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Snowcrystals.com shares a wealth of knowledge

Elizabeth Able, of Able Reach Arts and Web Development, recently started a blog meme in support of nonprofits that have an online presence. She asks that we write one tip on ways nonprofits can benefit from having an online presence and have others do the same. Tips can have similarities so long as each offers new insight into the topic.

This meme comes with four guidelines:

1. Offer one tip
2. Tag three people. Bonus points for including blogs that support or represent nonprofits.
3. Please link back to the original entry page. If you link, Elizabeth will contact you about including your tip in a compilation of tips generated by this meme.
4. Remember to pass on the guidelines

Now that we know the rules, here is my tip.

Share your knowledge and expertise in the form of educational resources

Nonprofits come in many shapes and sizes. Whether they are confronting issues relating to poverty, arts & culture, health care, education or public policy, each is likely to have specific and in-depth knowledge relating to their mission. While their Web sites will often focus on their core mission, volunteerism, fund-raising and related issues, much can be gained from sharing their broader knowledge base as well.

In this case, when I speak of knowledge, I'm not referring to the facts and figures used in support of the cause, but the more in-depth knowledge or data related to the topic. Thus a public art organization, that uses its site to announce projects and explain how art benefits society, may also want to publish related resources such as:

• A walking tour of public art in the region served by the organization.
• Interviews with artists explaining how they came to the field, what education this required and where they seek their inspiration.
• A history of the role of public art from ancient times to the present with images and links to more specific resources.
• Pages explaining how sculptures are made, from the design process to the casting of metal and other techniques.

Benefits of knowledge sharing

Sharing such knowledge can support an organization in many ways. In most cases the expertise and knowledge is already in the minds of the staff—who draw on this information in their own work. Sharing it with others benefits society by providing information resources, but also supports marketing and fundraising.

• Educational resources geared to K-12 students and/or the general public help the organization to reach a wider audience geographically and demographically. This builds name recognition and supports the organizations brand, enhancing the reputation of both the organization and its staff through the quality of its content.
• Sites providing educational outreach may be eligible for additional funding from foundations and government agencies that support such programming.
• Informative, and fun, resources help to stimulate interest in the topic thus cultivating readers towards becoming future donors, volunteers and champions to the cause.

Bastions of Knowledge: Examples

Many faculty and staff here at Case have heard me discuss sites I call "Bastions of Knowledge," places where faculty and staff can share their expertise with the public. As mentioned above, such sites provide educational outreach and support marketing. A site that becomes known as one of the leading resources in a given field bolsters the organizations reputation, but can also draw additional traffic to the rest of the organization's site. Two of my favorite examples are:

Snowcrystals.com, produced by Kenneth G. Libbrecht, chairman of the Physics Department at Caltech

This site has anything you could possibly want to know about snowflakes, from the physics of how they develop and the impact of temperature on crystal formation, to some stunning photographs of individual snow crystals. If you Google the term "snowflake," this site shows up as the number 2 result—out of 9,050,000. A search on "snow crystal" puts them 1st out of 366,000 results. When you consider the number of children studying snow in school, the adults who are curious to learn more and scientists interested in crystal formation and/or considerations of temperature, you have to imagine that this site gets a lot of traffic. Professor Libbrecht didn't have to share his research with all of us, but in doing so he has provided a fascinating resource and made more people familiar with his department and Caltech.

The eSkeletons Project, University of Texas at Austin

The e-Skeletons project doesn't rank quite as high in Google, it comes in 8th out of 6,760,000 on a search of the word "skeleton." but that's still very impressive. So is the content. This site provides images of individual bones, from all orientations, from 12 primate species including humans. Animations, FAQ's and other information make this a terrific resource for teachers and students alike. As a K-12 educational resource, the site also receives both corporate and government support.

In Conclusion

If you're working for a non-profit or similar organization, go ahead and share the information in your head. You'll provide a service to others as well as yourself.

As per the instructions of the meme guidelines, I'll tag Mano Singham, Jeremy Smith, Lev Gonick and Gina Prodan, as I'm curious to hear what they have to say on the matter.