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Good Causes on the World Wide Web

by Aliza Sherman - a Cybergrrl Publication - written 1995

Since spending last year as the Executive Director to a non-profit organization, I've taken a big interest in how non-profits market themselves and how they're getting onto the Internet and the World Wide Web. Personally, I know the power of the Internet, having created SafetyNet Domestic Violence Online Resources and receiving many emails from cities across the country and places such as Canada and as far away as Israel, all attesting to the value and reach of putting information online. I was even able to find the replacement for my position via the Internet once I decided to leave the non-profit to pursue my writing. Recently, I took a look to see how non-profits were using the multimedia forum of the Web and to find out what makes an interesting and successful Web home page.

From my experiences online, I knew that the Web offers an abundance of resources for nonprofits such as forums to reach an international public - quickly and pretty affordably - to provide them with information, excitement and attention for the organization to help attract funders, and high-speed research tools to find valuable information such as funding sources and other non-profit assistance.

Having run a non-profit on the classic shoe-string budget, I knew that some of the obstacles non-profits face when deciding to go online include lack of funds, lack of technical know-how, lack of staff to handle online activities, and security issues. Some groups, however, are already finding innovative ways of getting their Web sites up such as partnering with a corporate sponsor or turning to a university's technology department for help.

To find information on nonprofit organizations, I went to the trusty Yahoo directory and conducted a few searches.

http://www.yahoo.com

Using Yahoo as a launching pad, I dropped by Amnesty International. In addition to finding information about the organization, I read about their Indonesia Campaign, reviewed some of their Worldwide Appeals for letter-writing to countries who are violating human rights, and learned about the Amnesty Interactive CD-ROM. I also found a page of links to other Human Rights information on the Internet. This Web page was instant proof that interesting and useful information can be put online in a concise manner and can help organizations gain new members and encourage people to take action.

http://www.amnesty.org

My next visit was to the Sierra Club Web pages. Their site also has a useful page of links, this time to other environmental resources on the World-Wide Web and Internet. I was able to read the usual organization information on the Sierra Club.

http://www.sierraclub.org/

The Global Fund for Women

http://www.igc.apc.org/gfw/

So what advice do Webmasters have for non-profits interested in starting their own Web pages? "Start small, then build" is the main advice from non-profit webmasters in order to avoid getting bogged down with the new workload of putting materials online. Make the information concise and interesting. Make sure you put your contact information (either email, voice, fax, snailmail or all of these) so people can contact your organization via their preferred means of communication. Overall, the general feeling was that the efforts for getting their non-profit organizations onto the World Wide Web were worthwhile. Increased exposure, generating excitement and helping to fulfill their missions are only the beginning of the benefits from their online ventures.

Non-profit organizations can not ignore the resources out there on the Internet and the World Wide Web. The ones that have held their breath and taken the plunge are finding that the air is pretty safe to breathe up in cyberspace. With a little creativity and minimal effort, non-profits can wave their banners, stake a claim in some of the still uncharted territory, and gain benefits on a scale that couldn't be done by any other traditional medium. Marketing on the Web can be easier, and more affordable, than you think.

Other Non-Profit Resources Online

Foundation Center
http://fdncenter.org/

Internet Resources for Non Profit Service Organizations
http://asa.ugl.lib.umich.edu/chdocs/nonprofits/nonprofits.html

Nonprofit Resources Catalogue
http://www.clark.net/pub/pwalker/

Impact Online
http://www.impactonline.org

Internet Nonprofit Center
http://www.human.com:80/inc/

Meta-index for Nonprofit Organizations
http://www.duke.edu/~ptavern/Pete.meta-index.html

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A. Sherman
©1996
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