Revamping a Nonprofit Website Case Study

Website Development & Re-Development

Talk to Aspiration about how to build the website.

In developing RFP:

• Decide who your audience is—potential donors, EJ advocates, policy makers, community members, funders, advocates, media (you can invite these users to be a part of an advisory committee)
• Survey monkey: what you are using our website for? What do you wish was there?
• Facebook: hey we are revamping our website what would you like to see?

Pages: Data that provides information of use to community based organizations (water boards, resident, etc)

User Stories: put yourself in the shoes of people using your website

• Develop a spread sheet that categorizes users: (Gunner has a template that can be used by CWC to develop an RFP—fill out
  • there is a list of things that would be included under each category

for example:

• Residents:
  • Download community guide
  • Find data on communities
  • Find resources available to local water board
  • View latest press releases
  • Learn about programs

Columns include:

• User Story
• Story Detail
• Comment Priority
• Notes

User: defines who comes to the website (looking to access information, register for an event)

• what specific information are they seeking when they visit the site
• View latest press releases
• Learn about programs

Content Manager: People managing content are also user story. Need to tell the developer what we as a content manager need to be able to do with the website.

• be able to enter content
• set it up to be shared- Share This icon—widgets (piece of code you plug in to website)
• Eligible for RSS feed
• compatible with all the browsers (Google chrome)
• Integrating stuff: signing up for newsletter
• archiving newletters
• media: print to PDF
• links must be checked quarterly

A proprietary website—can only be edited by the person who made it (closed source)

WordPress: open source--you can update content

Style Guide for staff:

Best Websites

• Changelabsolutions.or
• PreventionInstitute
• Pacific Institute
• Californiawatch.org

• Drop down menus guide traffic
• White space is nice
• Crisp
• Simpler

• Google analytics help inform you about what pages on your site are being used the most.
• Driving people to your site to download information
• Rotating banner