design

Useful Tools For Charities & Non-Profits – Google, Bing and others

| JDriver

New non-profit organisations are often springing up all over the place as self-sacrificing individuals put their time, effort and money into a worthy cause that strikes a chord with them, making the world a better place. It’s a remarkable thing to do, and I salute you.

I’ve worked with a few non-profit and charitable organisations, and here’s some of the useful things I’ve discovered along the way.

Google for Charities & Non-Profits

Google has a great number of useful tools and resources for charities. We’ll have a look at what they have on offer. Unfortunately some of these are location dependant, with US-based organisations being able to boast access to the lions-share of tools. Even so, what is currently available worldwide and to the UK, is not to be ignored.

– http://www.google.com/nonprofits/index.html
Google’s Non-Profit home page, the portal to all the products. Here you’ll be able to see if you’re eligible, and to which products you’ll be able to have access to. Some of these are free, but they do have premium tools available also, though usually with heavy discounting applied.

Be prepared to jump through some hoops to get yourself registered, but it’s not laborious. They do need to ensure that you’re representing a legitimate charity.

Let’s have a look at what’s on offer.

1. Google Apps
– Gmail
The email service that you may be already familiar with. You can even use your own custom address i.e ‘yourname@yourdomain.com’, making your organisation seem more legitimate.

– Calendar
A powerful calendar to aid you with organising events, meetings etc.

– Drive
Online storage for files and documents. You get a little included (5GB at time of writing) and can purchase more as you need it. It can become expensive though…

– Docs
Meaning ‘documents’. Allows you to create and share word processing files, spreadsheets and presentations.

– Places
Allows you to pin-point your organisation on Google Maps. You can add contact information and other information.

– Analytics
Monitor your website traffic, see what people are searching for, how they manage to find your site, and examine your visitor behaviour.

– Google +
Google’s foray into the social media boom. They were a little late to the party, but their platform is quite good, even if it doesn’t have the same following as Facebook. Worth creating a G+ page for your organisation to help spread the word.

– And more…
There’s lot’s of other apps to discover, though I’ve mentioned the main ones here.

2. Google Grants
The grants are in the form of credit which is applied to a Google AdWords account. Again, you need to have recognised charitable status. You start with a credit of $10,000 (USD) per month. That seems like a lot, but advertising through Google can be very expensive. If you exceed this, you may be able to get an allowance of $40,000 (USD) per month. There are very strict rules on how this credit can be used.

3. YouTube For Non-Profits
YouTube (owned by Google) also has an offering to help charities out. You can create a channel which has features that are normally only accessible to premium members (usually large corporations with a budget to match.) These extra features include custom channel branding, donate buttons, live video streaming and other useful tools.

PDF: Google Playbook For Good

4. Google Earth Outreach
Using the powerful Google Earth, you can visualise your positive impact on the planet. You can integrate with Google Earth to overlay information and graphics over the areas you wish. There’s quite a number of exciting tools, and endless possibilities.

Facebook for Charities & Non-Profits

– http://www.facebook.com/
As far as I’m aware. Facebook doesn’t haven’t any particularly special offerings for non-profits. You can set up a page for your organisation, but that’s currently as far as it goes. A Facebook page is still an important part of any campaign, so it shouldn’t be neglected.

Bing for Charities & Non-Profits

– http://www.bing.com/explore/helpyourbritain*
Bing is Microsoft’s search engine offering. Not as widely used as Google, and lacking many of the features, it’s trying to re-position itself as a market leader (it was, but lost it’s grip) by entering the search engine market and giving its web browser (Internet Explorer) a massive overhaul. Microsoft is working on producing new tools for web users, and the ‘Help Your Britain’ addition is aimed at providing a promotional tool for non-profits.

You can also set up a profile for yourself, and your organisation.
https://profile.microsoft.com/RegSysProfileCenter/default.aspx

*Kindly informed of the updated link by Richard at Stretch Digital.

LinkedIn for Charities & Non-Profits

– http://www.linkedin.com/
Social entrepreneurs should certainly leverage the possibilities that LinkedIn offers. There’s lots that can be done to help promote your cause, and I’ve written a couple of articles discussing how to use LinkedIn for maximum effect – Read my article about using LinkedIn.

