Creating a Website to Promote Online Community Tip Sheets
Michael Rosen, Vice President for Finance and Administration at the Citizens Committee for NYC, was increasingly concerned that the assistance being provided by the Citizens Committee to their neighborhood based block associations was being lost in piles of paper. The Citizens Committee produces numerous Tip Sheets that are relevant to neighborhood and block associations trying to organize into effective coalitions, or those that are working to solve a particular problem such as "How to Fight Lead Poisoning" and "How to Take Back the Park". The Citizens Committee knew that technology could be deployed to streamline the process of communication and enhance the efficiency of getting new and updated Tip Sheets out to its constituency. They enlisted NPower NY to create a website that houses current and future Tip Sheets in order to make this information easily available and accessible.
The Citizens Committee engaged NPower NY to provide web development services that included consultation, planning, design, and implementation. NPower NY is designing a web-based searchable database for at least 100 Tip Sheets that have been developed, creating a dynamic web presence for those who are seeking accurate and reliable information regarding the resources the Citizens Committee provides to New York's community of neighborhoods. The website will be searchable by both title and topic and have hyperlinks to an HTML page which will be printable by the user and will include graphic illustrations and photos. At the end of each Tip Sheet there will also be hyperlinks to other related Tip Sheets, websites, and other pages on the Citizens Committee website. NPower NY staff will train the in-house technology administrator to add new Tip Sheets and update existing information without NPower NY's assistance. In addition, a tracking feature will be added to monitor which search terms were used and which tip sheets were viewed. This information will be used to generate activity reports to better understand which information is most often being accessed. A future objective for this website is to translate Tip Sheets in five additional languages to reach a greater and more diverse audience.
Karen Scheuerer, Director of Neighborhood Information Services at Citizens Committee for New York City, is pleased with the progress thus far on the site, "The cost of accessing such information is lessened--not only in dollars, but in the time it takes to find useful information. By visiting one place online, grassroots volunteers save the time and effort it would take to make phone calls, learn what's available and then request publications." She felt that NPower NY was enormously helpful in designing a user-friendly website. "Their understanding of our needs as well as those of our associations allowed us to hit the ground running, get the site up faster and serve our audience more effectively."
Citizens Committee for New York City's mission is to stimulate and support self-help and civic action that improves the quality of life in New York City and its neighborhoods.
Citizens for NYC, a nonprofit organization founded in 1975 as the Citizens Committee for New York City, mobilizes New Yorkers to improve their neighborhoods in the areas of Urban Environment and Beautification, Safety, Poverty, Neighborhood Diversity, Youth-Led Community Service and Youth Entrepreneurship. We help New Yorkers build strong neighborhood volunteer groups that solve local problems, providing small grants, workshops, self-help information and assistance to more than 12,000 grassroots volunteer groups throughout the city's five boroughs. Citizens for NYC is your partner for better neighborhoods.
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