Any pro bono web designers out there?

[dabbdc]

We have started a nonprofit to raise funds for talented doctors doing clinical research, My Doctor's Research Foundation, Inc.
1-2 Wonder has generously offered hosting. Now we need a designer. Any offers or ideas?

Thanks!

David Bershtein
Exec. Director
www.mydoctorsresearch.org

[Brandon]

This question gets asked alot. It's website time, how can I get started?

At this stage, people ask others "What are my best options?"

Others, in turn, will now ask you questions to gather specific information. They have options for all types of companies and ideas. The goal is to build the best website for your specific company.

Certain web developers specialize in certain types of websites, so the more information you provide, the faster you will get a response.

Here are some opening questions to get started:

1) Do you have other websites that you would like it to look like? A picture in your head. Stuff like drop-down lists, pictures...
2) Will the goal be to generate interest then contact you for the donation part, or primarily to donate online without contacting you. (is it mostly an informational site) Yes, the ability to donate online can be built in, but your answer influences design goals.

Hope this helps,
Brandon

[dabbdc]

Brandon, thanks for the feedback. We would like the functionality to accept cc donations.

Appearance-wise I like the look and feel of the MacArthur Foundation's site

Our goal is to attract support from small and large donors who wish to support the stellar physicians doing medical research. As a cancer survivor I have learned that it is not bricks and mortar that saves lives...

We are still hopeful of a pro bono web designer....

Thanks!

David Bershtein
Executive Director
My Doctor's Research Foundation, Inc.

[Brandon]

(for possible pro-bono developers the aforementioned reference is http://www.macfound.org)

Two more questions of interest to a potential pro-bono developer:

1) Maybe the pro-bono developer can teach somebody in your organization how to update the webpages...until then they would have to. So an important question to developers is if he or she can just build it and do the occasional edit (like 3X a year) or if it will be updated more often (like every week)?

2) Ballpark figure how many pages do you want the website to be. Websites vary from 5 pages, to 10 pages, to 25 pages, to 50, etc?

I may be able to help when my schedule frees up in a month or so, right now I'm in the middle of three significant projects and have no free time. But hopefully a generous developer sees this and has the skills to get it done. By answering the above questions, we can provide more information to perusing developers so they know right away the scope of the project.

Hope this helps,
Brandon

[dabbdc]

Once its up and runing I am sure we can figure out how to maitain it. I don't anticipate needing a vast site...

Brandon, thanks again for your input

[12Wonder]

couple of suggestions

Find a college student who needs to create a web site as a project for a grade. Make sure it's something that will be graded, so they put forth their best effort. Maybe contact the local university or college & speak to a professor about it.
YaWPS (http://yawps.sourceforge.net/) - A cgi web content management system that does not need MySQL so it will work within the confines of a free NPCS hosting account. Just upload the script files, set the permissions on specific files as named in the readme, and surf to the install file to complete installation. Then you can administer the site, add content, etc. from its own backend.