(This post for CCC staff again…) Forgot to mention earlier, but even if joining our Web MPD GCX community isn’t for you, please take a few minutes to fill out our (short, 9 questions only!) survey about how you do MPD. And please pass this on to other staff! Thanks!

(This post is aimed at CCC staff).

Some of you may have heard me talk about the need for a web-based MPD application. After playing around with some code for a while and talking to Troy (TNTMPD creator) and others, I’ve finally launched a GCX community to further discussion and collaboration on the idea.

If you’re CCC staff, and have been looking for something like this - or just like the idea - then please consider joining this GCX community.

Update: To join, head to the GCX community browse page and search for webmpd.

This post in particular is a follow up to the second post in this series, “Goals of an Online Support Presentation.” Read on for reasons behind the changes I’ve made to my online presentation!

To recap, the things I wanted to achieve in having an online support presentation (other than casting the vision for what I do) were:

1. Simple, not overwhelming with information.
2. Quick to load (not everyone has a broadband connection).
3. Easy for me to update.
4. Provide a way to contact me for more information.
5. Appear credible.

Simple, Quick to Load

I have recently restructured my online presentation and moved it so it’s hosted on this website (as opposed to a separate one, more on this topic below). At the same time, I’ve consolidated the information that used to be on several pages into one.

I believe this helps with the goal “Simple, not overwhelming with information”, because it means that less clicks are required to get through everything! One thing that also helped me decide to do this was the comment I heard at the MinistryNet conference, that Gospel presentations had a higher response rate when they were all on one page.

The initial reasons for having each part of the presentation on separate pages were the fact that this would mean each page could be fast to load, and secondly because each part of the presentation is on a separate page in the physical folder that I use when meeting in person. However, the first reason is not an issue if I keep things simple (without too many graphics, flash etc), and the second reason I’ve decided doesn’t really apply: Web design is not print design, there are key differences!

Easy to Update, Credibility

My presentation used to be hosted on the Student Life website, so that someone could go to josephgibbs.studentlife.co.nz to view it (note: that site doesn’t exist anymore). The advantage of this was that having the presentation at the official Student Life website helped create credibility. The downsides were:

1. It wasn’t easy to update (everything was coded by hand, the SL site had no content management system).
2. It was very much tied to Student Life. That is, should my role within Campus Crusade change, the studentlife.co.nz domain may no longer be relevant.
3. Someone else has taken over maintenance of the Student Life website, so I can’t be guaranteed the access I used to have to update it.

Hence, moving it here seemed like a good idea. I now use Wordpress to maintain the page.

Provide Easy Contact

Since updating my site with the new presentation, and also adding a new contact page on this site (with a simple form to fill out), I have now linked the presentation page to the contact page. Makes things simple as there’s only one page for me to update when my contact information changes!

Give Online

In previous posts of this series, I mentioned that I was trying to get a US staff account so that people could give online by credit card. I’m pleased to say that because of the helpful people at headquarters, I now have one of these! Of course, this only works in US dollars, and only US residents can get a tax receipt using this method, but it’s a start!

I also mentioned a service with which I could set up my own online donation system for credit cards in NZ dollars. Being that CCC is a registered charitable organisation, I asked for a discount on fees. Unfortunately, the answer was “no”.

So, what do you think about all this? I’d love to hear your opinions! I do plan another post in the near future, taking a look at what other people have done with their online presentations!

God is amazing! After meeting a guy to talk about my work with Student Life this morning, whom I neither knew personally nor was referred to, I’ve been given the opportunity to be interviewed by him on the radio this Saturday (I didn’t know he did a radio show when I met him)! I’ll be talking about my work with Student Life at 11:30am on Hamilton Community Radio (106.7FM, AM1206). Please pray that it goes well, and that God provides opportunities to get in contact with others who I can share the vision of this ministry with!

I’m trying to find around $1200/month to continue with Student Life/Campus Crusade, but I don’t have any contacts for people who would like to hear about/support my ministry. It appears that a door has been closed with regard to some contacts I had hoped would be of help, because I am moving to Auckland (they wanted to support local ministry). Please pray for God to show me who I should approach, and pray that I would see where he is working and pointing me to! Thank you.

