20-Jul-04 2:00 PM CST

PRSA Houston (www.prsahouston.org) Increases Revenue through Web Site Design

Schipul – The Web Marketing Company Case Study: PRSA Houston (www.prsahouston.org)

In early 2002, the Board of Directors of the Houston Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America found themselves unsatisfied after critically evaluating the effectiveness of the chapter’s Web site. Frustrated by the lack of responsiveness of their pro-bono Web provider and the limited functionality of a Web site that could not meet member demands, PRSA Houston consulted with Schipul – The Web Marketing Company.

PRSA Houston Web Design Screen Shot

While Schipul’s services would not be free, the opportunity to engage a professional design team and take advantage of software specifically designed to assist organizations was attractive to the Board. With a membership of approximately 450, communicating with members and encouraging their participation was a constant challenge.

The decision to pay a monthly hosting fee for Schipul’s proprietary Tendenci™ membership organization software was a difficult decision, but it has proven to be one of the best financial decisions PRSA Houston has ever made.

“I don’t think anyone realized in the beginning just how expensive a free Web site really is in terms of missed opportunity,” said Lisa Martin, who chairs PRSA Houston’s Web Committee. “Today, our site is profitable, reduces our administrative burden and keeps our membership engaged in everything we do.”

With its Tendenci-powered Web site, PRSA Houston quickly and easily moved all member services online. The chapter’s greatest administrative burden – event registration – disappeared almost overnight. Tendenci software allowed administrators to easily send e-mails to the entire chapter about events and link to online registration, as well as set up online payment in just a few simple steps. This move eliminated almost all phone registrations, the need to verify payment information and mail receipts to members, and the challenge of collecting from no-shows.

“After years of refining and improving Tendenci membership organization software, we realize how important it is for organizations of all sizes to optimize every interaction with their members,” said Ed Schipul, CEO and founder of Schipul – The Web Marketing Company. “The advantage of Tendenci is that it is a 100 percent solution that can handle every online need of an organization.”

PRSA Houston’s most successful online initiative was its introduction of a Job Bank, another feature of Tendenci. PRSA charges employers a $100 fee to list available positions for 90 days on the PRSA Houston Web site, which they can post and pay for themselves. As the Job Bank continues to grow in popularity (and more positions become available), PRSA Houston expects to generate more than $8,000 for PRSA Houston in 2004.

PRSA Houston Job Board Traffic and Revenue Growth from Tendenci

While the revenue earned from the job bank is positive for the chapter, members and non-members alike are benefiting from becoming employed and regarding the PRSA Houston Job Bank as the source for communications jobs in Houston.

In one day in June 2004, job bank visitors set a PRSA Houston record for the most job listing views in a single day: 463. During the entire month of June, site visitors clicked on job listings an incredible 7,568 times.

“We received a tremendous number of resumes from some very good candidates,” said Deborah Ward Buks, APR, of Ward Creative Communications. In fact, ten days after posting a job listing through the PRSA Houston Web site, Ward Creative Communications received 54 resumes from qualified candidates.

Driving traffic to the Web site is key, and Tendenci makes it possible for the Board, committee chairs and volunteers to be proactive and timely in creation and distribution of e-mails and monthly newsletters – even with no knowledge of html.

Two years after engaging the Schipul team, PRSA Houston’s Web site continues to generate revenue for the chapter and provide its membership with up-to-date information about public relations in Houston.

Moving forward, PRSA Houston anticipates additional increases in revenue, member participation and volunteer involvement as the Board works to maintain the chapter’s image as the source of information for the Houston area’s public relations community. Of course, this would not be possible without a useful and effective Web site.

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