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• General Advice (5) Give advice

  Advice given by kathleenfasanella 

  05.30.08 | 11:09 AM

  I'm trying to get a handle on what fuels my ambivalence to this project so bear with me playing the devil's advocate.
  
  First, I'm of the opinion that not for profits should ask themselves the same questions as for-profit ventures for two central reasons:
  
  1. Serving consumer needs -while it may be the product or service fills needs of demonstrated demand, do consumers of the proposed service or product perceive they have these needs and if so, what is said priority within their hierarchy of needs (ala Maslov)?
  
  2. Viability to ensure continuity aka "profit" or perhaps better expressed in terms of the likelihood of the continuation of funding so as to compensate those spearheading the project. Obviously, this is a labor of love. While you may have the resources to start the project, it deserves full time effort of you and others to provide the continuity of care that is likely to imbue trust from supporting or donor organizations. Iow, you need to have the means of generating revenue however that may be.
  
  Central to these two elements…more lies my question: Are there any competing organizations (not for profit or for profit) that duplicate your efforts or mission? If not, why not? I'm not suggesting this is the case with you but many entrepreneurs think that if there is "no" competition for their product or service, it means they have greater opportunities but often, it's precisely the opposite. Lack of competition in a given segment (barring monopolistic ventures) usually means a concept has limited appeal, that it is not viable. It is rare that someone else hasn't already thought of it.
  
  Additional comments:
  The people most likely to need this service are the ones least likely to use the site. Unfortunately, you won't be the first stop for even web savvy parents who can google effectively. People who need this site most aren't likely to own computers or if they do, don't know how to use them. Their kids might tho. Also, these parents may have limited mastery of English and/or reading comprehension themselves. The site should rely more on graphics to facilitate navigation rather than text. Any hard copy collateral representing your organization should be similarly designed.
  
  Site navigation problems. These are examples. On this page: http://www.linkeducation.org/node/46, under "Click your borough on the map or type in your zip code", there should either be a map right there or a link. As a visitor, I'm left scrounging all over the page, reading all sidebars, nav bars, footers, everything, wondering where that map is. I don't see it. I'd have to be very motivated to click on anything else remotely related to attempt to find it. May I suggest reading Steve Krug's _Don't Make Me Think_? Ideally, on any website, a visitor can find what they're looking for with one click. One! More than two and you've lost over half of them.
  
  Returning to the matter of the map. I click on Navigation tips and see a link to the map. Clicking on that returns an error. Recalling that the map was mentioned to have been on the home page, I go there. Once at the home page, I don't see it but I scroll down to see the map. I didn't see the map on my first visit and didn't realize it was further down the page. The search feature once I click on Brooklyn is a bit ambiguous. I type in "autism" which returns no results. It's possible your site wasn't intended to be used this way but this is how parents will use it. If I have an autistic child (and I do), I'll start with the broadest of search terms rather than something arcane such as PDD-NOS, Kanner's, Reyn's, Aspergers, sensory disintegration disorder, occupational therapy (2 results neither of which inspire a click) or anything like that. Testing it further, I used an even broader keyword of a typical disorder -"ADHD". Again, it returns no results for the entire city.
  
  Here are some comments you can feel free to file under "****" or immaterial:
  Site colors. To imbue confidence and trust, use something less trendy and "fashionable" (I work in the fashion industry). When I see trendy colors, my perception is that the progenitors are flighty or whimsical. Orange, yellow and green are precisely the colors that people trust less. Green is the biggest no-no followed by orange (orange means food, eat, consumption). Of all colors, blue is the most trustworthy. A strong blue, not something passive or again, trendy. A strong red (not predominating, accents only) means love or "buy me".

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  Advice given by jonnyboy 

  05.28.08 | 04:22 PM

  the other nominees couldn't exist without EDUCATION first!

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  Advice given by SuzieQ 

  05.25.08 | 01:24 AM

  I Love the website, and the concept. I found it very easy to use, and love that it targets a specific and small demographic. It makes me feel the love you have for your community, and want to support you. I had a few suggestions, which I hope are useful:
  
  Firstly, When I clicked on the "donate" link, it said my donation is tax deductible, (which is great) but it doesn't state that your company is a non-profit 501(c)3 company anywhere. I know it's implied, but I think you'd get a lot more support if actually stated this, and maybe even better would be to put this information as a footer on the bottom of each page. I'd also include this info in your "history" link. This is a very important to many donors, especially people who are donating larger amounts, and need to know it's tax-deductible.
  
  Next, I love the name. I'm sure you've already checked this out with a lawyer, and registered the name when you formed the non-profit, but just incase obodoy else has mentioned this: I fear that the logo name LinkEd sounds very similar to LInkedin. I…moren fact, when I saw your logo on the front page, I thought that this company was probably related to that company. Thought you should be aware...
  
  Finally: It's great that this is a website tool, but I wonder if these low income families have computers at home? One suggestion to reach these families may be to print out little packets of your information contained on the site, and distribute these hard-copies for students to take home to their parents. Maybe a printer in your community would be willing to sponsor a few hundred packets, and you could add a "community sponsors" link.
  
  Good luck!

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  Advice given by rbeard44 

  05.01.08 | 09:26 AM

  Thanks Tom - that is great advice. We are actually reworking the home page design as we speak and hopefully will make it a little less text heavy and more even more inviting!
  
  We think we can start adding other cities soon, but we don't want to overextend ourselves. In order to really build a community that goes beyond the internet, it definitely takes ground work and we're not sure we have the capacity to hoof it in other cities just yet! However, I see your point...there isn't necessarily in harm in letting them find us...
  
  Thanks!

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  Advice given by tomaswk 

  05.01.08 | 08:30 AM

  Your website design is very warm and inviting, with a great logo as well, so nice work there.
  
  The front page is a little bit full with too much text, you might want to think about moving the announcements section to another area of the site to keep that homepage as clean and quick to get.
  
  I really like this idea and am excited to see it grow past NYC. What is stopping you now from opening up to the rest of the US. Is there harm in adding other cities and if you are not actively looking for new orgs, at least maybe they can find you.

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• Q1: We need to reach even more education organizations, parents, schools, and teachers to make LinkEducation a fully comprehensive directory of education opportunities and a real community for everyone interested in education. We need an efficient way of reaching out to the 5000+ ed. nonprofits in NYC. (0) Respond

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