Making an Impact in 48 Hours
How Was Your Weekend?
28 consultants from Slalom Boston and 3 friends of Slalom spent last weekend building websites for 15 nonprofits who either had sites in desperate need of redesign or didn’t have one at all. They did it by volunteering for 48in48 — a nonprofit that holds events across the country in which volunteers create 48 websites for 48 nonprofits in only 48 hours.
The second annual 48in48 Boston weekend brought together 100+ volunteers from the technology community to deliver 48 websites for nonprofits. Using Wordpress, the volunteers split into teams to tackle the website development. Leading up to the event, the nonprofits completed coursework to help them understand what information is important to include on their websites, how to migrate over existing content, and how to host their new site.
Slalom Boston’s involvement in the event evolved from two site development teams in 2017 who created nine sites to an impressive five teams building 15 total sites for incredible nonprofits including !the Boston Cyclists Union, Boston CASA, and Blueprint Schools Network (links included are to their awesome new sites!).
Slalom Boston also led two capacity building workshops for the participating nonprofits: 1) Hiking the Salesforce Trails, an overview of the solution for non-profits and Refining Your Pitch, a story telling workshop.
What we’re thinking about this morning
Prior to and over the weekend, we learned that many of our nonprofit partners struggle in vital areas of their organization either due to limited resources, time, and/or expertise. We thought it wise to share our observations for other nonprofits or for readers involved with them:
1. Project management/operations. It’s no secret that small nonprofits often operate on limited resources and in a highly reactive way. In that environment project management can have a major impact on the outcomes of key initiatives and programs a nonprofit is trying to launch, while also juggling the reactive work. Having one, dedicated person responsible for creating a project plan, tracking it, logging risks and issues, and managing the budget are all game-changers for nonprofits. A project like re-building a website requires a dedicated resource and team to make sure it gets done, so having 48in48, including a dedicated project manager from Slalom, was transformative for these organizations.
2. Access to free technology (like Salesforce!). There are countless resources available for free online. This weekend we spent some time talking about Salesforce technology that our nonprofit partners can use for free based on their 501(c)3 status. With Salesforce for Nonprofits, you can gain a 360-degree view of your organization — from fundraising and programs to marketing and engagement. There is also substantial free training in Trailhead.
3. Audience. While many businesses struggle to understand their customers, nonprofits excel at knowing who their “customers” are and how to support them. But when it comes to other audiences, such as potential donors and volunteers, nonprofits don’t always have the data (which could be captured by website visitors) or perspectives they need to expand their audience of supporters. All organizations, nonprofits included, should define their target audiences thoughtfully, and think about them when defining their online presence, so new volunteers are captured.
4. Brand and messaging. For many nonprofits, brand and messaging aren’t top-of-mind or they struggle to articulate it crisply. While they often invest in communications with the goal of spreading awareness and raising funds, it isn’t always easy taking the next step towards a more thoughtful brand and messaging platform. But a little extra effort can go a long way, especially for nonprofits thinking about their digital presence. We think investment in the resources required to create a memorable brand, with a well-articulated story that resonates with all target audiences, is an important way that nonprofits can provide a compelling online experience that reaches the right people with the right message.
5. Prioritizing. Most nonprofits need to balance a diverse group of audiences and a long list of goals. Managing each of these goals often becomes more difficult given the limited resources nonprofits have available to them. We see great value in tying priorities to desired outcomes, including when considering digital presence, so that the work conducted is not only the most pressing, but most valuable too.
Helping 15+ nonprofits dramatically improve their web presence — leading to greater awareness of each nonprofit’s mission, more donor potential, and an increase in volunteer numbers — is why #imwithslalom. We all can’t wait for our continued relationships with our new friends and partners as we help them to address the challenges above, and others, in the future.
This post was written with input from Jim Covino, Elizabeth Lisowski and Daniela Cardenas.
