Vision

As Internet matures, the local communty - "Communities of Place" may be as important as the "Virtual Community." Nonprofit organizations serving residents and neighborhoods in a local setting will use Internet to support the communication, transactions, collaboration, education, information sharing that is already taking place.

Nonprofit organizations engaged in delivering a service will find that Internet can increase their effectiveness. Nonprofit organizations involved in advocacy will find the Internet an important new outlet for "publishing" their perspectives on issues. Nonprofit organizations committed to community development will use Internet as an additional community building tool. Nonprofit organizations valuing open participation in their work will use Internet to further the democratic process.

Purpose of these pages

Although there are a number of important venues on Internet to link nonprofit organizations to resources they may use, these sites are not focusing upon the functional uses local nonprofits may develop on Internet to conduct their work. Although national and international nonprofit organizations and associations have begun to create sites, the local nonprofit organization is not well represented.

Most initial efforts by local nonprofits to create World Wide Web pages are the equivalent of an organizational brochure. Only occassionally, organizations have explored more directly functional opportunities. These pages will argue that a fully implemented home page system will mirror the wide range of services, issues and decision processes in the work of an organization.

Local nonprofit organizations can learn from the experiences of Internet pioneers as they develop their own strategy. But local homepages are often buried deeply within comunity sites. Such organizations are rarely listed in Yahoo or other national cataloging systems.

This site will work to address these issues. We are motivated by the need to educate nonprofit organizations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to the potential of Internet. The pages will focus upon the potential of the World Wide Web as a vehicle, although others have used text based "FreeNet" or "Gopher" environments for the same purpose.

First Efforts

• Local Nonprofit Organizations at Work - a detailed discussion of homepage planning options, with nearly 100 links to examples around Internet.

• Local Nonprofits - The Best Sites - a growing list of sites that are useful protypes for others. (Please nominate others.)

• Community Wide Education and Information Systems - a detailed discussion of integrated community sites. [NOT YET ON LINE]

• Web Navigation Page - A substantial collection of links and notes to assist serious "Surfing" the Internet.

• Organized links to the Web- Annotated collections of links, including categories relevant to nonprofits, communities and public policy.

• Milwaukee Associates in Urban Development (M.A.U.D.) home page - A comprehensive local association of nonprofit organizations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

• Community data and GIS - A portfolio of maps and data of value to neighborhoods developed by the M.A.U.D. Neighborhood Data Center program. [NOT YET ON LINE]

Elsewhere on the web:

There are several other sites on World Wide Web that are key nonprofit resources. We recommend:

• On Line Resources for Nonprofits by Ellen Spertus

• Guide to Internet Resources for Nonprofit Public Service Organizations by Sarah Nesbeitt and Richard Truxall

• Internet Resources for Nonprofits in Housing and Human Services by Murin Heydorn

• NonProfit Resources Catalog by Philip Walker of United Way

• The NonProfit Resource Center at IGC

• Also review the local page of pointers to other Nonprofit resources.

This is a new site. We welcome responses, suggestions and contributions. Select the mailbox to send a message mbarndt@csd.uwm.edu

For an even wider range of activities at this site, visit Michael Barndt's Home Page

This page, and all local contents, are Copyright (C) 1995 by Michael Barndt.