recent audience-based approach to designing a more useful and engaging Web site.

NWF's approach, described here, centers around inviting its supporters and other site users to provide feedback on what they want in the new  site -- from content, design and functionality to event registration and live chats. NWF is soliciting input through this online survey, which is ultimately efficient -- easy for users to complete and easy for the NWF team to review results and trends (stats are automatically generated and compiled by all the major online survey services).

To filter responses, the NWF is asking for input solely from those who use the site (they're going to be able to provide the best direction on what to change, as they've experienced frustrations -- or successes -- themselves in using the site). And they go beyond general questions to request feedback on a few home page designs -- usability testing at the front end.

NWF further cements audience loyalty with its gift of a free screensaver  to survey participants -- as you can imagine, they have some wild photography on hand. The fact in itself that NWF is asking for help (and people like to be asked to help, it makes them feel involved), is going to make its network feel more involved with the organization. So it's a real home run.

One suggestion -- If I were the NWF team, I'd capture the emails of survey respondents and invite them to join an information Web site advisory board. Then I'd call on the advisory board for input along the way as the site gets built (and after launch). They'll be an ideal group to test the site before the public launch, to ensure the actual new site is doing its job.

Informal advisory boards such as this are a great way to monitor the pulse of your org's base and continue to evolve your marketing to be most effective.

P.S. The right messaging is critical to the success of every nonprofit Web site! Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

Make Your Web Site Press Friendly, So Journalists Cover Your Org

Web usability guru Nielsen's latest Alertbox post emphasizes the imperative of press area usability for journalists, finding that plenty of the Web sites reviewed don't provide adequate info for media (traditional or "citizen journalists").

He cautions that poor site usability and missing info in online press areas can turn journalists away from covering your organization or force them to get their information from third-party sources (definitely not your messaging and likely to be incorrect). A shabby online press area is a lost PR opportunity.

Once journalists get to your site (you have to make sure they can), they need access to:

• Easy-to-find online newsroom: Make sure you have a clean site with a clearly-labeled section called "Press," "Media" or "News," where journalists can get quick answers to their questions.
  
• Press contacts: Being able to contact a real human being is essential for journalists researching stories. Deadlines mean that information is needed within hours or minutes, so most people would be reluctant to use an email address or contact form with no guarantee of a speedy response.
• Basic facts: Reporters often need to confirm dates, spellings and more. To help reporters get that information quickly, make sure your sections are clearly labeled.
• Your org's perspective and actions on your issues: This is the stuff that differentiates your organizatons from colleagues and competitors. Make it easy-to-find, succinct and clear.
• Financials: A core credibility meter.
• Images to use in articles: Also, video and audio for online media. This is the stuff that enages readers which is a journalist's ultimate goal.

Learn more here, then get to work:
10 Ways to Make Your Online Press Room Perform for Your Nonprofit

P. S. Don't miss out on the in-depth articles, case studies and guides on key nonprofit communications topics featured in the Getting Attention e-alert.  Subscribe today.

Photo: Thomas Hawk

3 Foundation Web Experts Share Tips & Tales for Funders & Nonprofits

Nothing better than learning from the best in the trade, as I had a chance to do at the Communications Network conference session on Web sites.

I loved what Mitch Hurst (in disguise at top left), new media team leader at the Mott Foundation, had to say about the way Mott re-designed its site architecture to reflect how users think about and seek their content, rather than how Mott has structured its own programming.

Yahoo! Looking out, rather than in, when speaking with external audiences is the only way to go. But far too few nonprofit orgs do so.

Hurst shared his experience of "killing the silos:" Making the shift from a 2006 site that delivered content by Mott-defined program areas through working foundation-wide to ID 12 key issues addressed by those programs (but nearer how the rest of the world thinks about those arenas), and making those issues the paths into the current Mott Foundation site (see the Focus menu at top right of the home page.

Not surprisingly, building the team to involve staff foundation wide as communicators (a real cultural change) was a critical success factor. Mitch, you're stealing my rap (AKA, everyone's a communicator)!

More here on great lessons from the Commonwealth and Wallace Funds.

P.S. Learn how to craft a compelling story for your org in 8 words or less. Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

Shouldn't It Be Easier to Act via Social Actions? -- Website Audit

When blogger queen Britt Bravo asked me and three other nonprofit marketing mavens to evaluate the recently-launched Social Actions website (and underlying communications approach), I jumped.

After all, I do audits all the time in my marketing strategy work and site strategy is another of my fav assignments, serving as assurance of a positive site audit down the line. But what really intrigues me is the the wonderful vision of Social Actions founder Peter Dietz, the confusing reality of the current site and the gap in between the two.

