Issue Archive

Issue 7: May 2004

Illumination and Ideas for Clients, Partners, and Friends of Beaconfire Consulting

In This Issue

1. Editors' Note
2. Client Highlights:

• National Constitution Center Wins Bronze
• Over 1 Million Attend Clients' "March for Women's Lives"
• Easter Seals Flash Film: Are You Up For A Challenge?

3. Events: Register for a Free Beaconfire Executive Dialogue
4. Spotlight On: Audits Manage 'Buzz' for a Web Site Redesign
5. Beaconfire Buzz:

• Beaconfire Partners with Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Staffer to Spread Technology Skills to Women in Afghanistan
• Staff Member's 'Monumental' Photo to Be Featured on Park Pass

1. Editors' Note

We launched this newsletter so that we can spread the buzz about our clients' success stories and their world-changing work. This month, we not only congratulate the National Constitution Center for receiving a Bronze Muse Award, but we are compelled to share some exciting achievements by two Beaconfire staffers. Beaconfire technologist Usha Venkatachallam is currently in Afghanistan helping women learn about the power of technology. Beaconfire consultant Kristin Niemi Gillig's photography has been chosen to appear on the 2005 National Parks Pass. And speaking of buzz, Beaconfire VP Dottie Hodges begins a three-part series on Web Audits by explaining how, like the gentle cicada bug, they need not be a pest.

As always, keep those e-cards and letters coming. Email us at editors@beaconfire.com

ó The Beaconfire Wire Editors

2. Client Highlights

National Constitution Center Web Site Wins Bronze

The Web Site of the National Constitution Center was recently awarded a Bronze 2004 Muse Award. The award recognizes excellence in media programs produced by or for museums and is sponsored by the Media and Technology Committee of the American Association of Museums. The judges said, "The National Constitution Center is a dynamic and engaging Web site. It is comprehensive, easy to navigate, and makes the user want to visit the Center!"

You can learn more about how their Web site was developed by reading the National Constitution Center's success story.

Over 1 Million Attend Clients' "March for Women's Lives"

Beaconfire congratulates three of its client organizations -- American Civil Liberties Union, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America -- for successfully organizing the largest ever women's rights rally in the U.S. capital. The organizations were among the major sponsors last month of the "March for Women's Lives" on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. An estimated 1.1 million people -- including a half-dozen Beaconfire staffers -- demonstrated support for women's access to reproductive health services.

Easter Seals Flash Film: Are You Up For A Challenge?

Meet Sam Williams. Born with cerebral palsy, Sam has faced many challenges. But with Easter Seals' help, today Sam is a college sophomore, a straight-A student, and a U.S. Paralympic athlete who will travel to Athens this summer. Beaconfire and Free Range Graphics helped Easter Seals produce an exciting, fun, and fast-paced movie about Sam's challenges, and his challenge to you to help support Easter Seals' life-changing rehabilitative services for people with disabilities. Watch Sam's inspiring 90-second film: Sam's Challenge

3. Events

Register for a Free Beaconfire Executive Dialogue

Beaconfire's Executive Dialogues are facilitated roundtable discussions on technology issues of interest to nonprofit executives.

Please join us for one of our next two free Executive Dialogues in Washington, D.C. Don't delay. Seating is limited to 15 people per session.

• A CMS Buyer's Guide: What To Look for in a Content Management System, June 24, 2004 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Web Site Assessments: How to Objectively Evaluate Your Web Site and Plan for Improvement, July 15, 2004 from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

For more information, or to register, contact Heather Stouffer or 703-534-1559 x10

4. Spotlight On: Web Audits

Audits Manage 'Buzz' for a Web Site Redesign

by Dottie Hodges
Vice President for Beaconfire Consulting

Has your organization ever wanted to redesign your Web site but didn't know where to start? You may have felt overwhelmed by the cicada-like cacophony of questions that such an initiative invites.

Like the cicada's, those fluttering bugs that are currently buzzing around Washington, D.C., the cacophony can at times madden even the hardiest nonprofitteer: How do you know when it's time to redesign? What are your site's most critical problems? Do your constituents find the site easy to use? Are users doing what you want them to do? Do you merely need a facelift or a complete overhaul?

If you're like many organizations, you've likely had trouble building consensus on the answers to these questions. Nonprofits often feel stymied by the daunting task of coming together to figure out what's wrong and where to start. But it's all right. There is a path out of these cicada-filled woods.

