Another way to look at the question
is to ask: "How much is the lack of a good website
costing us?" Ask yourself how much you are paying
to do the following marketing, communications, and customer
service tasks, that could easily be integrated into
an effective Website:
* Public Relations. Are you mailing out flyers,
brochures, or press releases? Do you get calls from
the press asking for information? Do you send them
stuff through the mail, or go through the same old
script over the phone? When you want researchers to
be aware of your information, how much do you spend
identifying them and getting them the information?
* Internal Communications. Does your organization
spend lots of time reiterating communications that
could easily be maintained electronically at one location?
Wouldn't it be great to have standard documents, questions,
forms, and other organizational documents available
at the click of a mouse? Intranets and Extranets add
the ability to keep standard documents available instead
of copying and updating print copies, etc.
* Communicating with Sponsors, Backers, Members,
or Major Customers. Do you have Board members,
investors, sponsors, or major clients that need easy
and secure information easily? Do they need to be
in the loop constantly? A Website with a password-protected
section satisfies many of these needs, reducing time
spent on the phone, in conference, or mailing documents
back and forth.
* Advertising and Marketing. While a Website
does not replace advertising and marketing efforts,
it has the potential to be a fantastic addition, an
entirely new communications channel. Though people
will find you through your Website, many will still
be brought in using traditional advertising and marketing
techniques. However, the cost savings begin once that
first contact is made. A potential client, member,
or donor will often require a lot of time and information
before making a decision. A comprehensive Website
will transfer much of this load off your staffers,
while giving you greater control over the message
that you are giving out.
* Providing News. If you are in the business
of keeping your members updated, the media informed,
and customers up-to-date, having the latest bulletins
on a Website is much cheaper than mailing out newsletters
or releases. If your newsletter is sophisticated in
appearance, you can e-mail html newsletters, with
links that seamlessly return to content on the site.
* Hiring Employees or Accepting Volunteers or
Interns. Recruiting new employees, hiring staff,
searching for an executive, even accepting an intern
all can require lengthy information exchange. A good
site can help share information about the organization,
the position, and necessary qualifications. Likewise,
such sites can gather detailed information about applicants.
Maintaining job postings on-line reduces search costs.
Candidates may do most of their research without taking
up staff time. Finally, they may submit information
confidentially using electronic forms, reducing the
cost of mailing in both directions.
* Fund Raising. If you are doing fund-raising,
it may be taking a lot of your time. How much of that
is spent finding donors and informing them as to your
needs and goals? How much is spent sending material
and getting them familiar with your organization?
How much time do you spend in the physical process
of accepting, recording, providing receipts? Some
of these tasks can be fully automated, others partially.