Twitter for Charities & Non-Profits

– https://twitter.com
Twitter is another social media platform which doesn’t have a specific range of tools for non-profits, though it has been used very successfully to raise awareness for a large number of concerns. Read about some of the success stories.

More useful resources

Why you shouldn’t buy email lists

| JDriver

Buying email lists is never a good idea. This is no longer the 1990’s, there’s now legislation in place to try and stop it, people are fed up with it, and they’re more savvy about reporting it. Although it may initially seem like a good idea, you may be setting yourself up for more heartache than it’s worth.

Is Sending Spam Legal?

Many people ask this question, and those thinking of buying email lists often ask ‘is buying email lists legal?’ The fact that these questions are asked should get alarm bells ringing. Yes, buying email lists is legal, and so is sending spam as long as the rather paltry requirements of CAN SPAM are met. These are:
1. Your email must include an opt-out link
2. You give a physical postal address
3. The email headers have not been forged

I Do All That, So What’s The Problem?

With increasing contention surrounding spam, buying email lists is more hassle than it’s worth. Although it’s possible to get targeted email lists, they’re still very ineffective – the only people who benefit from spam email lists are the people who sell them. There have been a few high-profile cases where the buying and using of email lists have caused untold grief for the company who sent them. Here’s the reasons why you should never buy an email list:

1. EMAIL ADDRESSES MAY HAVE BEEN HARVESTED
This is particularly true of the cheaper email lists which have been compiled by unscrupulous methods such as using bots to scour the web and gather up all email addresses that they come across. Safe to say that the owners of these addresses won’t have opted in.

2. LISTS ARE HIGHLY INEFFECTIVE
There are no quick fixes. If you want a highly relevant and effective list, build your own. It’s a slow process, but of a much higher-quality than you’ll be able to buy.

3. WHY WOULD A COMPANY SELL THEIR CONTACT LIST?
Think about it, if a company has gone to the trouble of creating a high-quality list, why would they then sell it as oppose to renting. (Renting is marketing slang where a company sends emails to their list on your behalf. You never see the email addresses.) Not to mention that the list you buy will have been bought by many other companies, all spamming the same people. Renting a list will al least mean that the owners have put some care and consideration into its compiling.

4. EVEN RENTING LISTS ISN’T EFFECTIVE
Marketing experts the world over tend to agree on this. Renting is expensive, and that money is better spent elsewhere. Somewhere where it’ll get you more for your money.

5. IT WILL REALLY ANNOY YOUR HOSTING PROVIDER
Large volumes of unsolicited mail will undoubtedly result in a large number of those mails bouncing back, either soft (where a message reaches the intended mail server, but is returned as the user ‘bounces’ it by flagging it as spam, the mailbox is full, not functioning or your message is too large) or hard (where the email address is invalid, or the recipient server has blacklisted your mail server), and this puts added strain on the mail server. Your hosting provider will have rules on the sending of bulk mail, and breaking those rules can result in their refusal to offer you hosting.

6. YOUR MAIL SERVER CAN GET BLACKLISTED
Tied in with point 5 about annoying your hosting provider, being blacklisted is a huge problem – blacklists are global and subscribed to by different ISPs, meaning that more and more servers will refuse mail from you.

7. REPUTABLE EMAIL MARKETING COMPANIES WON’T LET YOU USE PURCHASED LISTS
MailChimp is a common one. They know that purchased lists are not the way things should be done, and they don’t want anything to do with them as they’ll harm their own reputation.
“No purchased lists (no matter how expensive).” – MailChimp T&C’s

8. SENDING SPAM WILL TARNISH YOUR COMPANY’S IMAGE
…and your soul. Many consumers will lose respect instantly, with some people going as far as to vow to never deal with such a company.

9. BEWARE THE SPAM TRAPS AND HONEYPOTS
Such is the need to combat spam, that the numerous organisations that have appeared to combat the problem set ups traps to find those who spam, and those who create the email lists. These are email addresses that are created and hidden on web pages so that bots harvest them. When the email receives an email, it can only be from a spammer, or spam list. The sender is then blacklisted.

10. YOU’RE WASTING TIME AND MONEY
The money is an obvious one, but having to deal with all nonsense that comes about from using a bought list can take up a great deal of your valuable time – dealing with complaints from recipients, your ISP, ‘cleaning’ the list, and so on. By creating your own list, you put in the legwork now, but reap the benefits later. Better still, you haven’t annoyed anyone.

