Top Tens

Myths on computer viruses.

1. Computer Viruses come in emails from strangers
   
2. They are spread only by opening the attachments that arrive in an email.
   
3. There are only a handful of people out there that get viruses.
   
4. A virus is designed to destroy a machine, so if my machine is still working, it
   must be virus free.
   
5. You can only get a virus if you are on a high speed internet connection.
   
6. If I install virus protection software, I can just leave it alone and I never have
   to worry about it again.
   
7. Computers have a natural virus protection built into them.
   
8. If one computer on a network is infected, that doesn’t mean all of them are.
   
9. A virus is the same thing as Adware, and Spy ware.
   
10. The free ware virus protection software protects you from viruses, right?

Non-Profit Organizations Make When Dealing With Their Web site:

They Don't:

1. List Their Web site as the Official Web site of their organization:
   If you do a look up of the Red Cross, you will find several Web sites that deal with them, and several Web sites that discuss them, but you know you are going to their site when you see "the official Web site of".
   
2. Have an Archive of Newsletters and Articles:
   This not only helps with search engine placement, but the more information that you provide on your Web site, the more people will come back to your Web site. People don't really look for advertisements on the web, they look for information, and the more you offer them, the more they will come back to your site.
   
3. Keep Things Consistent in the Web site:
   Their main draw to the Web site might be to offer information, but when people get there its nothing but donate donate donate. While people are always looking for places to donate money, they don't want to be constantly hammered at. But you want to offer people a way to donate, so you have to make sure that its available but not constantly hammered at them. The theme of the Web site should be consistent and easy to understand. If people can't navigate through the site, they won't stay long.
   
4. Use a Different Site for Different Divisions:
   If your organization is a school, and there are 3 divisions of the school, elementary, middle school, and high school. One Web site will not be able to encompass everything for all three schools without getting too big, and people getting lost at the site. You want to provide them with a simple way to get through the site, find the information they want, without finding the information for too many things at the same time and giving them information overload. Of course, you want to provide a link from each schools page to the others, but you want to make sure that each has its own domain name that is relative to the school it represents (i.e.: yourschool-k-5.org, yourschool-6-8.org, yourschool-9-12.org) this will provide a simple way for people to navigate through your site.
   
5. Offer a FAQ Page:
   People like to be able to get general questions answered without having to make phone calls and send emails. They usually won't pursue basic questions. If you provide them with a FAQ page, then they can get their basic questions answered and this can leave them with bigger questions worth actually contacting you for. This also allows you to keep from being redundant and answering the same questions over and over again when people do contact you.
   
6. List Their Cause at the Beginning of the Web site:
   One of the first things people should see when they reach your Web site is your cause. It should be a big bold statement that they see. They should be able to identify who you are, and why you are in business. So many non-profit organizations are in business these days, its not always easy to identify each one individually and its even more difficult to know what each one is supporting. This also allows people to separate you from the other organizations that are out there.
   
7. List Their Mission Statement On Their Web site:
   People want to know what your mission is and how you intend to reach it. This gives people a sense that you are a real organization and that you have a real purpose. With so many scams being done on the web today, people like the security of knowing that they are dealing with a real organization.
   
8. Accept Donations Over the Web:
   If people are looking to send you money, several people will first try to do it over the internet. In today's world, people are paying their bills online, they are buying their gifts online, and they are making donations online. Do you really want to turn people away because you don't offer them the convenience? Its too easy for them to type in another Web site address, or do a search for a similar organization and find one that will take their money over the web.
   
9. Offer Testimonials:
   This shows a personality for the organization. It let's people know that the organization has other clients and customers. It also shows a history. That it is not a fly by night organization but that it has been around for a while, and people are happy to deal with them.
   
10. Keep the Web site Content Changing, Keeping it a "Live Site":
    If you want people to come back to your site, than you have to give them a reason to come back. If you want people to think that your organization is a "live" organization than you want people to see that you are making changes and growing. If people don't see your Web site reflecting your business growth, they will move on to other Web sites where they do see it.

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