Here's Peter's vision:

"We automatically gather fundraising, volunteer, petition and other sorts of opportunities from 25 partner websites. We have built technology that provides an internet-wide search of these opportunities and helps online publishers embed links to them in their content. Our goal is to make it easier for people to overcome any reluctance or hesitation in taking action on issues they care about."

But, digging into the site my first reaction was, "Where's the easier, Peter's key differentiator?" What's great is that the tool makes it possible to benefit from the data and search capabilities of multiple volunteer/action resources. What's not so great are the communications approach, and how the interface actually works.

Here are a few ideas on revising SA's communications strategy and website to engage users and make it easier for them to act:

• Use clear, consistent and accessible messaging so I stay focused, not confused.
  
  • The home page refers to 30 actions at top right, and to 24 just below. Disconnects like this undermine credibility and detour my attention away from key content.
  • Although I understand that actions is one of the few words that encompasses all of the opportunities accessible via the site, the broadness of the term makes it difficult for a first-time user to envision what those action choices are. They should be clearly articulated right on the home page.
  • "Actionable aggregated opportunities" is jargon to the nth degree. Plain speak should be the rule.
• Focus messaging, and the home page, on action opportunities.
  
  • Too many competing elements. I don't know where to look.
  • Other ops (like serving as a Social Actions publisher or hiring a consultant) should be secondary. After all, the targets for each offering are very different.
• Feature a profile w/photo of folks who have found their dream action op through Social Actions, right on the home page. Stories will show that the service is rich, real and relevant.
• Give me a choice of action and/or issue arena front and center on the home page, leading me to a search menu of action ops.
  
  • C'mon, make it easy. There are so many things competing for my time and attention.
• Make finding the right action clearer and easier.
  • When I click "find an action" I get a list of four choices, all of which are equally weighted. Where's the easy in this?
  • Feature one main path in (Social Actions, the aggregator), with others offered as secondary alternatives
• Tell me where I am in the site, wherever I am, so I can easily get to the next place I want to be. And let me browse, please.
  
  • The site's information hierarchy (how content is arranged) is a mystery, as there are no visual cues like drop-down menus or breadcrumbs. I can't browse, or dive into what I want.
  • So, when I'm on one page, I can't easily see the options in moving to related content or  horizontally across the site.
• Keep me interested with more graphics and photos, less text.
  • Relieve my eyes and give me something beyond dry description. That'll keep me interested, and bring more life to what you're doing.
  • Use font size, colors and other graphic elements to highlight what's most important, and de-emphasize what's not.

Take a look at Social Actions yourself, and see what you have to add. Please share your suggestions in Comments below.

P.S. Learn how to craft the shortest and most compelling story for your org. Download the free Nonprofit Tagline Report for must-dos, don't dos, case studies and 1,000+ nonprofit tagline examples!

New NetSquared.org Home Page Strong Model of Easy to Use Design for Diverse Audiences

Take a look at the new NetSquared home page for a useful model of user-friendly site design.

As I stress repeatedly in my writing and training about writing for the Web, effective communications is all about making it easy for the user. This holds for offline communications too, but most important online with trillions of choices available to online readers at the click of a button.

One vital way to make it easy for your users is ensuring they quickly find what they need online. For  organizations reaching multiple audiences on multiple programs and goals, this is a real challenge. One approach I've seen is providing pathways for various user groups by job title/position. That might seem like a natural but research has found that people don't self-identify primarily as a "fundraiser" or "policymaker."

Instead, online readers come to a site to focus on what they want to do there -- register for a conference, absorb some information, or share a comment. NetSquared does a beautiful job of inviting site visitors to step into clear action paths (join, build, share) that make sense for one-time visitors and return audiences who want to pursue various modes of involvement over the course of multiple visits.

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How to Get Your Annual Report Read Online

Let's see a raise of hands for you nonprofits that publish a PDF download as the Web version of  your annual report. Thought so...way too many.

Remember, PDF's are just a downloadable/printable version of something you've designed for print in most cases. Back to Nonprofit Marketing 101: Most design for print readers doesn't work online. It's just like putting on a blindfold.

If you really want audiences to see and digest the report, make it easier for them to do so. Take a cue from the University of Richmond(UR) with it's new online catalog.

Higher ed marketer Bob Johnson, who brought this great model to my attention, lauds UR for making it easy for catalog readers to find what they want, right from the first page. It's the equivalent of a table of contents, but in a narrative form that is a better fit with online reading habits while effectively highlighting the key points of entry for students.

