Re: Starting a web based food pantry

> I don't think a long thread of members bashing each other is going to help
> the Deacon very much.

> My comments on the site: lose the dramatics ... the long, slow, musical
> intro, and the slow-loading images ... these are just going to drive
> visitors away before the site even loads.

> Also, if I were king (or, in this case, deacon), i would do away with the
> music. that's just my preference, but i believe more and more web
> marketers are going with the "silent treatment."

> after visiting the site, i had this thought: i may have missed the whole
> "food pantry idea," except that i read Deacon Ter's post before
> entering, so i was looking for it.

> i think you need to identify the primary goal(s) of the site, then address
> them, rather than just firing a shotgun and hoping to hit a duck. do you
> want the site to attract donations of money? food? volunteers?

> and, although my web-marketing knowledge is as basic as basic gets, i do
> know this mantra: you've got to capture your visitor's e-mail addresses.
> it's difficult to get people to visit. once they visit, you have to get
> your "claws into them."
> assuming most of your visitors will be good people with great intent, you
> should be able to get them to sign up for an occasion newsletter about
> "how we're helping people, yada yada yada."

> so, how do you do that? good question.
> that's why i think it is critical that you realize, even though your dream
> is a successful charitable site, you really must look at this as a
> business venture. your revenue may be donations of food (or cash
> donations?), instead of profits from a business venture, but the ultimate
> structure remains the same.

> you must drive trafic to your site, you must "hold them" with a
> well-designed, easilly navigated site, and you must get them to act
> (donate, in this case) for you to be successful.

> my humble suggestion - sorry, no master's or doctoral degrees here! - is
> to invest in the corey rudl course (see recent thread on the FIB forum,
> below).
> you may learn "more than you need," but there's nothing wrong
> with that.

> i hope this helps, and generates more input from those who know plenty
> more than myself.
> Robert K

My initial thoughts when I opened the site were that I had no idea what you wanted. In your post you stated that your goal was to generate doanations for a food pantry. I never would have figured that out by just visiting your site. Photos of poor and dirty people can tug at your heartstrings, but you need to have a plan in place to actually do something. According to your post, one might guess that you do, but if someone were to just wandering past your website, it appears that you are displaying the poor while wringing your hands and saying, "Isn't this awful. We need to do something."

Food donations need to be local. Where are you? If you are in Bangor, Maine, and I am in San Diego, California, I am not going to ship you a box of food. Are you trying to set up a network, complete with warehouses and volunteers, in major cities or places of perpetual need (Appalachia for example)? Or do you have a foodbank somewhere (again; where?)and just need staffing and donations to distribute?

What exactly are you wanting to start?

Somebody with some ability put your site together. Have them (or somebody) redirect the focus.

Hope that helps!

Sandi