September 2006

Duluth Area Chapter proves a Web site can be informative, fun, easy-to-read and look great

Congratulations to the leaders of the Duluth Area Chapter (Minnesota), especially to Laura Hanson, communications director and Web site administrator, whose site has been named Chapter Web Site of the Month for September.

This site is a great model for chapters to use as they look for ways to provide a professional, yet fun, look to their sites. Through an excellent use of fonts, white space and graphics, Laura provides a site that is very pleasing to eye, easy to navigate, easy to read and informative, while capturing the helping spirit of the chapter and its volunteers and the fun of volunteering.

Numerous features help make this site a winner and a great tool for the members of the Duluth Area Chapter:

• A clean look with lots of white space, making it easy to read. Laura does a great job throughout the entire site with her use of:
  • Fonts and font sizes for both headlines and text.
  • Dividers and white space between articles.
  • Pictures that help provide an eye-pleasing layout.
  
  
• A home page with excellent, but not an overwhelming amount of, information that sets the friendly, informative tone for the site. It starts with a list of information the visitor can find in the site, following by list of key dates, small articles about recent events--with pictures, and an article highlighting the recognition of one of its chapter leaders.
  
  
• An up-to-date list of 2006 recipient organizations on the "About Our Chapter" page, showing visitors how the chapter and its members are reaching out to the community and making a difference.
  
  
• A unique "Meet the Chapter Leaders" page that not only lists the leaders with short biographies and pictures of each leaders, but also lists the main responsibilities of each role, serving as an awareness and recruiting tool for visitors who might be interested in being part of the chapter.
  
  
• A "Chapter Congregations" page that not only lists the congregations in the chapter, but also lists which churches need congregational coordinators. Again, a great recruiting tool.
  
  
• A Calendar that is up-to-date and provides good information about each activity.
  
  
• A "Project Request Forms" page that also is unique. It provides a letter that volunteers are required to read--providing the chapter's guidelines and the instructions for requesting funds. It also has two request forms—one specially designed by the chapter for fund-raising activity requests and one for hands-on service activity requests.
  
  
• A scrapbook of pictures that captures the fun and joy of volunteering.

Laura took on this role to "get her feet wet" about Web design, and has increased her skills through "playing around the site" and "visiting the Web Site of the Month" recipients.

"It is very easy to update text, add digital photos and download forms," says Laura. "The most difficult piece for me is that I have a dial-up Internet service, so working on the site can often be very slow. When I have a lot of changes to make (i.e., when I decided to standardize all the fonts, type sizes, color bars, etc.), I go to the library where it's DSL."

Laura considers the Web site a good tool to communicate with members in a timely manner. "It's important to keep it updated simply because it is yet another form of chapter communication," she says. "We always promote the site in our member newsletters; and in light of mail delivery times, the Web site can offer more timely information."

Laura's passion to help others helps motivate her to deliver a timely and informative site. But when does she find time to work on it? "Generally I get inspired after chapter meetings and find myself working tirelessly on the site for about a week thereafter," says Laura.

Please visit this excellent site at www.lutheransonline.com/duluthareachapter. Congratulations Laura on a great job!