Robin Anderson

It's Mid-Year Review time. This means dusting off the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year and evaluating how far I've come, what I've accomplished and what goals I may have missed. It's not always easy to do this. How honest can I be with myself? Can I admit that I didn't hit some of my goals? Even harder, can I accept and celebrate my accomplishments?

The point of a Review is not to point out mistakes. It's not even meant to be the torturous process that some people make it out to be. It's meant to be a roadmap and provide guidance. It's important not only for individuals to do this, but also organizations. Especially in regards to an organization's website.

Some people get into the trap of thinking that a website is static. There is a misleading and severely out-dated notion still floating around out there that proclaims that once a website is built, that's it. If you want to increase site traffic, raise more money, increase your housefile and improve the user experience of your website though, you will have to accept change. Part of accepting change is taking time to review the goals you've set out for your website. It could be bi-annually, it could be quarterly, or it could even be monthly. It's completely up to you. As long as there is some time set aside to re-evaluate where you're going.

Doing this does not mean that every time you review your site you'll need to make drastic changes. On the contrary, it can help reduce drastic changes (which can be costly, time-consuming and very frustrating) since regular maintenance and revision can help weed out problems and issues. It can also help you decide what's worth keeping and what should be eliminated. Some web content requires a bit of time before you can truly evaluate its impact or relevance.

This also does not mean you should beat yourself up every time you fail to meet your goals. Inevitably you will fail to meet some of them. Sometimes all of them. Accept that and use the opportunity and energy to move towards what you do want to see in the future.

Here are just a few questions you might ask yourself when evaluating your website:

• What were the original goals that were set out for the website? Are they still relevant?
• Who are my users, what are their current practices and what are their needs? (Why are they visiting my website?)
• Do I have good quality content that is succinct and interesting to my users? If the answer is no or maybe or you're not sure, check out these articles from A List Apart, Writing Content that Works for a Living and Content Templates to the Rescue, about generating top quality content. Because it is more important than you might think!
• What has been successful for the site? What hasn't?
• Where do I see the site in a year? In two years?

I can't guarantee that evaluating where you are and how far you've come will be painless. Facing my own Mid-Year Review will force me to ask some tough questions of myself. But therein lies the opportunity.

Many organizations already have some type of review process in place. If that is the case for you, what kinds of questions do you ask yourselves? How does reviewing your website and your goals help you?

Every year Convio employees dedicate one day to going out into the community and volunteering our time during Convio Cares Week. What does this have to do with me, you might ask? Everything! It is extremely important to take time away from the computer and meet people face to face. I spend my entire day in front of a computer (and sometimes entire evenings) and I've found that it's very easy to start disconnecting the work I do from the people I do it for - embarrased as I am to admit that. That's why I like to break out of my routine and try to connect with my clients as directly as I can and understand what they go through every day. Going out and volunteering my time with a nonprofit gives me the opportunity to live a day in their shoes and see life from their perspective. The sense of connection I get by trying to see things from a nonprofit point of view inspires and movitates me.

This year some of my coworkers and I were inspired to volunteer with an organization called TAP - Theatre Action Project, which works with youngsters to encourage creative expression while learning critical life skills and building self-esteem and confidence.

We painted colorful signs for one of their weekend events and tied together thousands of paper cranes. The paper cranes, I learned, were to be sent to Japan in honor of a young girl affected by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima named Sadako. Inspired by an old Japanese saying that a person who folded 1,000 cranes would be granted a wish, Sadako attempted to fold 1,000 paper cranes while sick in the hospital. She fell short of her goal and passed away, but her schoolmates decided to complete the cranes for her and buried them all with her. Now kids from all over the world carry on this tradition and send their completed cranes to Japan in honor of Sadako. Kids from several different schools around Austin had created thousands of these colorful origami paper cranes too and they needed to be strung together in strands of 50. So we got to work…

And they turned out beautifully I think! We managed to get them all strung together and ready to go. We completed our signs and we even had time to help out with a few other tasks.

It felt really good to help TAP, but it also helped me to see things from a different perspective - from the other side of the computer. I hope to connect again and again with other nonprofits like this. Doing so helps me to be better at what I do every day, which, I hope ultimately helps my nonprofit clients.

If you'd like to see more photos from this year's Convio Cares Week, please visit the Convio Cares 2009 photos on Flickr.

