Ann-Marie Harrington is founder and president of Embolden, a Providence-based consultancy that specializes in Web development and design for nonprofits and community groups. Embolden has worked with an array of local organizations, including The Rhode Island Foundation and Amos House, as well as others such as The Philadelphia Foundation and New York Community Trust.

Harrington talked with Providence Business News recently about how nonprofits can take full advantage of the Web and the impact of the recession on her clients and her own business.

PBN: Do you think most nonprofits and community foundations are taking full advantage of the Web?

HARRINGTON: I think that many nonprofits are starting to understand the true power of the Web. But some nonprofits are missing the opportunity to further their missions, to engage donors, to become more efficient and to raise money by utilizing the transactional and interactive features available to them.

Web sites offer a chance for interaction around the clock. Nonprofits and community foundations have the chance to build communities, to tell stories, engage donors and constituents with videos, slideshows with audio, and blogs, as well as with words and pictures.

You also can’t underestimate the power of personalized content, where a visitor logs into a portal and sees information that speaks to them, whether they are a donor, a constituent, a staff or board member, or a professional advisor.

Done right, a Web site is a conversation, a call to action, an advocate.

A Web site can also build efficiencies for an organization if it has a content-management system that lets staff members make content changes without the help of a techie, and intranets for communications among staff or board members.

And then there’s the obvious cost savings of being able to post things like annual reports, rather than printing and mailing them.

PBN: What social media tools are the most useful and valuable to these sorts of groups?

HARRINGTON: If you’re trying to mobilize large groups of people to action – either to raise their awareness, get them to attend an event or to donate money – using social media tools like Facebook and Twitter are an excellent way to go.

Blogging is also a great way to put a human face on your organization and to tell the story of your organization, your mission. Short of having a personal conversation with everyone you hope to meet, nothing is more effective than reaching out in a very human way through technology and social media.

PBN: Can you talk about the approach you take when you develop an organization’s Web presence?

HARRINGTON: With any Web project, our approach is based on creating or implementing a communications and marketing strategy for an organization and then translating that into a design, Web applications, Web tools and features.

We also do a lot of work around making sure the Web experience speaks to target audiences. So if you’re looking for a scholarship, you can search a directory; if you are a donor and want to direct your money into a particular fund, you can do that; if an organization has helped you, you can tell your story.

We really get to know an organization, its strengths and weaknesses and its goals, and build a site based on that. We examine what visitors to the Web site will want to see and do when they arrive. And then we create a search engine optimization plan to drive traffic to the site.

And also importantly, we analyze a site for months and years after we build it to be sure it continues to be successful, both through increasing traffic and building engagement.

PBN: Many nonprofits and community groups are being severely impacted by the economic downturn. Are you seeing evidence of that?

HARRINGTON: Obviously the economy has affected many. But we are staying busy because many of our clients, who come from all over the country, are realizing the importance of stepping up their Web presence to communicate with their donors and keep donations as strong as possible.

Some of them are spending less in 2009 than they had planned, but they are asking us to build Web sites with a framework that they can grow, with additional Web applications or features, over time.

PBN: For three consecutive years, your company has won the Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility. Is that flexibility harder to maintain in a tough economy? Does it remain a priority?

HARRINGTON: One of the keys to success, in my opinion, is attracting and retaining talented people. And to do that, you have to take care of people. So we do things like offer part-time work when necessary and flexible hours when needed, and offer a nice benefits package, including covering the entire cost of health care for individuals.

I’ve found [that by taking those steps] I’m rewarded with employees who are loyal and not distracted at work and who care about the success of this business. •