25 Years of Websites for Nonprofits

I would be remiss if I didn’t write at least a few words about reaching the milestone silver anniversary. (Full disclosure: this anniversary missive may be construed as a “self-serving puff piece”. Perhaps. Therefore, I’ll keep this brief.)

When I started Dot Org Web Works in the summer of 2000 as I was transitioning from that of webmaster – for AIDS Services Foundation of Orange County, which incidentally became my first client – to that of freelance website developer, I really wasn’t 100% sure that working only for charitable nonprofits would be sustainable. And, frankly, I’m still not sure. But after more than 80 client website creations, all of which have promoted the bettering of society, I can say for (100%) sure that I’ve been loving every day of “work” and have never once regretted taking the non-profit path.

So, what have I learned in this time?

Over the two and one-half decades of website service, I’ve seen the methods and systems in producing nonprofit-focused websites evolve at eye-watering speed, with technology changing the landscape of website development on what feels like a daily basis. But what has not changed is the spirit of the nonprofit professional; people whom I feel so privileged to work with, who oftentimes forgoes higher incomes and financial stability so that they can directly contribute to society as a full-time vocation: to (and pardon this cliché) make a difference.

As the frontier of digital marketing becomes more pronounced, we nonprofit professionals and service providers who work with technology, design and marketing can at least feel blessed to have those so-called practical skills of ours in harmony with being very much in the thick of humanity and social change: this, in a time of artificial workers, racial inequality, climate change, Donald Trump, mass homelessness … (I could go on for hours in this vain, but I won’t). And even though the workload for nonprofit professionals and their agencies keeps increasing—even during the good times—at least the tool of the website is facilitating the message of the organization so that the nonprofit staffer can spend more time on the organization’s mission. To that end, continuing to be of service to charitable nonprofits is our mission at Dot Org Web Works.

And as we go into the mid-point of this decade, we’ll do so with a fresh new look to match our renewed commitment to serving the nonprofit sector.