How Should It Be Done?

  • Create your own lists by getting permission from customers and potential customers
  • Offer a newsletter or another good reason to sign-up for a regular email. Such as coupons
  • Don’t email them too often. Unless you have great, time-sensitive offers, once a fortnight is more than enough. People tend to unsubscribe after the third email unless they perceive that they’re receiving something useful
  • Comply with CAN SPAM
  • Give your mail recipients something useful. Give them a reason to read your mail, and not flag it as spam
  • Use double opt-in – This means that not only have they agreed to receive email, but their email address is confirmed as live and correct
  • Clean your list regularly. Make sure that you’re only sending to people who want it, and that there’s no dead addresses
  • Test, test and test some more. Make sure that your email displays correctly in the major email programs and that they don’t break if people block images
  • Consider using multiple email subscriptions so that people can choose which types of emails are relevant to them

Is It Legal To Buy Or Sell Email Lists?

Each country has their own laws, and the CAN SPAM act doesn’t actually forbid the selling or buying of email lists. This may be where a flaw in the CAN SPAM act lies; it doesn’t penalise the people who harvest these email addresses, though there is protection from this in the Data Protection Act (UK), and other countries will have their own laws. So unless everybody on those email lists have explicitly given permission for their details to be sold, the sellers and buyers are likely to be breaking the law.

Many companies who sell these lists describe them as ‘clean’. Doesn’t that mean that they’re inherently dirty?

Why should I have a website? (or why it’s inexcusable to not have web presence)

| JDriver

You could consider me a little biased on this topic, but really there’s no reason not to have a website for your company / charity / cause / yourself. It’s relatively easy and cheap (possibly free) to get started, and the benefits greatly outweigh these minor concerns. With much grander online endeavors, you will be looking to put more time and money on the line, but here I’m focussing on what you need to get going.

Why Should I Have A Website?

Before I give a list of very good reasons as to why you should get a website together I’d like to start with a little story.

Some time ago I had a carpenter in to replace the frame of the backdoor. After awhile he came to ask if I had a Yellow Pages as he needed to get something. I told him that I didn’t, but I asked him what he was looking for, which happened to be a locksmiths. I was already working on my computer at the time, so it was just a second or two later that I had a list and map of all the local locksmiths on screen. “Blimey! That was fast.” he said “That’s brilliant. There’s one just around the corner. Thanks.” And off he went.

The moral is that traditional methods (telephone directories and enquiry services like 118) of finding local businesses are rapidly becoming obsolete, as people have increasing access to the internet wherever they are due to soaring sales of tablets and smart phones.

The devices we own are changing the way we access information and find what we’re looking for. Having a web presence is a must.

1. The internet is now the main way we find information

Whatever we’re looking for, whether it’s furniture, an accountant, or a plumber, online is usually where people search first. Also, as google offers up lists of local businesses when people search, you’re missing out if you don’t have a website.

2. It’s expected that a business will have a site

Even if someone is already aware of your company, they’ll try and find your contact details online. It does seem strange when you come across a company which doesn’t have a site, and your customers are likely to go elsewhere.

3. It’s cheap advertising

Look at it as cheap advertising. It’s not expensive to get a basic web presence up and running, and it can be done quite easily. See the resources on the right of the page.

4. It lets you educate your customers

It’s a highly effective way to let your customers know about your services / products, and what the benefits are of doing business with you, rather than your competitors.

5. It will let you gather potential leads and other information

You can provide newsletter sign-ups and gather analytics information about your website vistors, enabling you to tailor your services.

Also, if you have a site, potential customers can contact you via a form on your site, meaning that you’ll catch contact information and enquiries that you have otherwise missed.

6. Let’s you reduce your time spent performing task that could be automated

If you find that you’re handling the same sort of customer queries, or wasting time doing other tasks, have a think about what tasks could be performed by your website instead. You could add FAQs or let potential customers download product spec sheets etc.

An example of this on my site is the client area where I store files for my clients. I found that clients frequently misplace files I’ve sent them, so I decided to make them available online for them. This doesn’t just save my time, it means my clients can get their files without having to wait for me read their email and reply. If I’m out of the office, it could be some time.

7. Cheaper to update that print materials

If you do provide catalogues or other expensive print items, they’re quicker, easier and cheaper to update and get to your customers if they’re provided digitally.

Are you convinced yet?

