Want a dynamic, effective website that engages and inspires? These six forward-thinking Connecticut organizations may give you some ideas. Each is using creative (and in some cases, free!) website and social media tools that are bound to attract more volunteers, donors, clients, and supporters.
1. Hands on Hartford
has a terrific online
volunteer sign-up system that allows one to easily find a volunteer placement in Greater Hartford. Search by category (i.e. painting, photography, games and sports), date, or population. I tried it and the staff follow-up was super fast—I was volunteering within a week.
2. Donors love to know concrete ways that their dollars are being used, and don’t you think your parents have enough soap-on-a-ropes? Save the Children’s Gift Catalog enables donors to select unique gifts from their catalog—from sheep to camels to malaria treatment for families in need. Save the Children then sends a note to one’s gift recipient, telling them how the gift in their honor benefited others. These online, mission-inspired gift catalogs are catching on.
At Save the Children, $128 can supply a school in Afghanistan with the tools needed to grow a vegetable garden, and $60 buys two goats for a family in Ethiopia.
I purchased a Newborn Care Package in honor of my mom—she loved the beautiful acknowledgement, which was sent within days. A great example of donor-centric communications by this Westport-based nonprofit!
3. Latino Community Services in Hartford uses Google Translate to allow their site to be translated to Spanish with one click–a must for their Spanish-speaking clientele. (Keep in mind, the translation isn’t a perfect science) And, they score more points by adding social networking links and a running feed from their Twitter site for daily updates about their work. Nice.
4. I just love the YouTube videos on Mystic Aquarium’s Institute for Exploration website. They regularly create interesting short videos about their work–including little tidbits like “Why is a sea lion blowing a whistle?”–and post them to their YouTube channel and website.
If you haven’t checked out the free YouTube Nonprofit Program yet, you should. It’s a fun, easy way to tell the stories of your organization.
5. Grab your mp3 player and get a history lesson from the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center in Mashantucket, CT. They have a web page with downloadable podcasts about Native American history.
6. Based in Stamford, buildOn is an awesome organization that runs 118 after-school programs in some of the most challenging school districts in the nation. U.S. student volunteers in these programs have partnered with communities in developing countries to build 352 schools around the world!
buildOn’s Flikr photostream of over 17,000 photos (linked to their website) provides a stunning visual collection of this remarkable work. Interesting, inspiring stuff.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for selecting Hands on Hartford. We are the creators of the site. They are an amazing organization that is doing a remarkable job of connecting individuals with the impact they can deliver. Some others you might want to note are:
http://aidtoartisans.org/
http://chdi.org
http://girlsincswct.org/
Kudos to you and your team for the fantastic features and design, Brent! I’d also throw in your design of the new CWEALF website, too. Beautiful work.
Very interesting post..Iam very much enjoyed by reading your location..this article has provided a useful info..Thanks for the info given..
Curious to learn more