Re: Selling Ads on Non-Profit Site
JOE COOPER WROTE:
> We would like to sell advertising space to raise the money
> necessary for upkeep, but throughout my research I have not
> come across a non-profit (.org) that has advertising on
> their site. If I was to sell ad space would I be violating
> some unwritten protocal? It would be difficult otherwise
> to continue raising $$ to keep the portal current.
As a nonprofit, the first issues you'll need to look into
are the tax and legal ones. (Whatever you do would have to
be set up so the organization doesn't wind up with a profit,
and so that whatever you set up didn't violate any bylaws.)
Once you address those issue, look for models within your
organization that will be acceptable to your membership -
those are the people who you need to be concerned about.
One model that comes to mind, would be something equivalent
to the programs and directories that are compiled and given
either as a benefit of membership or as a handout at special
dinners or fund-raising events. All the major organizations
I belong to locally accept paid advertising in those. Why
not treat the portal the same way? If you already have some
sort of member directory with paid advertising, look at ways
you could combine the two efforts - offering a discount for
advertising both places. Set it up so everyone gets a free
listing (if that's what you'd normally do), and sell the ads
on the web as you would the display ads in a directory.
Another option: if your organization will own the rights to
the design and contents once the site is up and running,
keep costs down by looking for a local company with the
skills to manage it (and possibly host it) who will be
willing to do it at reduced cost in return for having their
name and business promoted every time the site is mentioned
at meetings, in brochures, etc.
--Janet Attard
Author of Business Know-How:An Operational Guide for
Home-Based and
Microsized Businesses on Limited Budgets
http://www.businessknowhow.com
http://www.businessknowhow.net
AOL Keyword: Business Know-How
Received on Sat Oct 23 1999 - 04:48:32 CDT
