Here’s the setup checklist for setting up Nations for organizations. Numbered items should be done in order. Bulleted items can be done in any order.
- Secure a domain name from a domain name host. I now recommend getting your domain through Google Domains. It will save a lot of steps later. Trust me on this
- Facebook: If you haven’t set up the Facebook Like page for your campaign, go set that now. If you skip this step, you will be making more work for me and you later.
- Twitter: most organizations have a dedicated twitter account for that organization. If you haven't set that up yet, set it up now.
- Make sure you are logged into both your Facebook Like page and the organization's Twitter account.
- NOW, go get a NationBuilder account. Ideally, the account name should be the same as the domain name, minus the dot com. During the setup process, you will be asked to connect your Facebook Like page and your Twitter page. If you did the steps above, you’ll be able to connect them now. USE THIS LINK TO SIGN UP FOR YOUR NATION. Using that link will tell NationBuilder I am your Architect. This will help me during my part of the process. (I DO NOT get a commission for signups - this link speeds up my part of the setup process and nothing more)
GREAT! Now, send me an email that has all of this in it:
- your NationBuilder account name
- the URL to your site (accountname.nationbuilder.com)
- the email and password you used to create the account
- logo art
- the organization's style guide, if you have one
- any preferred color palette choices (if any)
- any preferred fonts
- the home page will have an image carousel / image slider. I need three to five images for the image slider on the home page. (If you need inspiration, let’s talk. I can give you some great pointers).
After I receive this email, I will be able to start work on your Nation.
Meanwhile, you should be working on this:
The default organization site has a number of default pages. I recommend you have language for all of them, so that they are not blank. Please start working on language for the following:
- Donation page message - you will need a brief couple of lines to appear above the donate form
- About Organization page - You definitely need at least a paragraph to start (you can add to it later).
- Issues page (optional). Sometimes called projects.
- News & Events - this is structured like a blog (a series of entries, organized by date, most recent at the top). Each time the organization is featured (positively) in the news, there should be one post with a quote from the article and a link back to read the original. Press releases can also go here. Announcements of upcoming events and appearances can also go here, in addition to being on the calendar.
- Calendar - this is specifically for upcoming events. You should have at least one event listed on the calendar prior to launch. Having an empty calendar is not a good sign, so something has to go here. If you don’t have any events coming up, that’s OK, we will make the page anyway, but we’ll make it invisible.
- Volunteer - you will need just a brief couple of lines to appear above the volunteer form.
- Contact Us - you will need just a brief couple of lines to appear above the contact form. Or, you could just have the mailing address with the phone number.
Also:
- Start compiling a complete list of links to news articles you want on the site. These will go on your News & Events page. I would be happy to put them up there for you IF you can get me your list early in the process. Otherwise, it will be up to you.
- Please compile a complete list of ANY video you want on the site - VIDEO IS GOOD. PEOPLE WATCH VIDEOS (even crappy Youtube videos).
- Start a list of any other content you might want on the site.
After the other stuff:
Set up the bank account to take donations (do not send me your bank account info - I do not need it and I do not want it)
Pick a payment processor. You basically have three choices: Democracy Engine, Paypal, or Authorize.net. I'm agnostic on which one to use.
Get a Google Analytics account. Send me the UA number and I’ll plug it into the site for you.
It’s not a bad idea to give the media easy access to good photos. Therefore, I recommend setting up and maintaining a Flickr or an Instagram account for good organization event photos. This is up to you, of course. It can be done later.
That's it!