I’m terrified of presenting. Just thinking about it, I can feel my mouth getting dry, my stomach filling up with butterflies and my heart starting to race. Imagine my surprise when a few colleagues complimented me on a presentation I gave recently (thanks by the way!). Because I was so terrified, I spent a lot of time preparing. Which must have helped because once I actually got into the presentation, I completely forgot my fear (well, almost…). In spite of my terror, I actually enjoy presenting now and I’ve been looking for ways to improve my style. Very few of us in the tech and non-profit worlds can get away without speaking to a group of people at least once in our careers, so I’d like to share with you some tips and inspiration that might help ease your anxiety the next time you have to present.

Zen is not a four letter word

Garr Reynolds, a presentation guru and author of Presentation Zen, tells us that “PowerPoint is not the presentation” - YOU are. So in the beginning, don’t just stare at that blank slide deck, curse and wave your fist at your computer screen for hours on end. Jot your ideas down on paper before you even open PowerPoint. Brainstorm what you want to talk about and then outline your content. Keep it simple and put yourself to the test. Really ask yourself the tough questions in the beginning to help weed out unnecessary material. What is my point? Is my point relevant? When you finally do get to the PowerPoint slides, you’ll already know what you want to say and how you want to say it.

But don’t just stop there - add visuals. I’m a huge advocate of imagery in presentations, as my colleagues can attest. Images help your audience retain information. Don’t be afraid! Surprise yourself and your audience by conveying your message in a simple, concise way with images and as few bullet points as possible.

Find out more…

There’s entirely too much for me to fit everything into one blog post, so I highly recommend checking out Garr Reynolds presenting at Google. Also, if you haven’t experienced a TED talk, I recommend stopping by their website to view some of their remarkable presentations. My favorite so far is by the highly intelligent and eccentric Clifford Stoll.

And then do it!

So dear reader, now that you’re prepped and ready to start presenting, why not sign up to be a part of the next Convio Summit this November? Your future as a presentation guru awaits…

You’ve finally beefed up your housefile. You’re emailing your constituents a monthly e-newsletter. You’ve even started a Facebook page. But for some reason, things are just not taking off with your constituents like you thought they would. Where did things go wrong?

It’s time to re-evaluate the love. You may have captured the hearts of your constituency, but that doesn’t mean you can leave the fire burning unattended.

How do you mend an ailing constituent relationship? Start by letting them know how much you appreciate them. Validate their involvement in your organization. To some, involvement may mean signing up for your newsletter. This is good! Show them how much their contributions – even if it’s just their email address – make a difference. If you wish to cultivate a more intimate relationship, inspire them and re-kindle the love and hope that brought you together in the first place.

How do you know if the love you have with your constituents is true? Reach out and ask them. If they are still interested but are feeling abandoned, misled or confused they will most certainly let you know. Give them the opportunity to be heard.

Also, communication is key, but too much mindless chatter can turn an otherwise sweet relationship sour. Send your constituents meaningful communication that will interest them. Avoid sending out an email just to send something out. Your constituents may start to believe that you just aren’t listening to them or that perhaps you just want to hear yourself talk.

Lastly, cultivate a little love for yourself! Take some time to reflect on the work you do every day and remember that ultimately what you do makes a difference in the world. With so much to do and such little time to do it in, it can be easy to lose focus and forget. If you are not taking care of yourself you will have nothing to give to your constituents. Remember that, if nothing else and you will be well on your way to a healthy, passionate and long-lasting constituent relationship.

I am utterly fascinated by physics and astronomy – despite the fact that I can barely get my head around some of the mathematical concepts. That’s why I was excited to learn on NPR this morning about a professor using storytelling instead of cold hard data to teach people about physics. The idea is to create an emotional attachment to science to facilitate learning and to make these very abstract concepts mean something to people.

This underscored for me the importance of using personal stories online to reach people on an emotional level. It’s definitely smart to present people with statistics and numbers that reflect your accomplishments and milestones, but if you really want to capture someone who will be a passionate supporter and a loyal defender of your cause present them with real, personal stories. How has your organization impacted people’s lives? Find them and ask them to share their story. How are the people who work in your organization affected personally by what they do? Ask them. People will learn about your organization through their personal stories and will be more inclined to become a part of it because it will mean something to them. Paralyzed Veterans of America, for example, have used personal stories to emphasize their commitment to paralyzed veterans.

This is not just about fundraising or increasing your housefile, although that might be a result. This is about connecting with people on a personal level and emphasizing the fundamental goals and underlying philosophies that drive your organization. This resonates with people. So share it.