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 sections 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.
Event
Planning. If
you do event planning using traditional methods,
you probably have a good idea of what it is costing
you. Consider a medium sized firm or trade association,
and what they spend. Our research indicates that
some of the typical costs for event planning,
per attendee, run as follows: Marketing expenses,
$6.95, Registration, $6.75, Survey expenses, $6.50,
for a total of $20.20. On the other hand, online
event planning can break down to pennies per attendee.
