Katya,

Your post is timed perfectly! You may already know this, but the news wires announced that the DMANF Recognized Operation Smile as 2008 Nonprofit Organization of the Year (see http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/disppressrelease?article=1189 +++++).

Go to http://www.operationsmile.org and look at all of the photos on their homepage! These pictures “HUMANIZE"what they do.

Without photos, Operation Smile would not stand a chance of success.

Take care,

John Haydon
http://www.corporatedollar.org

P.S. - I’ve read Robin Hood Marketing 3 times…. love it!

Well done, John!

A great background photo on the website would be the best imo!

One problem some non-profits face is due to strict HIPAA regulations, we aren’t allowed to use photos of the kids that we serve and are left with stock photos. It’s a big challenge when you’re providing mental-health services.

What about a finance site? You mentioned non-profit. I found it really hard unless you are creative to choose an image which speaks itself to the audience. This is a good tip though.

Marketing Deviant,

A great service you should check out is fotolia.com. They have every kind of stock photo you can imagine. Using these would allow you to avoid the entire HIPAA issue.

John Haydon
CorporateDollar.Org

I agree. I personally respond much better to photos than endless paragraphs of text. How do you feel about video? I work with a non profit organization that built a video sharing site called GoodTube . I would love to hear your thoughts on how non profits can effectively use video to raise awareness of their cause.

Elle,

Video is much better than photos - it engages more of the visitors senses and emotions.

I wrote a post a few weeks ago called “The Six ‘Sees’ of Video for Non-Profits”:

http://www.corporatedollar.org/2008/08/great-example-of-non-profit-video/

Let me know what you think.

John
CorporateDollar.Org

I like video but not everyone clicks on video or chooses to view it.  So I would not have a video as the only visual on my home page.  I think it’s a great addition but not replacement for photos on a website - there are still those who don’t “do” video or have a slow internet connection.

Katya,

I agree - you should try and use both if you can.

Thanks,

John

I am a founding director of a nonprofit (Technology Access Foundation) and we’ve developed tools to track donors, volunteers, events and grants and have been using them for the last five years.  I created a corporation to help other small nonprofits build capacity to continue their good work.  All net proceeds go back to the Technology Access Foundation (http://www.techaccess.org).

Our newest product is something that will benefit all nonprofits who are looking for that edge in garnering donors in this tough economy.

We’ve developed PictureBooks, an online photo album that you totally control and can make seemless on your organizations website with a single line of code.  You can store up to 200 pictures in a variety of albums that you create.  As your programs have activities, you can post new pictures

Take a look at the example (http://samplesite.nonprofitis.com/PictureViewer.aspx) then go to our corporate website (http://www.nonprofitis.com) and see how your organization can get this for a one time fee of only $50!

Thanks!
-Trish

Trish,

Looks like an interesting application. How does it differ from Flicr?

John

Hi John,

The main difference between PhotoBooks and Flickr is the ability to imbed the viewer directly in your website instead of having to link to another site.  No need for privacy settings, etc. because the pictures are displayed in one place.

thanks,
-Trish

This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing websites that understand the value of providing a quality resource for free. It’s the old what goes around comes around routine. Did you acquired lots of links and I see lots of trackbacks?

Here are five keys to pulling yourself and your message together to survive 2009.  They are all variations on an important theme: give donors what they want during tough times.

I mind you don’t forget to do everything you can to personalize your messages.  Donors are going to be hit up for money left and right by desperate parties this year.

I did like katya sitting in the center to become the center of attraction.
Regards,
Resume Samples

I did like katya sitting in the center to become the center of attraction.
Regards,

Some non-profits face is due to strict HIPAA regulations, we aren’t allowed to use photos of the kids that we serve and are left with stock photos. It’s a big challenge when you’re providing mental-health services.

Actually a video on the homepage is very good but as john said many people do not open or have a slow connextion and closes the application before the end

I created a corporation to help other small nonprofits build capacity to continue their good work.  All net proceeds go back to the Technology Access.
Regards,

I completely agree. The magazine spread is extremely captivating and appealing, yet there is no call to action, other than visiting the website. So much more could be said. Great post. Thanks.

Ya I work in of the animal association neat my residence and there is minimum hope of getting you there.
regards,

Its safe to surf your post as you said. I too visited many sites like this but none of them impressed me like this.
Thanks for the share.
Regards,

Bring it to life.  Put it in pictures.  Make that image a big piece of your home page real estate.
Regards,