Establishing a good online philosophy is centered on tailoring the capabilities of the Internet to your unique needs, and even if you're armed with all the best technical advice, you won't be able to effectively use the Internet until you determine how your association fits into the online world.

While there are many innovative opportunities with online communication, many of which can produce phenomenal results, not all of these activities are appropriate for every organization. In other words, taking a one-innovation-fits-all-associations approach will not necessarily produce the results you seek.

Here's a 30,000-foot view of how you can begin to evaluate your online presence. The first step is to look at what you are currently doing online and decide what is working and, perhaps more importantly, what is not working. The second step is to determine how expanding these online activities can further advance your overall mission. Think creatively: What would you do online if you knew you could not fail?

Virtual Milestones
Almost all associations have a Web site, and many e-mail members or other constituents on a regular basis. Are you taking advantage of the full potential of the Internet? Take this simple test:

• Are you scouting for potential members or audiences online on a regular basis?
• Are you monitoring discussions and gauging public opinion on the Internet?
• Are you giving your site's visitors a reason to return? Engage with your association? Hear your message repeatedly and forward to their colleagues?
• Are you tracking who is coming to your site and tailoring content based on their needs?
• Are you capturing potential members and other visitors by creating opt-in e-newsletters or other communication tools?
• Are you providing membership benefits and information online?

Where there is a Web site, there is a way to reach your online goals. Start with the basics and conduct a formative evaluation of your site. Have your goals shifted since the site was created or redesigned? Is it still serving the same purpose that you originally intended, or have your association's or your members' needs changed? Consider what you could be doing online that you aren't doing now, and then try to envision prospective results. Where is the potential?

Once you have an understanding of where you are and where you would like to go, tailor your online road map based on feasibility and available resources. Based on the size of your organization, you may also need to decide which departments or people should be involved in this process.

Remember, anything is possible. You simply need to be creative and understand the specific application of various online tools. Expanding the reach of your message is as simple as finding out what people really want to know about, finding out who wants to know, and delivering the information in the right place, at the right time, in the right manner. Not so easy? Ask yourself several strategic questions to help move the process along:

• Who are your audiences, offline and online, and how do they compare to one another?
• Are your offline audiences going to the Web site — if not, why?
• Are your members and constituents getting the information they need quickly and easily?
• Are your online audiences contacting you directly and attending events?
• Who are your potential audiences? What are their unique needs and interests?

Once you have answered these questions, start visiting newsgroups and issue-related news Web logs (blogs) to get a sense of where your untapped audience exists and what they are talking about. This will aid you in better understanding how to attract new audiences to your site. You can start by visiting blogwise.com or blogsearchengine.com to find a blog appropriate to your interests.

Rather than market to this new potential audience, interact with them, taking the first step in establishing a relationship. It is appropriate to include your organization name, contact information, and tagline in your e-mail signature as a subtle marketing message. After you have become a member of the virtual community, suggest your association's Web site as a source of information and provide a link to specific resources.

Remember in Communication 101 when you learned that communication works best when it is a two-way conversation? The same basic theory applies to the Internet. Find a way to get the audience engaged, ask their opinion through a simple Web site survey, or stage an online focus group using chat, a bulletin board, or through Webcasting. Based on this feedback, consider creating mechanisms that will encourage repeat visits to your site, such as an e-newsletter that links back to the site for expanded resources, a regularly updated events section or calendar, or a bulletin board for members.

The Internet evolves quickly, so you should consider reevaluating your virtual plan on a quarterly basis. As your members become increasingly technology-savvy, they will expect that your association's online activities will be able to keep up with them.

Putting It Into Practice
Consider this a starting point to apply what you know about the Web to your particular association's needs. In order to help streamline planning, we have created two profiles of associations — a large, national association and a small, local association. These profiles are intended to provide an example that can be scaled to practically any association, regardless of size or availability of resources.

Large Associations
This national association has more than 5,000 members and holds an annual conference and multiple workshops throughout the year, publishes monthly e-mail newsletters, and has had a Web site for more than 10 years. Larger associations often have IT departments and budgets that allow them to keep up with changes in technology and needs of members. Remember, larger doesn't mean you need to pay more for technology to be effective online; however, it often does require greater input from staff and management to deploy an online strategy successfully.

