Community clubs, charities and local events are run by people who give up their evenings to do it. The treasurer, the secretary, and whoever does the website because they once built one years ago. When that person moves on, the website usually goes quiet with them.
The website should not depend on one person
Every club has a story about the site nobody can log into any more, because the person who set it up has left and the password went with them. Keep the domain, the hosting and the logins in the organisation’s name, not an individual’s. That one thing prevents most of the disasters we get called about.
Put the important stuff first
For an event, that is the date, the place and how to enter or buy a ticket. For a club, it is when and where you meet and how to join. For a charity, it is what you do and how to donate or help. Everything else can sit further down.
Make dates impossible to get wrong
Nothing causes more emails than out-of-date information. If the date changes every year, it should be one small change that updates everywhere it appears, not eleven pages to hunt through.
Answer the same questions once
Parking, age limits, what to bring, refunds, accessibility. A good FAQ page saves your volunteers from answering the same message fifty times.
Thank the people who make it happen
Sponsors, partners and volunteers deserve a proper spot on the site. It also helps when you are asking the next sponsor for support.
Do not let it land on one volunteer
Committees change, and the person who happens to be good with computers should not inherit the website along with everything else. Send us the new date, the new committee, the new sponsor logo, and we put it live. It costs less per month than most clubs spend on tea and biscuits, and it means the site is still right the week after the person who built it steps down.
Running a club, charity or event? Tell us what you need, or see how we work with clubs, charities and events.
