Recently, I was working with an organization that was building a new website. My role was to help with the strategic role of the website, work on SEO and analytics, and help them evaluate the bids submitted from a number of companies to build the actual site. Included in one of the bids was a…
For a non-profit organization, it is critical that people become engaged. The organization has a mission, and advancing that mission inevitably involves engaging people for financial, volunteer, or other kinds of support. Society doesn’t change without a push, and the organization is there to provide that motivation. The website plays a role. Exactly what that…
This post should have a subtitle: How I Broke My Website. Even before Dr Jekyll self-dosed himself to become Mr Hyde, the idea of self-experimentation runs through our culture. As any fan of comic books know, without self-experimentation, half of the super heroes of our fantasy world would never have come into existence. In the…
There is certainly no shortage of search engine optimization tips, tricks, advice, and rules available on the internet. However, the vast majority of the articles you will find are oriented towards business sites, not non-profit or charitable organizations. Despite there being a large overlap between the SEO tactics for businesses and non-profits, there are some…
An appearance before a parliamentary committee can be an excellent opportunity to share your message. Here are 10 quick tips for preparing to appear before a legislative or parliamentary committee. You will often be given a few minutes for an opening statement and then engage in a question and answer session. Confirm with the Committee…
Website analytics, when used effectively, depends entirely upon choosing the right Key Effectiveness indicators for the website. What is the reason for the existence of the website, and how does it contribute to the business or organization? What actions on the website indicate a conversion? And finally, what is the value of each of these…
An effective presentation before a committee requires good planning and preparation. But what about the meeting itself? Here are some quick tips on how to conduct yourself when testifying before a parliamentary committee. 1. Confirm logistics with the Clerk, either the day before or earlier in the day for an afternoon or evening appearance. Are there any…
Often I hear organizations complain about how they mounted an advocacy campaign but did not achieve the success they sought. Here are the five most common reasons advocacy attempts fail. 1. A lack of patience. Advocacy takes time and too often groups give up before they achieve success because they lack the patience that advocacy…
When advocating for change, be sure to offer solutions, not just criticism. Too often organizations spend more time identifying the problem then they spend identifying potenital solutions. Policy makers are not always subject matter experts and you can make their job much easier if you identify potential poliy changes which can address a problem. By providing…
An Executive Director of a charitable organization recently told me that with a federal election looming , her organization is pulling back from advocacy and communication efforts. While the attention of federal politicians of all stripes is currently focussed on the impending budget and a potential election campaign, advocacy and awareness efforts should not be…
