You Have Questions. We Have Answers.
All of us are so accustomed to either working hard at fund raisers or dealing with politics in raising money for our departments, we find ourselves looking for time to do other things.
Add into that all of the required training and emergency incidents, it seems that a website is a bit of a daunting task. We want to try and help answer some of those burning (pun-intended) questions you might have to make an informed decision.
Do we have access to update the site ourselves?
Do we have to know programming stuff to do this?
Can we find some way to take donations right on our site?
Do you provide training on how to use the software?
Our website is "ok", can you make it better?
What's the point of having a website?
We can make money with this?
Absolutely! Making money and providing a community resource for your department are the two goals we want you to achieve as a fire department.
There are a few options to consider in using your site as a money generating machine:
- Sell advertising to area businesses at deep discounts. Even if you just locate 20 businesses and ask for $50/year, you make a nice profit with very little out of pocket expenses!
- Put a PayPal "Please Donate" button directly on your site.
- Advertise your upcoming fund raisers to create more awareness about your event, which in turn should mean more people attending and more money
Do we have access to update the site ourselves?
It's your department and your site. Without question we want you to feel totally in control and not at the mercy of outsiders or unknown people. You even have the ability to add / subtract users and their level of access without ever having to contact us. Unless of course there is a technical issue, then we're more than happy to help.
Take control. Be in control.
Do we have to know programming stuff to do this?
Not at all. But if you do have members that know a little, your site can be that much better and maybe even save you a little bit of free technical support from time-to-time for those serious 'geek' emergencies.
If you can use a Word processor program, get on the Internet and know how to put photos on your computer, you'll be right at home with our system.
Can we find some way to take donations right on our site?
As mentioned earlier, yes, you can find ways to take donations. There are 'plugins' you can utilize or even use the PayPal button system to simply accept monetary donations. Best of all, it doesn't matter the location of the user, so you could very possibly end up with a donation from another county, state or who knows, another country!
Do you provide training on how to use the software?
Every department receives a training manual that walks you through step-by-step on how to do just about anything and everything in the site. From adding stories, how to update members access level and much much more.
On top of all of that, every package we offer comes with a certain amount of FREE technical support on a monthly basis. We couldn't offer a better deal if we tried.
Our website is "ok", can you make it better?
In many ways, perception is reality. Consider a station that’s shoddy and unkempt with trash scattered about. When a community tour group comes through, odd are, they’re worried about the safety of their home, family and business. Understandably so. Plus, when the times comes to vote for more department funding or to make a donation, those folks will likely think twice.
To make matters worse, most people won’t even tell you or your staff. But they will tell others ... a lot of others. Research has shown that people will tell two to three others about a good experience. They’ll tell a staggering nine others about a bad one. Roughly 13% will tell 20.
An unprofessional web site is no different. A well-designed, usable, and informative web site says, “professional.” Are you ready to be more professional? It’s time to contact Gonink.
What's the point of having a website?
It might seem a bit strange to think of a fire department marketing itself like a business, but in all reality you really are a business and have customers (citizens). It's imperative that you keep your "customers" informed about the fire department because they are also key stakeholders in your department.
If they have to pay more taxes for fire coverage, they're going to want to know why. With a website you can start a dialogue and keep the citizens informed about your progress and how you plan to achieve certain goals.
Add to the above fact that you can use it as a communication and resource tool for mutual aid departments and you'll soon realize that the benefits of a website reach well beyond just your own department.