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A Web Strategy That Works

I was reading a Chronicle of Philanthropy article about online strategies that work in a bad economy. The article presented four different strategies and a nonprofit that used it successfully. This post is about the strategy of using specialized Web sites.

Put up a site just for a certain crisis, event, issue, project or program. The Chronicle details how Partners in Health did this for Haiti earthquake relief. Any issue, whether a crisis or not, whether global or local is a potential candidate for replicating the Partners in Health approach.

Events of global and local significance are fine subjects for a site. You are probably already familiar with World AIDS Day or World Water Day. Those global events and many others are the subject of special Web sites and advertising campaigns both online and in print. Local events from the mundane, like the beginning of a new school year, to the momentous.

A crisis is another good reason to put up a specialized Web site. The epic flooding in the American Midwest offers one example of a crisis that ties in logically with a specialized Web site. The site could be used to raise money for disaster relief, obviously. You could also use the occasion to raise awareness of economic policy or conservation issues.

An issue-oriented site could be created to focus on a specific, timely issue or on something of perennial concern. Conservation issues raised by a one-time event might need their own Web site. A controversial topic like “fracking” (use of pressurized fluids to push natural gas out of the ground) could get its own Web site. A perennial concern like “green” energy policies at the federal level could get a specialized Web site.

Of course sites on those subjects exist. The point is to make one that meets the specific needs of your constituents.

Your own projects or programs might call for their own Web sites. A specialized Web site would be especially suited to a project where, by definition, your work has a specific deadline and will result in a specific product or service being delivered. A program or project may also serve a new or slightly different audience from those you normally reach. Trying to get teenagers excited about opera? A specialized site aimed at teens might be a good idea.

A specialized Web site might not be right for your organization at the moment, but times change. Keep in mind what you’ve just read about using specialized Web sites for crises, events, issues, programs, and projects.
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