The Purpose
The purpose of this project was to create a place for the non-profit organization, VOICE Advocacy, to present the projects they have assisted on, to recognize their staff and team, to have a place for community members to request projects/assistance, and to have a platform for people to leave reviews and feedback. Here is a link to the completed website: https://voiceadvocacyorganization.wordpress.com/.
The Project
After helping the founder of VOICE Advocacy, Andra Smith-Hansen, plan a community conversation and resource fair on homelessness for the Idaho Falls Police Department and City Council, it became very apparent that the organization needed a website where they could share their projects and have a simple platform to receive requests.
The Process
I started by researching various website platforms and presented the options to Andra so that she could pick the best option for this website. We decided on the free version of WordPress so that we could go to a premium account later if we need to and if the funds allow. I also created a new email so that any and all communication and outreach would come through this email for clarity purposes.
The next big step was to determine how to organize and present content for the audience. I met with Andra and Makenna, her personal assistant, to discuss these things. The reason I met with Makenna was because she was my main contact during this project.
After that meeting I spent time doing research on past projects VOICE had assisted with. I went through their social media sites, wrote a report on the project I assisted with, and set up meetings with various event managers from past events to continue writing content.
I also had to create a user guide for the next person who is given control of maintaining the website.
Challenges
The biggest challenge with this project was the lack of communication from Andra. She is very busy. She is the Executive Director of VOICE Advocacy. She is a professor at Brigham Young University-Idaho. She also is the primary caretaker of her aging mother. Navigating these various activities made it difficult to always get the information I needed in a usable time frame.
Insights/Takeaways
I learned the importance of keeping accurate records of the events that an organization helps with or puts on. I had a really hard time finding records of any kind of report or documentation of the projects that VOICE has worked on in the last couple of years. This made it hard to find photos to populate the website. It also made it hard to find content to populate the website with. The lack of records also made it hard to get in contact with people who worked on the past projects so I could write content for the website.