We recommend that organizations first take a step back and "see the forest for the trees." You do this by conducting a Web Audit. It sounds intimidating, but we're going to lead you through it, and you may even have the resources to do it yourself.

In this three-part series, we will give you tips and tricks for auditing your own site or for working with a vendor auditor.

In this first installment, we'll show you how to establish clear goals and audiences for your effort. In the second, we'll discuss usability and screen allocation. Finally, in part three, we'll talk about creative considerations and branding. We hope you enjoy this series.

PART 1: Knowing What You Want to Accomplish

Today's Rule: It's not about you. It's not! Chances are that your audience doesn't understand your departmental structure or your fancy program names. To build an effective user experience, you have to break free of your institutional boundaries even if only temporarily. Think like the user. Be the user.

To break down these institutional barriers, you must first, bring departments out of their warrens. Convene a session or two of cross- departmental representatives. Ask them to put their specific needs aside, and to think holistically about what the organization wants to accomplish online. For which tasks are visitors most likely coming to your site? Which tasks do you most want them to accomplish?

In addition to coming up with a really good task list, a little magic happens here. In the spirit of collaboration, you will have arrived at a clear set of goals and priorities that everyone is behind. In the long run, this will reduce those testy homepage turf wars. And what's more, it's user- and outcome-focused.

Next, identify your audiences. To reach your audiences, you have to know them. Using the same cross-departmental group, discuss your audiences in detail. List your audiences. Prioritize them. Describe them in as much detail as you can. Determine what the needs and motivators are for each group of users, and then define which triggers will get them to engage with your site.

Finally, talk to your users. Formal surveys and focus groups can be insightful; but informal mechanisms can be useful as well. If you can identify active users, contact them and ask them what they like or don't like about your site. Invite a few users into your office for an informal discussion. You can even assign them a few of your high- priority Web tasks and watch as they perform them. How many mistakes do they make? Do they know what the button labels mean? What do they say about what they see?

In the next part in the series, we show you how to apply these goals, objectives, and audiences toward an assessment of your current site's usability. We'll discuss information architecture, navigation, section nomenclature, and use of screen space. So stay tuned -- and look out for those cicadas.

5. Beaconfire Buzz

Beaconfire Partners with Big Brothers Big Sisters

Beaconfire Consulting has been selected to lead interactive fundraising and marketing efforts on behalf of the nation's largest youth mentoring organization, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. The organization celebrates its 100th Anniversary this year. Read the Press Release.

Staffer to Spread Technology Skills to Women in Afghanistan

Afghanistan's women have seen many powerful changes over the past few years, but probably nothing could have prepared them for the power of Usha.

Solutions Analyst Usha Venkachallam is spending two weeks in Afghanistan to facilitate technology training workshops that will enable Afghan trainers, primarily women, to train their constituencies on computers, word processing, email, the Internet, and other technology tools for women's empowerment, advocacy, and professional advancement.

Usha's sponsor is the Women's Learning Partnership (WLP), an international, nongovernmental organization based in Bethesda, Md., which seeks to empower women and girls to re-imagine and restructure their roles in their families, communities, and societies. WLP collaborates with partner organizations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, calling upon an international network of experts.

Usha will be writing a travel blog about her adventures. Visit and send her a message.

Staff Member's 'Monumental' Photo to Be Featured on Park Pass

Beaconfire Business Consultant Kristin Niemi Gillig's photo is one in 10,000.

Kristin's striking photo of Mount Rushmore was chosen by the National Park Foundation to be featured on its 2005 National Parks Pass. The National Park Foundation chose Kristin's photo of George Washington's profile from over 10,000 contest entries. She took the photo last year during her tour of over 21 national parks during a three-month period

National Park Service Director Fran P. Mainella said it was fitting that this year's photo did such a remarkable job of depicting both the natural and cultural beauty of Mount Rushmore. "Kristin's photo is a tangible expression of the current national mood," said Mainella. "Her photograph not only pays homage to one of the greatest Americans of all time, but it also calls attention to the sheer beauty that exists throughout the country."

In addition to her Mount Rushmore photo gracing the front of some half- million Park Passes, Kristin and her husband Jeff Gillig will enjoy a free trip to a U.S. National Park of her choosing and a Kodak digital camera. Congratulations, Kristin!