Good Greek Webmaster Companies

[Slybone]

Did anyones chapter use a web design firm/indept webmaster that specializes in greek organizations? Were you happy with the design? Could you post a link to your website & FWD the webmasters info? I am looking at having our website professionally done and would love the help.

EDIT:I would also like to point out that we have a tight budget. I realize that chapter communications provides a great CMS however they charge monthly for a design which baffles me.

[Senusret I]

www.chaptercommunications.com has done three websites for me so far. I've been very pleased with their service.

[Senusret I]

Chapter communications charges annually. (I don't know why ASTalumna06 deleted her post lol)

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Slybone

EDIT:I would also like to point out that we have a tight budget. I realize that chapter communications provides a great CMS however they charge monthly for a design which baffles me.

As far as I know, they don't charge per month. From what I've read on their site, for a chapter, it's $10/member a year (with a max of $600) and a $250 start-up fee.

But I could be wrong. Someone enlighten us?

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

Chapter communications charges annually. (I don't know why ASTalumna06 deleted her post lol)

Ha, sorry... my computer just had a conniption. My post is back!

[Senusret I]

^^^ That's pretty much correct from what I remember.

When I was researching potential web design companies, I actually passed over TWO Alpha designers because they were too expensive AND couldn't give us 24-hour access to content management.

Websites are an investment and Chapter Communications -- even though it's not expensive compared to other companies -- is worth every penny.

Have a bake sale and invest in your future!

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Senusret I

Websites are an investment and Chapter Communications -- even though it's not expensive compared to other companies -- is worth every penny.

Especially if you have more than 60 members. With a cap of $600, you'd be paying less than $10 per person.

If your chapter is really desperate for a nice website, and you really think it will help you, do a fundraiser for the $250, and raise dues by $5 each semester.

ETA: Another decent site I've seen is http://www.webs.com/. It's free and easy to use.

[agrphi]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

As far as I know, they don't charge per month. From what I've read on their site, for a chapter, it's $10/member a year (with a max of $600) and a $250 start-up fee.

But I could be wrong. Someone enlighten us?

The pricing above is correct. What was not mentioned was that Alumni are free.

There are discounts available to chapters that can reduce the cost of the annual fee, which can be broken up into monthly, semi-annual and quarterly payments.

Hope this helps.

[Corsulian]

From working with my chapter and Web sites in general, I think there needs to be a shift in how people see Greek Web sites. Typically, an undergraduate webmaster is chosen in a chapter - and more often than not, this person has no idea how to run a site. Even if they learn, they graduate and the whole thing flounders. I would really advise seeking out alumni support for this.

[Senusret I]

I think you're absolutely right.

For my APO chapter's website, even though I love the VP of Communications, she's either just not as into this as I am, or she's torn in several directions at once. I am happy to serve as the de facto webmaster. (Plus it's a shared alumni/undergrad site anyway)

[Senusret I]

OMG she LITERALLY just called me to tell me how she planned on keeping the website maintained. That was so spooky.

But also heartening to know she still has the website as a priority.

[pshsx1]

One of our brothers does our website. He is a freelance web designer. Two other brothers help him... but really it's all him.

I think he does great work. Here's our current under construction site:

michigantheta.org

[MMiller]

We've had the best luck getting a member from our chapter to update our website. I don't know your experience with web design, but you might want to check out www.TemplateMonster.com, which sells stock website templates. If you're looking for something that's easy to make, inexpensive, and looks great, you could start with a stock website (and just modify the pictures/content), and then move on to one of the Greek web design companies later on if you want something nicer and have a larger budget.

Also, you may be able to get your alumni to pay for the website. Alumni donations are often sought out incorrectly by chapters, where members simply ask for money from alumni. If you send out an email or letter to your alumni and ask them to donate for a specific item or event, which in this case is the website, you'll be surprised at how much easier it is to get donations. It would obviously be a good idea to add a lot of news for alumni onto the webpage in this case.

-Matt

[Save Ferris]

I don't know if this one has already been posted but I've seen moonfruit websites for certain sororities. They are free, easy to use and generally appealing to the eye. I've seen a lot of DePaul sororities use moonfruit.

Where I go to school, only one sorority has a website. However, I think it's probably something that my sorority and the other two should look into. After all, life has become so based on technology!

Click for link to Moonfruit!

[PeppyGPhiB]

Gamma Phi Beta is encouraging all of its collegiate and alumnae chapters to set up sites using templates they've designed with Chapter Communications. It's nice to have some consistency with branding, and I hear it's really easy to set up and maintain.