I hope so. There’s really no reason not to get a website up. It can be done very cheaply, and very quickly for something relatively basic, but the benefits can be great. Check out the the information below.

It’s Go Time – A Rough Guide To Getting Up And Running

– Find a reputable hosting provider. Bear in mind that the cheapest usually isn’t the best option. You can get something that will suffice for a small site for under £60 per annum.
– Once you’ve found several potential providers perform a search using google to check for reviews by searching for [hosting provider name] reviews.
– Ideally choose a provider which will include email accounts, databases, and offer simple, automatic installations of WordPress.
– Sign up and choose a relevant domain name. It may time a few attempts as you’re preferred name may have already been taken by someone else.
– Install WordPress, and get creating your site, by choosing a nice theme and adding your content. (WordPress is pretty easy to get to grips with)
– Create a Google account and get listed on Google Places.

Sounds like too much effort?

I’ll admit that it’s rather simplified, but the basics are there. There is an even simpler option available to you by not using your own provider, but using the hosting option that WordPress offer. You can sign-up for free, but some functionality will need to be paid for, and it would certainly be worth to purchase your own unique domain. Check out wordpress.com.

EU Cookie Directive – Information, Compliance and Resistance

| JDriver

So What Is This EU Cookie Directive?

It’s a new law, issued by the EU in 2009 that bans the use of cookies on websites without explicit consent being given by the user. The law actually cam into being on the 26th May 2011, but because no-one was ready, it was decided that it wouldn’t be enforced until 26th May 2012.

Although the mischief which the law is attempting to stop is well-intentioned, the directive hasn’t been terribly well thought out.

What Is A Cookie?

A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your computer. While many of these are harmless, and even required for some site features to function, some websites use them in ways which are considered far too intrusive.

Cookies are often used to remember that you’re signed into a website, at what point you’re at in a checkout process, any preferences you want to save and so on. Very useful things.

On the other hand, some companies use them in unreasonably intrusive ways – for example recording which sites you visit and delivering highly-targeted adverts which follow you around the web

Seems Reasonable Enough. What’s The Problem?

Getting explicit consent from users is going to be a huge headache for those who use cookies on their websites for perfectly legitimate reasons. It means that website users are going to be presented some sort of confirmation box, asking them if they are willing to accept these cookies, even perfectly innocent ones. The challenge of collecting this consent is posing a huge usability challenge to those who create and manage sites.

Also, the directive puts the onus on the website owners, not the advertisers. A good example is the Facebook ‘Like’ button. Seemingly innocent, but even without clicking it, Facebook knows what site you’re visiting, and harvests this data, which it then gives to advertisers so that they can bombard you with adverts. To me, this suggests that the EU has got it wrong, and needs to rethink some things.

So What Action Do I Need To Take?

That depends on the cookies which you use. Those which are deemed to be “essential” such as login cookies can be used without consent. The term “essential” applies to the users needs, and not your own. Also, this currently only applies to companies operating in the UK. Where your site is hosted is irrelevant.

If you’re using cookies that are included, you’ll have to start getting users consent. There’s a number of ways of doing this. All have a negative effect on your site. I’m in the process of putting systems in place for my clients currently, and doing my bit to get this law repealed. Please sign the petition.

You will also need to update your Privacy Policy to explain what cookies are, why you’re using them and what information they hold.

Fight The Good Fight


This Change.org petition is no longer available.

In A NutShell, Why Should This EU Cookie Directive Cease To Exist In It’s Current Form?

IT WILL POSE AN ANNOYANCE TO WEB USERS – They will be presented with an alert each time they visit a site which is covered by this directive, to the extent t that they may seek out non-EU alternatives.

ADDED COSTS TO EU BUSINESSES – Businesses have to go through the hassle of implemented systems to comply with this law. Non-compliance could cost you a hefty £500,000 for a serious breach.

IT MAINLY TARGETS THE WRONG PEOPLE – Even if the cookie is from a third-party, like the crafty Facebook ‘Like’ buttons, you’re responsible if it’s on your site. Companies such as Facebook and the ad-serving companies are the ones who should be affected by these regulations.

THE LAW DIFFERS FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY – Being compliant in one doesn’t mean that you’ll be compliant according to the local laws of the user.

IT AFFECTS MORE THAN JUST COOKIES – Any technology that needs to store something on your machine will need your explicit permission.

