The Nonprofit FAQ
| How much leeway should a website editor have? |
| On Feb 25, 2004, Jeff wrote to Nonprofit (see http://www.rain.org/mailman/listinfo/nonprofit) to ask: How much leeway and judgment should a web master have in maintaining the information on a web site for a nonprofit? Should a web master just blindly implement everything that the board tells him without questioning its accuracy even though the web master knows the misinformation could hurt the organization's image? This is not a question of the web master being disloyal in speaking up and questioning this information, it is a matter of caring enough about the organization to make sure the information is properly represented and factual. I don't think many people realize that what is on a web site is a public reflection of the nonprofit. Do any of you have rules and guidelines for web masters? My own role as webmaster has grown out of my work within my agency doing direct service, so I have a lot of input into web site content, and am it's "architect" as well as editor and maintainer. Tony Poderis, creator of the Fund Raising Forum Library (see http://www.raise-funds.com/library.html) responded: Jeff --- You can see the problem regarding the wide range of what one person's "leeway and judgment" could entail from another's within the same organization. That's not the stuff of an organization wide communications plan—how and what it does to present itself to the public at large, stemming from an organization's mission statement, its goals and objectives, and its long-term strategic plan. Having a well thought out plan will enable the webmaster and everyone connected to his or her organization to speak, as best as possible, in the same 'voice'—while sending the same message. Every message an organization sends is in some way a representation of that organization. The view people hold of an organization is a combination of those representations and the messages others disseminated about. In short, an organization's image is the sum total of the messages it and others send about it. While an organization cannot exercise direct control over the messages of others, it can and should manage carefully the ones it sends. Rather than weave back and forth, concerned about this posting on the website, or that posting hurting the organization or that the information provided to the webmaster is incorrect, the webmaster can use those examples to urge that the organization come up with a plan to adapt to (or at least consider) everyone's particular needs. It might not be a far off guess that other of the organization's internal media has its problems as well. So, the webmaster can do much more for the overall and collective voice and image of the organization by helping to bring all of the communications media together under an organization wide communications policy. Perhaps the following outline of the key working components which should be at work in any organization's overall internal and external plan, might be used as a guide. The webmaster can help in the plan to take advantage of the organization's existing general internal media—that managed and controlled by the communications department, or to help to repair any of its failings, or to work to develop a plan where there is none, through the organization's:
If a webmaster has problems with misinformation and inaccuracies being pushed onto the website, I am certain that the problem is far deeper, and only a sound, consensus driven, communications plan can solve the problem. And that's something everyone at the organization needs to address — and not to have various individuals making their own determination of what is right or what is wrong for the organization on a random basis — subject to widely and (wildly) different opinions. Relative to what could be an organization's obvious need to produce an overall communications policy in the instance you cited, a great deal can be adapted from Carter McNamara's material on his Free Management Library website: http://www.mapnp.org/library/org_comm/org_comm.htm As well, while fund-raising driven, perhaps my article on the subject might be worked by a troubled webmaster from the "outside in" to show his or her colleagues that no sound and successful fund-raising plan can be developed if it cannot be based on the organization's overall communications plan. =>Developing a Communications Strategy For the Development Operation http://www.raise-funds.com/012004forum.html I do hope this helps in some way to guide some of your troubled colleagues. Character-conversion problems removed 10/30/05 -- PB |