2. Get a Website
If you don’t have a website already, you are missing real opportunities to connect with potential clients, supporters, sponsors and volunteers. Getting a website established doesn’t have to be expensive; in fact, there are several ways you can create an effective website without major expense.
For an up-to-date list of free or nearly-free website options, check out the members section of www.exult.co.nz
Setting Up an Effective Website
Make sure you…
Know exactly what you want your website to achieve eg. recruiting new members, providing support and information, promoting events, securing sponsorship. If you don’t know your reason for having a website, it’s hard to know whether it’s doing its job. You could be spending a lot of time and effort for nothing.
Have a professional looking design which follows a standard website layout and includes all your usual branding. If your website looks amateur with tacky add-ons and fancy flashing monkeys, people will at best feel frustrated, and at worst, question your credibility.
Scale photographs and images so that your website loads quickly. If your site takes more than 10 seconds to load, you will lose valuable visitors.
Know who your users are likely to be and cater for their needs. For example, if you are targeting an older audience, you may want to use a larger than normal font or install an audio viewer.
Include testimonials from satisfied clients, members, supporters and sponsors. It’s one thing for you to tell people how wonderful you are, but if someone else does, it really counts!
Show people the human face of your organisation. Have photographs of your team and encourage everyone to write a brief bio about who they are and what their role is within your organisation.
Have the facility for people to make donations online. If you do not have your own payment system available, provide a link through to a fundraising site such as www.givealittle.co.nz .
Give people an opportunity to sign up for regular newsletters or updates. They may not be ready to become a member or sponsor immediately, but with regular contact they may become a valuable part of your organisation.
Include as many contact details as you can. Not everyone wants to make enquiries via email, especially if your organisation deals with issues of a sensitive nature.
Ask your website developer to install a content management system, so that you can regularly update your site on your own. Initially this is an extra expense, but it very quickly pays for itself and means your website can be kept 100% up to date.
Showing posts with label Membership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Membership. Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Friday, 1 June 2012
Fundraising Friday - Membership
The easiest and most reliable way to raise funds is through membership. If you've been to a GB national AGM you would have heard this before. Membership fees cover our day to day operations. Then we can focus our energy on targeted fundraising to add value to our organisation.
When was the last time your membership fee was reviewed? Just because your membership fee has always been $20, doesn't mean it has to stay that way. Costs/services/facilities change - our membership fees reflect the value we place on our services. Ask yourself the question - how valuable is the service you provide? While you don't need to increase fees every year, they should be reviewed at each annual meeting. I have been in GB since I was 7 years old, it has changed my life, and has been invaluable to me. $80 per year, $100 per year or whatever it was - the membership fees that my parents would have paid as I grew up through GB were all worth it, GB helped to make me the person I am today. The experience and development was and is invaluable.
Make sure you have a system in place so that people know how much to pay, when is the deadline for payment, and give them multiple ways of making a payment i.e. cash, cheque, online. AND make sure you follow up on late payments. This year our company has enforced a tough policy on payment of fees, and while it may seem harsh, parents have not complained and they have seen that fees are important to the running of the company. Mostly payments are made quite timely.
And finally increase your membership numbers. The more members, the easier funds come in to run our awesome programs. So get out in your communities, not just by advertising, but by being visible in your communities and show them what you do and what a difference you can make. Let everyone know that Girls' Brigade EXISTS!
When was the last time your membership fee was reviewed? Just because your membership fee has always been $20, doesn't mean it has to stay that way. Costs/services/facilities change - our membership fees reflect the value we place on our services. Ask yourself the question - how valuable is the service you provide? While you don't need to increase fees every year, they should be reviewed at each annual meeting. I have been in GB since I was 7 years old, it has changed my life, and has been invaluable to me. $80 per year, $100 per year or whatever it was - the membership fees that my parents would have paid as I grew up through GB were all worth it, GB helped to make me the person I am today. The experience and development was and is invaluable.
Make sure you have a system in place so that people know how much to pay, when is the deadline for payment, and give them multiple ways of making a payment i.e. cash, cheque, online. AND make sure you follow up on late payments. This year our company has enforced a tough policy on payment of fees, and while it may seem harsh, parents have not complained and they have seen that fees are important to the running of the company. Mostly payments are made quite timely.
And finally increase your membership numbers. The more members, the easier funds come in to run our awesome programs. So get out in your communities, not just by advertising, but by being visible in your communities and show them what you do and what a difference you can make. Let everyone know that Girls' Brigade EXISTS!
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