EU BUSINESSES WILL SUFFER – No matter what business you’re in, your market will be competitive. People like me, use cookies to gather non-identifiable information to improve the websites we create, making the sites easier to use, and more relevant to the visitor. If people decline to accept, we’re deprived of this data, giving non-EU businesses a huge advantage.

USER EDUCATION IS THE KEY – Web browsers already have systems in place to allow web-users to control what information they share and what information is stored on their machine. Greater emphasise should be placed on educating web users and safety / privacy.

Design, Web and Print Glossary, Terms, Definitions – L

| JDriver

L

Leading – The vertical space between lines of text.

Loupe – A magnifying glass, often shaped as an upturned cup with the lens at the top, used for examining slides or checking the detail of printed material.

Lossless – Any saving / compression method which retains all the quality of the original, no data is lost.

Lossy – A method where some data (detail) is lost to varying degrees depending on how much compression is applied.

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Design, Web and Print Glossary, Terms, Definitions – K

| JDriver

K

Kerning – refers to the spacing between any two particular letters. For instance, ‘AV’ has a closer kerning than some other combinations to give visual balance.

KISS – “Keep It Simple, Stupid”, a useful phrase to remind creatives to make sure that they’re not over-complicating a concept. Carefully considered but simple ideas are the most effective.

Kiss-Cut – A type of cut which just ‘kisses’ the paper. A notable use is in the production of self-adhesive stickers where the stickers are cut to shape, leaving the peel-away backing intact.

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Design, Web and Print Glossary, Terms, Definitions – J

| JDriver

J

Java – Not to be confused with JavaScript, this is a programming language which allows small programs to be downloaded onto computers and run.

JavaScript – Is a scripting language which adds interactivity to web pages. Effects such as drop-down menus, roll-overs and slideshows are typically written with JavaScript.

JPEG or JPG – An image file format. Extremely common, many web graphics use this format, as do digital cameras.

jQuery – jQuery is a fast and concise JavaScript Library that simplifies HTML document traversing, event handling, animating, and Ajax interactions for rapid web development.

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Design, Web and Print Glossary, Terms, Definitions – I

| JDriver

I

Idea – The same as concept.

Imposition (Pagination) – The process of arranging pages ready for printing. Although we read items in numerical order, a different order needs to be applied depending on how the item is to be printed.

Indirect Visual – An image or graphic that is somewhat related to the headline, either directly or indirectly. Used to convey mood and feeling.

Interface (User Interface) – Either on a web page, mobile phone, or any other interface which a user interacts with.

Interruptive Methods – This refers to web advertising that interrupts the user by using tricks like pop-ups, animated banners etc. Web users find these extremely annoying.

Interstitials – As Interruptive Methods, these are unsolicited web pages that appear to user before they can access the page they wanted to see.

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Design, Web and Print Glossary, Terms, Definitions – H

| JDriver

H

Headline Twist – A technique often used by comedians, whereby they lead users thought down one trail, only to reveal an unexpected punchline. In marketing, this can be either humorous or serious.

Hex / Hexadecimal – A numbering system which uses the numbers 0 – 9 and the letters A – F. This system is used to define colours for use on the web, pre-fixed with # to mark it a colour. #000000 is black, #ffffff is white.

HTML – Abbreviation of HyperText Markup Language. The fundamental coding used to develop web pages.

Hickey – A mark, blotch or other artefact left on a printed item. An error usually created by foreign matter affecting the print run.

Hyperlink (or Link) – A clickable element that directs the user to another web page, or part on the same page.

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Design, Web and Print Glossary, Terms, Definitions – G

| JDriver

G

Gerunds – These are words which end in “ing”. You should avoid having too many of these close together.

Ghosting – Whereby elements in the background are visible through foreground elements. Sometimes this occurs as an undesired effect when printing.

Gif – An image file designed specifically for the web. It allows transparency, and can also be animated. It typically has a low number of colours and small file size.

Glow – Can provide a similar effect to a drop-shadow, this will provide a glowing edge either on the inside or outside of a shape.

Gradient – A gradient defines with subtle blending from one colour to another.

Grid – A method which is used to layout content either for print or web. Well thought-out grids are based upon mathematical formula.

Guerilla – Usually followed by “advertising” or “marketing”, this applies to ambient media, often using people, stunts and props to create innovative campaigns.

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