Using the internet to promote your organisation
This introduction to activism on the internet
provides a global overview of issues and tools related to online advocacy.
See the US National Institute of Health Making Health Communication Programs Work also known as ‘the Pink Book ’ – the most comprehensive available guide to social issues marketing. According to the authors ‘the planning steps here can help make any communication program work, regardless of size, topic, geographic span, intended audience, or budget’.
A number of for-profit companies provide readymade software systems for campaigns by activists or nonprofits to manage their activist database online. See a directory of companies offering these services in the US. The systems feature different capabilities, but each provides a combination of web page management, email list management, and member database management.
Promoting your site
Why you need to promote your website: http://charityvillage.com/cv/research/rofr34.html
Free search engine listing services e.g. http://www.submitexpress.com/ and http://tools.addme.com/servlet/s0new
Search engines collect information about sites by scanning them with automated ‘robots’ (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_robot). These robots are basically text readers. Viewing your site with a text-only browser (e.g. Lynx browser) will give you a quick understanding of what works and doesn’t work for a search engine.
Online Fundraising Handbook of a US nonprofit on with a Chapter on how to drive traffic to your website and make best use of website registrations (requires registration to access)
See the very good reference website http://searchenginewatch.com for information about search engines and registering with them. It also ranks the most popular search engines: http://searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/
More background information on search engines http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization
The Yahoo bible http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/
Google’s own tips http://www.google.com.au/webmasters/
Tips for getting your site noticed by search engines including automatic submission tools. http://www.selfpromotion.com/
Google’s tips for choosing a search engine optimisation service http://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html
Microsoft’s tips for getting a good search engine listing: http://www.submit-it.com/subopt.htm
TechSoup.org’s Getting Your Website Noticed by Search Engines.
Advertising on a search engine
For tips search under ‘Tips for (search engine name) Adwords’ or see Google and this article on Yahoo.
To get info about placing ads see: http://www.google.com.au/ads/ , http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/srch/index.php
Getting listed in directories and portals
Directories include:
- online White pages and Yellow pages – for a small fee you can get a link from your phone entry to your website.
- your local council’s website – many maintain a free directory of community organisations on their websites.
- a range of commercial sites, e.g. http://www.communityguide.com.au provides free listings for community groups and sporting clubs.
- specialist online directories – often you will need to pay to be listed. An example is Pro Bono Australia which provides a directory of nonprofits as part of a ‘guide to giving’ aimed at lawyers who are advising clients about wills and trusts.
National directories of community organisations:
- The Australian Government’s Community Portal which provides access to online services and information for Australian community organisations and communities. The portal has links to over 3,000 sites with information and services provided by the government and the non-government sector.
- This Australian Government portal provides a listing of community organisations in the culture and recreation field.
- Our Community directory of community and nonprofit groups.
- InfoXchange community services directory – slightly Victoria-centric.
State and territory directories of community organisations:
- ServiceLink is an online directory of human services in NSW. It provides organisational information (address, website, email, telephone, fax details) and displays specific details for each service. It's available to government and non-government human services staff across NSW; it's free but you have to register first.
- Greater Western Sydney Community Services directory and the NSW-government sponsored communitybuilders.nsw
- A directory of community organisations in Sydney by local government area
- South Australian government directory of community organisations and South Australian InfoSearch directory
- Tasmanian community organisations
- Two Victorian directories http://www.civ.org.au/ and http://www.vicnet.net.au/community/
- Western Australian community organisations
- ACT community organisations
Some other directories or portals that provide links to nonprofit organisations:
- National or regional sporting organisation sites which usually list all local soccer clubs in their region. As an example see Northern NSW Soccer Federation.
- Some regional business development organisations. For example see riverland.net.au , a free directory set up by a local newspaper which will list community groups in the Riverina for free.
- Make a noise – a good youth voice portal with lots of links.
- Australian Indigenous websites
- African communities in Australia
- Index of peak women’s organisations
Advertising your site using traditional media
Free postcards promoting your site (and through it your organisation and work) can be distributed to a wide range of cafes, hotels, airports, educational institutions and retail outlets. See Avant Cards for an example of how it can be done.
Website usage stats
You ISP usually keeps the files from the server (known as log files) that contain the raw site statistics and which they will provide you. However you will need specialist software to interpret them. For an example see: http://www.webtrends.com/products.aspx
Privacy
Further information on the NPPs and the obligations of business can be obtained from the Privacy Commissioner's website http://www.privacy.gov.au.
Electronic Frontiers Australia is a nonprofit organisation promoting online civil liberties. See http://www.efa.org.au/ for more information on online privacy issues.
Copyright
The Australian Copyright Council website contains a wealth of information about copyright, its application and protection. In particular see their fact sheet: http://www.copyright.org.au/pdf/acc/InfoSheets/G057.pdf
Electronic Frontiers Australia is a nonprofit organisation promoting online civil liberties. See http://www.efa.org.au/ for more information on online, copyright and censorship issues.