Growing up as part of a local family business, working with non-profit organizations has become a natural part of my existence. I am always looking for ways to help local non-profit or charity organizations.
When I started my business, I was looking to non-profits without a web site to help them raise money through an affordable website. I have the pleasure of working with a few, and am always on the lookout to find more.
One of the projects I’ve been beginning to develop for my non-profit clients is a self-sustaining website. That is, they are breaking even (or even profiting) from the website that I’ve designed for them, and the costs of ongoing maintenance are taken care of. How do I do that you ask? Well, I’ll tell you, imaginary reader…
Selling ads. I know, not a completely new source of revenue, but to a non-profit website, it is something that isn’t something that many organizations are taking advantage of. Especially two of my clients, New Albany Sports Boosters & the Olentangy Liberty Boys Soccer team.
Local companies want to give money to local non-profits, especially sports organizations, and advertising in programs, newspapers and brochures is becoming outdated. Plus the fact that it is hard to establish a return on investment for putting your logo in a brochure. But it is easy to count the number of hits you got from a web link on the NA Boosters web page.
Plus, with the low costs of designing and hosting ads on a web site, these organizations are able to have a great web site, and have it paid for without much effort at all. Companies are realizing the power in online advertising and couple that with their nature of giving to local non-profits and charities because of their big hearts (and it makes them look good!) it seems like a win-win-win.
What’s in it for me you might ask? Again, it’s in my nature to want to help local organizations, whether profit or non-profit/charity. But what I offer is a small fee to design the ads. This is paid by the business and gets me in the door of some organizations that I wouldn’t normally be in. What if one of the soccer boys goes to a business with the prospect of selling an ad and they don’t have a web site? Hey, I know a guy! Or if they are unhappy with their logo and want something fresh for their new advertising campaign. Hey, I can do that!
If you are perceiving this all as self-serving, you aren’t completely wrong. I would put it in the 95% kind-hearted, 5% looking for business opportunities range. But I’m creating ads for $15-$20, so it’s not like I’m raking in the cash here. It truly is a win-win-win. The non-profits get a great website and an easy sell stream of revenue, local companies get to donate to a non-profit or charity and advertise at the same time and I get to help those non-profits and charities raise money and maybe make a connection or two while doing it.
If you are interested in advertising in the Powell/Westerville area or in the New Albany/Gahanna area, we’ve got some talking to do. Or if you are a non-profit or charity looking for an easy way to pay for a new web site and make some more money – give me a call.
