You’ve seen your website. It looks pretty good. You had it re-designed last year at considerable cost because you know that the future of your Nonprofit’s growth requires a strong web presence. You’ve got a place for blogs and social media connections. You’ve even got some pretty good shots of your events last year.
But your new and improved website is just like that fancy new workout equipment that you got for Christmas last year. Almost a year later, your recumbent bicycle now serves nicely as a catch-all for dirty clothes, magazines, and mail.
The point was not to own the exercise equipment, it was to use the exercise equipment.
The point of getting the easy-to-update website was so that you could update it easily.
Your website hasn’t seen a blog posting since last March and the last event photos you posted were for the spring fundraiser.
The good news is that you can turn this all around.
But don’t look at your website for the solution. Go look in the mirror. Get beyond your good intentions of posting blogs and updating photos and content. Now is your moment. If you’re feeling uncomfortable about using your website, then get over it. Resolve to figure out how to keep your web content updated. The company who provided you the website should have given you some webinars and instructional materials. Go use them.
If you cannot find the time to do this, find someone in the organization who can. If this job was already delegated to someone in the organization when you first got the website, find someone else on staff or a committed volunteer to tackle the job. You could even ask several key people to blog on your website. It’s too important. Treat the website as you would the planning of a special event.
If you have invested in the tools to make your website a work horse for the organization, you will find the payoff is worth it. Annually, an Online Event Registration System could liberate your staff from hundreds of hours otherwise spent entering data into Excel spreadsheets to keep track of special events, but not if you don’t use it. A private chat forum could save the board thousands of dollars in air travel, hotel, and car rental expenses if they are spread all over the country or the world. But not if you refuse put the time investment in to learn to use the system.
If you can’t find the learning tools that you need from the company who provided the training webinars, look on YouTube. YouTube is a great place to research tutorials.
Though I can make no promises about that dusty exercise equipment in your “workout” room, I do know that, after the initial investment in learning, you and the staff should feel much more comfortable updating your website with your latest programs, accomplishments and news.