I consult with a number of nonprofit organizations about websites, social media campaigns and building an Internet following. All the organizations are different with different needs and in different stages of development. Most of them are smaller and do not have the national level web development budget available to the Red Cross or the Nature Conservancy. They are working hard with limited resources to make a difference for their clients. They just want to know if social media can help them accomplish their goals.
We first talk about the importance of building your audience, that social media is not a matter of “build it and they will come,” and how their organizational goals are the place to start. (If you want to read about my approach, you can find it here.) If they still think social media is right for them, we start talking about how to make it happen. That’s when I start talking WordPress. I recommend a WordPress platform and the Thesis Theme for whatever I am developing (at least I have so far). After engaging in so many discussions about why I recommend this approach, I thought it was time to outline my reasons here.
Social Media Central
It’s easy to use a WordPress/Thesis site to be your social media central. You can build with the same design and style of your regular website because Thesis is so easy to customize. The theme is the same, but the look can be totally different. Most importantly, you can add pages for anything you want. You can place html code anywhere, and you simply log on to your WordPress dashboard to edit.
One of my clients is using the WordPress platform for their entire website. Another is using the WordPress site as a “gathering place” for the social media activities of the organization. We are setting up WordPress site with separate blogs as an interactive site for parents and teenagers to talk about issues for another agency.
Fast Moving
What makes social media effective is it’s speed. You have to be able to post and put up information quickly. Typical html layout programs, while more sophisticated in design options take more time to layout and structure (at least for those of us who are not web designers by occupation). WordPress allows for fast additions and deletions – add a page, delete a page, take it off your nav bar until later. The combination of WordPress and Thesis (including Thesis OpenHook), makes those changes in a matter of minutes.
Intuitive Interface
The WordPress dashboard is easy to use and easy to learn. You don’t have to be able to write code to use the program effectively. Plus, you can make certain elements of the site available to multiple staff members for updating and designing.
Themes, Plug-ins, Tools and Support
The WordPress community is very strong and many plugins and additional tools have been developed. Most of them are free or at a minimal cost or donation. The Thesis community is one of the best support communities I have ever been part of. The DIYThemes support forum is available virtually 24/7 to answer your questions, help you with problems, show you where to find things – or even give you that tiny piece of CSS or PHP code you need to make that little cutomization.
Geek Friendly
If you are lucky enough to have a geek in your midst, or someone willing to learn, the only limitation is time. I have been able to take customization to new lengths as I work with this platform, and I am no programmer. The interface, particularly Thesis Open Hook, gives you the interface to take you past many of the hurdles in designing in PHP and CSS.
Many people will tell you it’s all what you are used to. I would suggest that this platform and theme are tools that make a fast moving social media campaign much more possible.