I’ve taken some time to update and add to several parts of this site. The about page has been updated, and contact information separated into it’s own page finally.

I’ve also taken the time to integrate the online version of my presentation about work — Serving With Student Life — into this site. Expect more updates on this in the near future (for now it has just been a transfer of information with minor changes, from the previously hosted-elsewhere version).

The reason that an online support presentation would include the ability to make a payment immediately is two-fold:

1. You can receive donations quickly.
2. Some people may only give a one-off donation, at least to begin with, and even then they may only do so if they can do it immediately.

What ways can the online support presentation help in this? So far the suggested method has been to link to the online giving system — which, once I have obtained a US account — I will do, because I think this is a good idea. (I’ll keep people up to date on the progress of this). There are some drawbacks however. This system works in US dollars and would mean a delay between donation and the money getting to me in NZ. The US system also means NZ donors cannot receive a tax-refund on their donation.

But there are also some other ways making a donation could be made easier:

• Paymate is a service which allows the collection of credit-card payments, in New Zealand Dollars. There would be a cost to me of 3% of the donated amount, plus 50c. Perhaps if I could prove that I was part of a registered charity, I could get a discount on these fees. (I’ve contacted Paymate regarding this, I’ll let you know the outcome). This option would require an extra step for me - moving the money from my account to the CCC account.
• Pago is a service which would allow me to receive donations by text-message. The person donating needs to be a Pago member (It appears that I do not!). There is a fee of 30c to the person donating to me. This option would also require the extra step for me as mentioned above.
• CCC NZ can accept credit card payments - just not online (yet). Some of the donation is lost in fees - I’m not sure of the amount. I could provide details to contact the office by phone and make a payment this way.
• Automatic Payment. Most of my regular financial supporters have an AP set up. I know that the office is looking at having a form set up online enabling a person to enter their details, and the form will give back the information needed (reference column etc) to set up the AP. The person can set this up from their online banking.
• Cheque. Most people don’t use these any more. But I probably should put the details for this on the site, so people can send one in if they wish.

Are there any other ways people know of to allow for easy giving?

In coming up with my own online support presentation, I had several goals.

The main idea was that people who live too far away for me to visit can find out more information about what I do online.

The presentation should also be:

• Simple, not overwhelming with information.
• Quick to load (not everyone has a broadband connection).
• Easy for me to update.
• Provide a way to contact me for more information.
• Appear credible.

In order for the presentation to be as simple as possible, I’ve tried to give only as little text as is needed to explain each point. This also helps ensure that each page the presentation is quick to load. I have also optimized the pictures for the web (they’re a fairly small size). While my presentation could be a lot more flashy-looking, I decided that simpler was better. This also means that it is not hard for me to update. Because I want the maximum number of people possible to be able to view my presentation, I’ve avoided using technologies such as Flash or Java.

At the end of the presentation, I have provided a way for someone to contact me. This section could do with a little upgrading - I plan to add a contact form in here somewhere so a visitor can type their message in and hit ’send’ straight away.

It has been suggested at this point that I link my presentation to the CCC online giving page, so that people can make donations right then and there. Unfortunately, this requires a US staff account, which I do not have as I’m not a US staff member. One possibility would be to set up an account with a website which allows anyone to accept credit-card payments. I am planning to investigate this option further; it does however mean more steps would be involved (I would then have to transfer the money from my account to the CCC account), and it would likely cost more in fees.

Finally, I have set up my online support presentation on the Student Life website, as opposed to my own. (Student Life being the CCC ministry that I work for). I have done this so that a sense of credibility will given when the user sees the studentlife.co.nz domain.

In the next part of this series I’ll take a look at some other ideas that both others and I have had for online support presentations.

Part of working for CCC involves having a support presentation (more formally “MPD“). As I’ve been contacting people who live a fair way away from me, I also have an online version of this presentation. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s a useful thing to have.

Over the next little while, I’d like to take a look at how I’ve built my online presentation — the reasons I’ve built it like it is — but also other ways of doing things (and in doing so I might modify mine somewhat). The reason for this is that I think this is a tool that other CCC staff members could use for their own MPD. With this in mind, you can expect a series (I don’t know how many) of posts about this in the not-too-distant future. I’d also like to take a look at some point at other online methods for MPD.