Key Points

• Delivering your mission online
  • Know your mission
  • Review your program and communication strategies and goals
  • Brainstorm
  • Identify richest opportunities and best roles for projects
  • Put technology in context in relation to agency
  • Develop project scope and plan
  • Feasibility test, cost benefit analysis
  • Create a project team
  • Develop pilot or prototype
  • Implement project
  • Build integration with agency's mission
• Online Access to Services Report (this report is an example of how an Internet strategy can be developed to complement existing systems) [It's amazing that this report was written in 1996 and still holds relevant perspectives].
  • Referral Pathways (a chart showing how online systems can shorten the path to service delivery). 
  • Advantages and Limitations of information delivery models
• Examples
  • deliver services
    • www.childcare.org 
    • http://npower.org/techsurveyor 
    • www.WashingtonParentPower.org  
  • research issues
    • http://www.nwjustice.org/ 
  • Community Resources 
    • www.philanthropynw.org -- funder database (fee required)
    • www.childcare.org --  child care resources and provider database
    • (all below are free to the public)
    • www.seniorservices.org -- senior services database
    • www.cityofseattle.net/crisisclinic -- community services database
    • www.cityofseattle.net/tech -- community technology access centers
    • www.cityofseattle.net/step -- employment assistance database
    • www.afterschoollearning.org -- youth activities database
    • http://npower.org/techsurveyor -- IT asset tracking (free for nonprofits)
    • www.WashingtonParentPower.org -- eligibility for services

Detail

• Know your mission
  • Think about and articulate how your project helps reach your mission.
  • If you project is focused on a specific program, use that programs' goals as your mission.
• Review your program and communication strategies and goals
  • What are the most important in each program area?
  • Who are your key audiences and customers?
  • What are your key messages?
  • What are your services?
    • Direct services
    • Indirect services
    • Publications
    • Advocacy
    • Applications processes
    • Referrals
    • Donation solicitation
  • What are your current communications methods?
    • voice? print? in person? email? web?
    • Advantages and Limitations of information delivery models
  • Draw charts showing all steps in process
    • What unnecessary limitations are there in your processes?
  • What information do you have or need about the diversity of needs your customers and audiences need?
    • How can you maximize staff time use where most needed?
• Brainstorm
  • email communications strategy
  • publishing information online
  • database publication
  • e-commerce 
  • online registration
  • calendar applications
  • using discussion lists
  • online streaming video copy of a produced video
  • create an e-book that can be downloaded onto palm pilots.
  • how can your project ideas best be woven into your organization?
• Identify richest opportunities and best roles for projects
  • Where are valuable staff resources going to doing rudimentary and/or repetitive tasks and calculations?
    • example: 30% of staff phone time goes to repeating the same program information or answering the same questions.
  • Which opportunities should be deferred to other delivery methods?
  • What are the cheapest methods to ac
• Put technology in context in relation to agency's services
  • How can your project augment your services and be best suited to it's capabilities?
• Develop project scope and plan
  • Don't start development before you have a good, solid plan.
• Feasibility test, cost benefit analysis
  • develop reasonable, best and worst case usage expectations.
  • what will the long term costs and maintenance requirements be?
  • who will do the ongoing work required?
• Develop pilot or prototype
  • what do you, your staff, and customers think so far?
• Implement project
  • Freeze specifications
  • Develop
  • Debug and Test
  • Prepare for future versions
• Build integration with agency's mission
  • cross market all your services
    • is your new web project promoted by other programs and marketing efforts?
    • does your new web project drive traffic to your other programs?
• Invest in research on usage
  • how have user expectations changed over the past 6 months?
  • what can be done to take the system to the next level?

Internet Communication Methods compared with Traditional Forms

The Internet presents additional publication options that should work in harmony with other methods. Internet variations are not inherently better, 

Contact Philip Klein at phil at penpixel dot com or though our contact form.