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Why should your District develop a web site?
Your conservation partners are moving online. State Governments have dramatically reduced the availability of print information in favor of electronically delivered information. Example: California State contracting opportunities are only available via the Internet, email or fax. California is not the first state to do this. Most states are shifting this direction.
Agricultural Producers are moving online. Producer associations, organizations, and publications are moving online. Non-profit organizations are moving online, and over 50 million American households now have a computer in the house.
Conservation Organizations are moving OnLine. Take a look at major nonprofit organizations: NACD, Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, and others. All have major websites for very basic reasons: it's good business. They can provide in depth information at a very low cost and they are promoting conservation concepts to a very wide audience.
Your Bottom-line: If a Conservation District is going work with conservation agencies and conservation clients, then they are going to have to conduct business online. And that means developing a web presence.
Your District web site is a "virtual "office open 24 hours a day. People can "come into the office" and look through the files ( web pages), do a little research (online publications), get a referral for technical assistance (links to other resources), find out about current events (District Calendar), find out about programs that they might like to participate in, or even ask questions (email).
How can your District use a web site?
- Expand District "Sphere of Influence" and conservation partnerships
- Does your community really know what your District does?
- Does your community know who your Directors are and how the District operates?
- Do you need to get "locally led" conservation really working?
- Does your District need more visibility?
- Do you need community volunteers?
- Does your district need to interact differently with your constituents?
- Does your District need to expand their "sphere of influence" among conservation partners?
- Deliver Cost-Share Program information cost effectively
- Government agencies and non-profits have both discovered the economy and expediency of using web sites and email to distribute information.
- Publish a newsletter, District plans or District Events
- Maximize your existing publications, or create new ones
- Publish to a wider audience
- Expand educational outreach
- Do you want to educate students about conservation?<
- Do you want to educate adults about conservation?
- Do you put on workshops and events?
- Publish unique information about your land base
- Share project experiences that would benefit other districts working on similar conservation problems.
- Become an online resource for others.
- Post technical information local to your area.
*Determine what raw materials you already have that could be adapted for use on your District Web Site.
Why build a web site now?
Who is online now?
- Consituents
- Resource Agencies -federal and state
- Nonprofit conservation organizations
Do you need to work with these people? If the answer is "YES", then....
Are you Ready to Build your District Web Site? Ready, Set, GO!
| Introduction | The Internet | Benefits | Why get Online |
| Search | Browsers | Bookmarks | Handling Email |
 Ahead to Workshop 2 |
Ahead to Workshop 3
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Conservation Jobs Center | Conservation Grants Center | Oak Run Library | Cyber-Sierra
The beginning of the workshop is at: http://nacdnet.org/workshops/intro.htm
