-
Create a home page that is less like the cover
of the publication and more like a map that welcomes and guides visitors
around the site.
-
Edit articles to be half the size
they are in print. For an
example of this, visit the New York Times online site,
and buy the newspaper the same day. The articles are the same, but
much, much shorter.
-
Be sure instructions to move around
are clear and easy. Tell people they must point and
click to open a different page. Do not assume all readers know how
to do this.
-
Print newsletters or magazines need
graphics to break up text. Graphics
on a Web site can slow the downloading time. Keep
graphics to a minimum and given them a vertical alignment to fit with
most Web browsers.
- Offer
things at the online site not available in the print version.
This could include such things as e-mail or Web links
to sites mentioned in articles, chat
rooms, an archive of issues from the past, or links
to related sites. This makes reading the print and online site a "must
do" for volunteers.
- Be sure the online version is a complement of
the print version and not just a copy!
Reprinted with permission from Volunteer
Today http://www.volunteertoday.com
Nancy
Macduff
Nancy Macduff has 20 years
experience managing volunteers in a nonprofit organization and a
government based program. She is the author of six books on
volunteer management, and a contributor to two college text-books on
nonprofit management. She is on the faculty of Washington
State University, teaching a distance learning course on volunteer
management. Nancy currently divides her time between
Washington, DC, where she is the Senior Advisor for Education and
Training for the Points of Light Foundation, and Walla Walla, WA,
where she is president of Macduff/Bunt Associates, a training and
consulting firm.
Laura
Bunt
Laura Bunt of Walla Walla, Washington, has a Bachelors of
Arts degree in Education and has completed the course work for a
Masters Degree in Education with a focus in Instructional Media and
Technology. She is the Webmaster for the online gazette, Volunteer Today. In
addition she operates a personal services
business. |
