What does it cost to go without a website?
Another way to look at the question is to ask: "How much is the
lack of a good website costing us?" Ask yourself how much you are
paying to do the following marketing, communications, and customer service
tasks, that could easily be integrated into an effective Website:
• Public Relations. Are you
mailing out flyers, brochures, or press releases? Do you get calls from
the press asking for information? Do you send them stuff through the mail,
or go through the same old script over the phone? When you want researchers
to be aware of your information, how much do you spend identifying them
and getting them the information?
• Internal Communications.
Does your organization spend lots of time reiterating communications that
could easily be maintained electronically at one location? Wouldn't it
be great to have standard documents, questions, forms, and other organizational
documents available at the click of a mouse? Intranets and Extranets add
the ability to keep standard documents available instead of copying and
updating print copies, etc.
• Communicating with Sponsors,
Backers, Members, or Major Customers. Do you have Board members, investors,
sponsors, or major clients that need easy and secure information easily?
Do they need to be in the loop constantly? A Website with a password-protected
section satisfies many of these needs, reducing time spent on the phone,
in conference, or mailing documents back and forth.
• Advertising and Marketing.
While a Website does not replace advertising and marketing efforts, it
has the potential to be a fantastic addition, an entirely new communications
channel. Though people will find you through your Website, many will still
be brought in using traditional advertising and marketing techniques.
However, the cost savings begin once that first contact is made. A potential
client, member, or donor will often require a lot of time and information
before making a decision. A comprehensive Website will transfer much of
this load off your staffers, while giving you greater control over the
message that you are giving out.
• Providing News. If you are
in the business of keeping your members updated, the media informed, and
customers up-to-date, having the latest bulletins on a Website is much
cheaper than mailing out newsletters or releases. If your newsletter is
sophisticated in appearance, you can e-mail html newsletters, with links
that seamlessly return to content on the site.
• Hiring Employees or Accepting
Volunteers or Interns. Recruiting new employees, hiring staff, searching
for an executive, even accepting an intern all can require lengthy information
exchange. A good site can help share information about the organization,
the position, and necessary qualifications. Likewise, such sites can gather
detailed information about applicants. Maintaining job postings on-line
reduces search costs. Candidates may do most of their research without
taking up staff time. Finally, they may submit information confidentially
using electronic forms, reducing the cost of mailing in both directions.
• Fund Raising. If you are
doing fund-raising, it may be taking a lot of your time. How much of that
is spent finding donors and informing them as to your needs and goals?
How much is spent sending material and getting them familiar with your
organization? How much time do you spend in the physical process of accepting,
recording, providing receipts? Some of these tasks can be fully automated,
others partially.