Web Policies and Security
Revised with new information as of June 1, 2005
Department heads at your organization should have as much involvement with the approval of the Web site as they do with the your organization's brochure and other major print materials. Your Web site is going to be used by potential volunteers, donors, clients, and the general public -- not just one audience.
For both the initial site and all changes and additions to the Web site afterwards, the system for generating information and approving Web site information should follow the same system you use for creating season brochures, direct mail campaigns, and other printed material. For instance, a theatre might choose this approval method:
Page Page Approval Category Before Public Access
| Page Category |
Page Approval Before Public Access |
|
| Tickets Sales |
Marketing Director Audience Services Manager |
|
| Main Information |
Marketing Director Director of Development Press and Public Relations Representative |
|
| Education and Outreach Services |
Director of Education Press and Public Relations Representative |
An easy way to allow your board members and selected others who are not in your office but whom you would like to see the site before it becomes public is to go through a "beta" test for the site; this means that you put the pages "online", but you don't release the address of those pages publicly. Only people who know the address can access the pages.
Web Site Policies
You have many policies to consider for your Web site, relating to:
To Link or Not to Link
As soon as you launch the Web site, you will get requests from various organizations asking you to link to their Web site from yours. Many of these requests may not be appropriate, so having a policy in writing re: to whom you will link on your site will make it easier for you to say "no" when you have to.
For instance, if you were at a dance company in Kentucky, you could set a policy that the agency's Web site link only to:
Some funders may ask you for a link off of your home page. Consider this carefully. Links to other organizations on your home page will drive a lot of traffic off of your site before the visitor ever views much of your site at all, and these visitors probably won't come back. Instead, for such scenerios, create a page that recognizes organizations that fund you, with links to their Web sites on this page only.
A friend who serves on the board of a performing arts nonprofit organization asked me, "Aren't more links a better thing?" I answered absolutely NOT, for many reasons:
A friend of mine said, "Why does everyone put the Microsoft Internet Explorer logo on their home page? Microsoft isn't paying you for it!"
It's true!! Remember that most users will NOT come back to your Web site once they click on one of these logos -- you are driving traffic away from your site!!
"Built with whatever." Who cares?! The whole point of the Internet is to reach a lot of people quickly and easily! Most users DO NOT care what latest and greatest toys you use -- they want to see what you do with those toys.
Yes, I do note on some pages what kind of computer I used to build the original Coyote Communicatinos Web site. But it's not an advertisement for Macintosh -- it's to show that a lot can be done with just a little technology, contrary to what computer sales people will tell you. Computers are a lot like your brain -- people seldom use them to their full potential.
Security
Who will have access to the server to upload documents? It is recommended that only one staff person have this access, although one or two other staff members should understand how to do it as well, just in case the main person is absent and cannot make a needed change or addition immediately. If multiple people are going to be uploading information to your site, explore the option of assigning each person a different area of the Web site to manage, and giving each person access to different directories.
e-mail Recommendations
The "main" e-mail address should be checked at least three times every day by the same person on your staff every day. This person should be someone who regularly interacts with the public already and understands how to forward inquiries to others as appropriate. For example, check your e-mail:
Also recommended is the following criteria:
The appropriate staff person can then answer the sender from his or her own e-mail account at their earliest convenience.
Gathering and Using E-mail Addresses and Other User Information
Will your organization use the e-mail addresses of people who respond to your Web survey to contact those users in the future? Do you get a report that generates the e-mail addresses of every visitor to your site? How is this information used by your organization? Do you sell, trade or give this information away to any other agency?
To ensure your organization's credibility, and to make your marketing and outreach activities something positive rather than something that makes people mad, it is very important for your agency to create a user privacy policy, and to post this policy on your Web site. Have a look at other organization's privacy policies and determine which might be best to adapt for your organization.
For more tips on web policies and online security for mission-based organizations, visit TechSoup, an initiative by CompuMentor designed especially to help mission-based organizations with computer and Internet issues.
Return to Index of Coyote Communications' Web Site Tip Sheets
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