Posts Tagged: nonprofit

Proposed Title: A Comparison of Interactivity in Nonprofit and Government Web Sites

Motivations

For my capstone project, I want to incorporate my design skills into helping a nonprofit/government entity to create a web site. I was thinking specifically of contacting the Orange County Animal Shelter to determine their interest in having me redo their site. Currently their web site is really elementary and simple. I think it could benefit greatly from some interactive features.
The Animal Shelter is an interesting organization because it is funded by the government but has more of a nonprofit feel to it because of its mission to help place animals in homes. It employees county employees but also requires help from community volunteers, much like a nonprofit organization. Because of this blurring of the organizational lines, I feel that I should research which kind of interactive site I should use to model my capstone after. Would it be more effective to use the government model or the nonprofit model? This is assuming that interactivity is different on government sites than on nonprofit sites.
In order to create an effective web site, I first need to research to see how other nonprofits and government agencies are using interactivity on their sites. It is important to analyze and critique other sites so that I can use the best features available.

Theory and Literature Review

One popular theory that seems to reoccur in my review of the current literature on the subject is the idea that nonprofits should use their websites as a marketing or public relations tool. This brings up the question of awareness and education; how aware is the audience of the organization and how educated are they about its cause?
My project might be a little different, since I am dealing with an organization that most people are aware of already. I would think that the Orange County Animal Shelter’s main purpose online would be to get more animals into loving homes, rather than simply to educate the public about their mission.
In reviewing literature about government agencies and interactivity, the theory of e-government appears repeatedly. The general consensus is that users are frustrated with their e-government experiences and that government entities are not utilizing the web in the best way. Recent articles discuss the opportunity to improve transparency via the web.
The theory of the digital divide is also one that could be analyzed in a study such as this. The digital divide says that people of different income levels, age, and race have an effect on how people are able to use technology. Usually, middle class, white Internet users have more familiarity and accessibility to technology than lower-class minority users. This brings up the question of how easy or involved the interactivity on a site should be?

Method

Originally, I thought that in order to complete this research project, I would need to do a content analysis of several government and nonprofit agencies. However, after receiving feedback from Dr. Lackaff, I think I will need to read the previous research on the topics and come up with my own theoretical framework for the type of site I want to build. Dr. Lackaff said that I can “rely on previous empirical research to develop your argument about these quasi-governmental sites.”
From examining previous research, I think that government agencies will need to use simple features because one of the main complaints is that their sites are difficult to use. Therefore making sure that the interactive features on government sites are easy-to-use and understand should be the priority. Nonprofits need to use interactivity in order to communicate its mission to their audience. The features included should present one clear, concise message to the user.
It is also important to measure how users perceive sites. Therefore I would like to hold a focus group to gauge which types of interactivity people find most useful on sites. This will allow me to develop new theories and ideas about how to incorporate interactivity into government/nonprofit sites.

Outcomes
As previously stated, since the animal shelter is a kind of quasi-nonprofit organization, the research that is conducted here will allow organizations of similar structure to create effective, useful, and efficient web sites. Research already exists about e-government and interactivity in nonprofits, however by comparing and merging the effective features from each one, my project will allow for organizations to create interactivity that is efficient, useful, creative and strategic on their web sites.