The key to Calgary Aids Awareness Association’s success

There are so many incredible charities out there today; it was hard to choose just one, however, Calgary Aids Awareness Association (CAAA) is one that we find interesting and will be the main topic of discussion in this post. In Simon Choy’s article, 10 Essentials Your Charity Website Must Have to Succeed, he explains the necessary components a charity website should have. The first point he touches on is descriptive content; the reason why people want to visit the site and the cause the charity is working toward (Choy, 2012). On CAAA’s About Us page, it describes the development of the association in 1983, and its main purposes being education, prevention and living with HIV/AIDS (Aids Calgary Awareness Association, 2009). In another article called10 Pages Every Charity Website Should Have, the author mentions that the mission/goals page is necessary to communicate existence and tangible goals (through non-profit eyes, 2010). CAAA has pages dedicated to both mission and vision. Its mission is “to reduce the harm associated with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C for all individuals and communities that we serve” (Aids Calgary Awareness Association, 2009).CAAA is comprised of four board members and has a fairly long list of staff/volunteers, leading us to believe that the organization is resourceful and properly equipped to achieve its goals. CAAA receives funding from a variety of organizations which is how it stays functional. The association will celebrate its 30^th anniversary this year with an AIDS Walk for Life, which displays accomplishment for the association. Choy deems this essential for descriptive content.

CAAA’s website has numerous separate landing pages, another quality Choy contends in essential (Choy, 2012). A page that should not only be separate, but easily accessible to users is a call to action page for volunteering. A unique way the CAAA draws in volunteers is the tier program it has in place, which is described in great detail on its own page. People are sometimes reluctant to commit to volunteering due to lack of time. CAAA’s volunteer program is set up in three tiers, the first being short-term or one-time event. The second tier is dedicated to varied levels of commitment and requires an interview, and the third tier involves a high level of commitment and requires interviews, training and background checks (Calgary Aids Awareness Association, 2009). The article 10 Pages Every Charity Website Should Have, states that the call to action page is crucial since the younger generation are more inclined to give their time as opposed to money. This method of attracting potential volunteers is creative, smart and engaging.

Choy acknowledges the importance of having a donation page with substance (Choy, 2012). CAAA not only has a separate donation page, but also outlines a few different ways to donate on their website:

• In Memory;   
• Giving Circles;
•  Gifts of Securities;
•   Planned Giving.

Having many donation options makes it easy for anyone to contribute. Of course every donation method CAAA offers is great, but the Planned Giving Option and Giving Circles struck us as the most unique. The Planned Giving option deals with leaving a gift in a will for the charity that the donor will be recognized for  (Calgary Aids Awareness Association, 2009). Money, property and life insurance are all examples of contributions that can be designated to CAAA in one’s will. This is not a traditional way of donating and really shows how CAAA is thinking outside of the box. Giving Circles are another unique way of giving. This consists of a group of people who work together and commit to years of working towards contributing to CAAA. Giving Circles are ideal for CAAA because it requires a level of commitment, not to mention the motivation that a team can provide to help reach fundraising goals.

On top of all the ways to donate, a program that we think aligns nicely with CAAA’s mission is the greater involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS (GIPA) which focuses on helping individuals living with HIV/AIDS find meaningful ways to get involved with the community (Calary Aids Awareness Associatioin, 2009). The great thing about this program is that it offers monetary compensation for some positions which is great way to subsidize some of the expenses that incurred due to living with HIV/AIDS (Calary Aids Awareness Associatioin, 2009).

Both articles that we measured CAAA’s content against overlapped in many areas; the most important being the donation page, contact page, navigability and call to action page. Overall CAAA’s website meets all of the criteria for having a successful and engaging website. The only suggestion that we would advise is to have an frequently asked questions ( FAQ) page. The 10 Pages Every Charity Website Should Have article advises that having an FAQ page will free up valuable time to tend to other matters (through non-profit eyes, 2010).

Works Cited

Aids Calgary Awareness Association. (2009). About Us. Retrieved May 14, 2013, from Aids Calgary Awareness Association: http://www.aidscalgary.org/aboutus/aboutoverview.cfm

Calary Aids Awareness Associatioin. (2009). GIPA. Retrieved May 15, 2013, from Calary Aids Awareness Associatioin: http://www.aidscalgary.org/getinvolved/gipa.cfm

Calgary Aids Awareness Association. (2009). Donate. Retrieved May 15, 2013, from Calgary Aids Awareness Association: http://www.aidscalgary.org/getinvolved/donatecampaign/howtogive.cfm

Calgary Aids Awareness Association. (2009). Volunteer. Retrieved May 14, 2013, from Calgary Aids Awareness Association: http://www.aidscalgary.org/getinvolved/volunteer/volunteeroverview.cfm

Choy, S. (2012, November 6). 10 Essentials Your Charity Website MUST Have to Succeed. Retrieved May 15, 2013, from Connect Ad: http://www.connectad.ca/10-essentials-your-charity-website-must-have-to-succeed/

through non-profit eyes. (2010, October 2). 10 Pages Every Charity Website Should Have. Retrieved May 15, 2013, from through non-profit eyes: http://blog.moredonors.com/2010/10/10-pages-every-charity-website-should.html