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Development Organisation: Effective Web Presence - The 5 imperatives
Samanvaya has been advising and developing web
strategies for development organisations apart from initiating and
managing many web based development related activities (campaigns,
model websites, magazines, groups, etc.) by itself. Over the years
we have come to understand the problems of the development organisations
in developing and managing their web presence. This article is sharing
of our understanding and learning.
Article dated: March 2005
Creating a web site is not an one time affair. Creating a web presence
is an ongoing activity. Many organisations create a website as a project
and never look at it again. We always call it creating a web-presence
instead of a website as we believe in that it is not a project, rather
a process.
1. Web presence creation is an ongoing process
through which an organisation decides to communicate with the outside
world.
2. Creating a web presence starts with a presentation for the unknown
user.
3. Designing the website requires a clear understanding and definition
of functional requirements.
4. Fund raising campaigns can be enhanced through the web, they
are not a bye-product of website development.
5. Creating an effective web presence requires more of a communication
specialist than a technical expert.
We need to understand that having a web site is the one of the steps in
a process through which we maintain an ongoing contact with a world of
internet users.
Most organisations know the recipients of their brochures, promotional
material or pamphlets. However, with the internet users, they are addressing
an unknown category of people. Though they may expect their well-wishers
and friends to go through the website to provide them with feedback, often
the most valued responses are the unexpected e-mails from unknown persons
from far off places. Many factors including local and cultural cannot
be assumed. To address such unknown users requires the organisation to
often look at presenting itself in a completely different way for the
first time ever. This requires time and effort.
The corporate world and some funding agencies and large
development organisations have created websites that are grand in looks
and often have the advantage of an in-house team or a out-sourced team
maintaining them in a day to day basis. This is unaffordable and impractical
for most of the developmental agencies. But, due to lack of any standards
in either approach or process of developing a web presence, most of them
go by what is there already. So, we find NGO websites with features and
functionality that are meaningless in the context of their work and frills
that are ill placed. It is important for the organisation to define its
objectives to create a web presence, functional requirements, before getting
carried away by the designers spell.
The primary need of many NGOs in developing a website is for attracting
funds. However, an uneventful website is not a fund attracting tool, just
like a hoarding on the road side is not a selling machine; most do not
realise this. Unless there is a fundraising plan in place and an effective
method to manage the same through various method of campaigning INCLUDING
the internet, they will only be shooting in the dark.
Today, to create a web page is the work of a school child. The skills
required to create a website can be acquired with enough experience, however,
to create a web strategy requires an understanding of the technology,
its applications, compatibility with other technologies, emerging technologies,
the international / national patterns in internet usage, etc. To create
an effective web presence for a developmental agency, however, requires
knowledge of the web users who are targeted by the developmental organisations:
the funding agencies, NGO networks, NRI groups, on-line directories of
development organisations, development related news sites and on-line
magazines and special interest groups and on-line communities interested
in any area of development. The criteria for selecting an agency to create
a web presence should include these parameters, mere technical skills
are not enough. This cannot happen unless the top management in these
organisations acquires an understanding of the requirements and some amount
of the technology. It may take time to locate such an agency, but, it
is worth the effort and the investment.