"Oh my," is right. What am I talking about? Why CMS, or content management system, of course. Drupal, Joomla, and Blogger are popular CMS programs. Do you need a CMS, do you want a CMS, or do you even care about a CMS? Well, at least take a few minutes to think about the possibilities. The best part is that you can get one for FREE. If you read my recent blogs on viral marketing, you know that offering a product or service for free is good business.
Wikipedia defines CMS as "a software system used for content management. This includes computer files, image media, audio files, electronic documents and web content. The idea behind a CMS is to make these files available inter-office, as well as over the web. A Content Management System would most often be used as archival as well. Many companies use a CMS to store files in a non-proprietary form. Companies using a CMS file share with ease, as most systems use server based software, even further broadening file availability."
The Balcom Group uses Drupal as our CMS. Thanks to Drupal we have this cool website that's easy to update and it can grow with us as our needs, creativity, and goals change. Drupal is user friendly, so you don't need an IT degree to add a new page to our site. If you can type, you can manage a CMS of your own (although you may need a little help with the initial installation and setup process). Drupal.org offers a lot of information and support for those new to such a system. Like it or not, technology is a part of our future. Having a good CMS will help your organization prosper.
If you're not sold on the idea because you're part of non-profit organization and you don't know how you can benefit from a CMS, let's take a look at what a CMS can do for your organization. A CMS can help your organization manage the following areas:
- Newsletters
- Annual Events/Reservations
- Surveys
- Pictures
- E-mail Notifications
- Message Boards
- Blogs
- Membership
- Fundraising/Donations
By having all of that important information accessible to your members with just a few clicks of their mouse makes your organization more user-friendly and efficient. Who doesn't want to be more organized, and that's what a CMS does. If nothing else, it aids your annual attempt at a New Year's resolution to become more organized and more productive. A CMS lets you start out small, and it lets you expand when you're ready to expand. Additionally, a CMS will help you keep your site content fresh because it is so easy to update. Fresh content encourages people to continue visiting your site to obtain current, updated information.
If this area is one that you want to explore, then you should visit http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/webbuilding/page4896.cfm for a three-part series of articles on CMS. The author, Rob Prideaux, covers everything from requirements to scalability. There's a lot of information on the web regarding content management systems, and this is a good place to start.