Johnson points out UR's request for feedback right on the home page. To me, this emphasis on feedback show's how UR values its base (students) -- and that comes through to the end-user. In addition, this interactive discussion enables UR to fine-tune the online catalog to work as best as possible for the students,and that's who it's for, right?

Think about who your annual report (and other marketing content) is really for, and create an online version that makes them want to dive in.

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Easy, Free, Useful Tool for Effective Online Writing

Last week I trained 25 nonprofit marketers on Writing for the Web, one of my favorite training topics. Nothing is more important in writing for the Web (or email or blogs) than writing succinct, focused, easy-to-digest copy, so I drilled down on how to do so. Try it. It's harder than you think.

How serendipitous to discover this free (for Word users) tool this morning, which assesses how pithy and powerful your online writing really is. Word's Readability Analysis Tool tracks:

• How succinct and simple your writing really is (these qualities are crucial for online readability) -- counting sentences per paragraph; words per sentence; and characters per word.

• Other key "readability" markers:
  • Passive sentences (active tense a must)
  • Flesch Reading Ease Score which rates copy on a 100-point scale; higher scores indicate easy of understanding.  Aim for 60-70 at a minimum.
  • Flesch - Kincaid Grade Level scores copy according to school grade levels. A score of 7 means that a seventh grader will understand your writing. Aim for 7 or 8 to ensure a broad range of readers.

Here's how to get the Tool on your Word 2003 toolbar:

• On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab.
• Select the Check grammar with spelling check box.
• Select the Show readability statistics check box, and then click OK.
• On the Standard toolbar (the bars with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands, at top of screen. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10), click Spelling and Grammar to pop up your readability report.

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Nonprofit Web Sites that Work -- 3 of My Favorites

When I guided 30 nonprofit communicators to strengthen their writing for the Web the other day, I showed them a few great models (dos), and lots of don'ts.

Somehow the don'ts scream out; but there are so many effective sites (and other nonprofit communications models) that deserve more attention. So I wasn't surprised when they asked me to share more effective nonprofit Web site models.

Here are three organizations that get the Web medium and how their audiences use it:

1) DonorsChoose, where donors can choose the school project they want to fund, is a great example of a site that puts the full capacity of the Web to work in executing its program. Take a close look: This isn't communications about the org's work, it is the org's work. Here's why the site works so well to engage donors and gift givers:

• Home page features GIVE NOW in large, orange large type, profiles one project (you can scroll through more) and showcases a news item (Stephen Colbert today). A user can do much of what she wants right here. Easy. Respectful.
• Site architecture is simple and straightforward. Users don't have to spend any time figuring out what's behind Door #3.
• Each of the two target audiences -- donors and teachers -- have a clear way into what's relevant, right from the home page and from the menu bar on every page.
• Design is bright, light and clear.

2) The Human Rights Campaign's(HRC) site is a great example of advocacy communications -- clean, clear and focused. Compare it  with other advocacy org's with busier sites (The Humane Society is one) that provide too many options for users, and you'll see how focus has impact. Here's what the site does well, right on the home page:

• Clear calls to action -- articulated in the left menu bar (volunteer, donate, attend an event, take action). Compare that to the Humane Society's issue-focused navigation.
• Up front positioning statement -- Humane Society does a good job here too.
• Relates HRC's work to leading news stories, engages every time. here's how to make an impact in 2008 elections.
• Invites users to drill down for more specific info/actions by locale or issue area.
• Reinforces HRC's graphic identity. It's logo and colors are striking and, although they won't be everyone's favorite, are easily recognizable. That's an advantage in nurturing an active base of citizen advocates, donors and partners.

3) The Wildlife Conservation Society's(WCS) site succeeds in providing multiple pathways into the diverse programs of a complex organization in an effective way. The WSC site:

• Frames its most well-known programs (its parks, including the Bronx Zoo and NY Aquarium) within its research focus.
• Makes its research agenda interesting and accessible, to spur prospective volunteers and donors to jump in.
• Headlines key wildlife conservation issues, ensuring audiences are updated on what's new.
• Builds and maintains brand recognition by using the same banner bar in this main site, and in all sub-sites like the Central Park Zoo.

Remember, it's not about your budget, but the way you think through your site goals and design. I've 5k sites that are far more effective than some 35k sites; and some 40k sites that exceed the impact of some 100k sites.

What are your picks among high-impact nonprofit Web sites? Please comment below to share with Getting Attention readers.

P.S. Here's how to Shape Your Nonprofit Web Site to Generate the Actions You Need

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