May 2007

Chapter uses Web site to keep its members up-to-date on chapter activities

Clark County WA Chapter receives Web Site of the Month honors

Congratulations to the leaders of the Clark County WA Chapter, especially to Lisa Laughlin, records director and Web site administrator, whose site has been named Chapter Web Site of the Month for May.

The chapter does a great job of keeping its site up-to-date by providing a calendar of upcoming chapter activities, with good descriptions. It also includes photos and captions of past events; and members can access forms they need for Care program activities, as well as access other helpful information.

"Our goals for the Web site are to increase awareness of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, help people find their chapter leaders, and show how active the Clark County WA Chapter is in the community," says Lisa.

Features that make this site a winner

• Easy to read and navigate.
• An excellent, easy to find, up-to-date calendar that lists upcoming activities and has good descriptions for each activity (i.e., if it's a Care Abounds in Communities® or Care in Congregations® activity, who it's helping, location, contact information, and more).
• List of the chapter leaders, their contact information, and a little information about each leader.
• A description of each chapter Care program.
• Excellent photos and captions of various activities.
• Page of forms that volunteers can access and print for Care program activities. The forms already have the chapter contact information preprinted on them.
• A list of Lutheran churches in the chapter as well as nonprofit organizations in the area.
• Posting of chapter meeting minutes.

You can visit the site at www.lutheransonline.com/clarkcountywachapter. Nice job, Lisa!

Interview with Lisa

Q. How did you get involved with working on the Web site?
A. When I came on board as Communications Director in 2005, this was one of the things the president wanted me to get involved in. At that time, nobody was attending to the Web site, and it didn't have much information on it.

Q. How easy or challenging is it to work on the Web site?
A. I'm familiar with the format after 3 years, so it's easy now; but at first, it was a challenge, as I had never been involved in updating a Web site before!

Q. Is it difficult and time consuming to keep the Web site up-to-date?
A. Now that we have so much information on our Web site, I find that it's very easy to keep it up to date. It's a regular part of my volunteer position, enjoyable, and not time consuming at all.

Q. What are the benefits of your chapter Web site?
A. All chapter activities, including board meetings and Care Abounds in Communities® fund-raisers, are listed on our chapter calendar. The home page shows upcoming events in a format that catches your eye. Their is also a list of current chapter leaders with contact information, the churches we serve, and many of the forms that people are looking for in a downloadable format with chapter contact information pre-printed on them.

Q. Is it worth your time to maintain the chapter Web site?
A. Yes. Volunteer work fulfills me like no paying job ever has. Our chapter gives a lot of money to non-profits, which gives back to the community, hopefully making a better society. A better society is a great thing!