We do not have resources to help each individual chapter set up their own website. Hopefully, these recommendations will help you get your own message online as the chapter grows.

  • 1. Decide why you need a website

    This first step is very important, and will save you a lot of time in the future. For example, if the only reason you are looking for a website is to send emails and have a sign-up form, maybe all you need is a good email service. If you mostly need to notify people of upcoming events, something like Facebook or Upcoming.org might be best.

  • 2. Decide who is in charge.

    Any web resource needs to be kept up-to-date. It is good to have one point person who makes sure events are posted in a timely manner, people are notified of important changes, and information is correct.

  • 3. Find a realistic solution for your needs

    Many paid and free services make it easy to maintain web resources. We've tried and liked these:

    For making a website: Squarespace
    For a low monthly fee, you get an easy-to-use website creation tools (you do not need HTML coding experience), email, log-in, and forms. Web hosting is included, and is reliable. You can try the service for free for 14 days.

    For email: MailChimp
    A service to help you manage multiple lists of email subscribers and send out beautifully formatted emails. Free if you have less than 1,000 subscribers.

    For surveys and forms: Wufoo
    Make surveys, sign-up forms, or contact forms. Wufoo has powerful tools for crunching numbers and reporting the results of the form submissions. A free account lets you have three active forms, and it's a monthly fee if you want more.

  • 4. Get tech help, if you need it, and share experience.

    Here's how to get in touch with people who might be able to help:

  • Find other local AU activists

    Network with them to see if they can help, or know someone who can help.

    Why not try finding a person in your area and messaging them directly? We suggest asking if there is anyone in your area who might be able to assist you. Check out AU’s official Facebook page.

    If you don't get a response you can ask the AU administrator to email all the Facebook activists in your state to see if anyone will volunteer to help. We have more than 50,000 fans - the odds are in your favor! You can contact the AU Facebook admin.

  • Contact a university or college in your area.

    They should have a web design / IT / communications program, and students are often ready to help out with web projects. In addition to contacting students, you can also contact a professor and suggest that the website you need be made a student project so the student would receive extra credit for helping. Be prepared to spend a significant amount of time articulating your needs to the students and reviewing / guiding their work.

  • Post an advertisement

    Post an ad on CraigsList, in a coffee shop, or at a local library. Some web designers may agree to work for a small fee or even pro bono if they are interested in the issue. It helps to have website content ready, and to have a single point of contact person (you!) who would oversee the creation / maintenance of the website.

  • 5. Check out AU resources:

    AU logo - to use on the chapter website and other materials.

    The AU Flickr account (we recommend all chapters to sign up and add us as a 'friend')

    AU Activist toolkit - for ideas on what kind of content could be useful on a chapter website as well.