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Approaching Not-For-Profits - Part 1: Understand the Market
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The Not-for-Profit Client Profile
As the old saying goes, "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime". In my experience, most not-for-profit organizations would rather be taught to fish than be given one. And to be successful with this market, you'll need to be able to appeal to this characteristic.
A non-profit organization likes to consider long term goals. They generally have to work with long run budgets and funding, and invest for the future. And these organizations often take the "safest" road rather than the "aggressive" path. So it's probable that the client organization will want you to be able to provide them with the means to reduce the ongoing expense of their site in the longer term. This might mean, for instance, that you find yourself providing the client with training -- whether in a one-on-one setting, or as a handy presentation on CD.
As a freelancer, one of the scariest concepts is "empowering" your client to do your job. It's scary because it reduces their dependence upon you -- and this translates to business lost ...or does it? I've found the opposite to be true. By teaching the client the basics, they save money on expensive maintenance as they do it themselves, rather than run to you. This in turn frees up your time, so you can pursue other prospective clients.
Obviously I'm not talking about complicated code here, but simpler, more time consuming things that most developers hate: uploading pictures, for instance, or editing pages through a Content Management System. Empowering your not-for-profit clients this way also creates a "neato", farm-and-fuzzy feeling in your client, which makes them want to tell others about your services -- and which, in turn, generates more business.
Not-For-Profit Online
There are several sites representing not-for-profit organisations that are worth looking at. For an example of an ASP-driven Wwebsite, visit Operation Blessing. Other high profile non-profit sites include:
Lesser known entities with high quality sites include the Cornerstone Church of Johnson City, Tennessee (a site written entirely in PHP and custom classes), Nyumbi Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Ark Trust.
Now, check out Part 2, where we look at the most successful marketing techniques you can use to reach not-for-profit prospects.