Networking your world. For organizations with national infrastructures, including a headquarters office and multiple chapters, it is important that Web development and upkeep do not stop at the national level. Most members look first to their local chapter for news and events relevant to their daily lives. Unfortunately, at the chapter level, there often is not the caliber of Web sophistication that is available on the national parent Web site, which makes it difficult for chapters to easily update their individual sites.

One way to combat this problem is through the development of a content management system (CMS) that provides headquarters with the ability to deploy a network of interconnected chapter Web sites. These systems remove the burden of Web design from smaller chapters and empower them to more effectively conduct outreach to their members and constituents. For example, a national association can work with a technology consultant to develop a Web site administration tool all chapters can use. By doing so, every chapter site has a similar look and feel that maintains brand identity and at the same time passes on the time-saving tools used by the national organization to keep all the chapter Web sites up and running without the need of a Web guru.

Newsletters that talk back. Larger associations often run the risk of losing touch with their diverse memberships. Although associations might regularly send out e-mail newsletters, these only create one-way communication. Providing a feedback mechanism, such as a simple survey, allows members to directly connect to your association. Include feedback forms and short surveys within your newsletter. Studies have shown that surveys embedded directly within e-mails gain a much stronger response rate than those that link to an external source.

Resist the urge to write long-winded paragraphs in your newsletters. Most e-mail readers will only read the first few sentences of newsletters, and ample white space simplifies navigation and increases thorough reading. Give brief introductions to news and events and provide links to more detailed information available online.

Members know themselves better than you do. One of the most time-consuming projects of a member-services staff is maintaining a current database of their association's members. This process often requires double effort, first by members updating their contact information by e-mail, fax, or phone, and then by the membership personnel, who must then reenter the information into a database. Why not just combine these processes into one step?

Many associations give their members direct online access to their membership profiles through a secure Web site. Members are able to directly enter their new contact information into the association's database, reducing errors in data entry and relieving the workload of staff members. Depending on the sophistication of your current member database, the "webification" of your database could range from a weekend IT task to a month-long, detailed overhaul of your system. In either case, work with an IT and Web professional to create a cost-benefit assessment before leaping into this project.

Small Associations
Smaller grassroots or local associations often have different technology needs and infrastructures than larger organizations. Many may have a brief e-mail newsletter that they publish quarterly, operate with a small staff, hold local events, have more limited budgets and resources, and host a Web site that has been active for five years or less. For associations that fit this profile, we suggest less intensive technology tactics that can still produce measurable results.

Virtual training wheels. Most small organizations have Web sites that are simple but require tech-savvy personnel to make updates. One of the most common reasons organizations don't update their Web sites as often as they should (once a week or month) is due to this technical barrier to entry. A Web site must be easy to update if it is to be used effectively.

Luckily for smaller associations, there are a variety of software programs that help the "accidental techies" easily update a Web site. If you already have a Web site, programs such as Macromedia's Contribute 2.0 empower even the most nontechnical staff member to manage an organization's Web site in a manner similar to making updates to a Word document.

If your organization is interested in redesigning your site, you may want to look into a small content management system (CMS). A CMS is a tool that allows you to login to your Web site and make changes to the text and pictures on your site without having to know Web programming. These systems are normally modular, meaning you can add or remove different components quite easily, such as newsrooms, photo galleries, and Web link databases. While larger organizations have had access to CMSes for years, new solutions for smaller organizations bring similar powers down to nearly any sized association. Discuss these options with an IT or Web professional to help you make the right decision.

Stay top of mind by staying in their inboxes. One of the main goals of your newsletter should be to direct readers to your Web site, particularly visitors who don't view your site on a regular basis. Publishing your e-newsletter on a monthly basis (and not skipping a month) shows members that you're actively working on new projects and keeps them in the loop on a regular basis. This shifts your newsletter from a quarterly "update" to a monthly "get active" message.

When writing your newsletter, make sure to focus on ways that members can become more involved with your association. For example, rather than rattling off a list of past achievements, highlight upcoming events and programs, which will drive visitors to your site to seek more detailed information.

Keep Current
Just as the Web is constantly evolving and expanding, so should your association's online presence. Determine how often you are going to reevaluate your Web site (monthly, quarterly, annually) and always look for opportunities to feed into your planning efforts. Web-savvy audiences are increasingly becoming information consumers, and if your organization can become a trusted source, you will lay the groundwork for a solid relationship.