Resource Thursday: Sparked (Online Microvolunteering)

Happy Thursday! Every Thursday, I feature a cool resource that's just for nonprofits. This week, that resource is Sparked. Here's what they say about themselves:

A New Approach to: Engaging Volunteers

Sparked is the world's first entirely-online volunteer network. Find out what more than 3500 nonprofits already know: Sparked is your place to get help with graphic design, copywriting, research and any other task that can be done entirely online. Sparked will distribute your tasks to your fans, friends, followers - and to Sparked's tens of thousands of online volunteers. Best of all, it's entirely free for nonprofits!

I used Sparked to get input and feedback when I was designing TheNetworkforGood.org (another great resource, which I featured last week). Since I'd never designed an online community, this seemed like the right time to tap into the collective wisdom of the Internet - and Sparked gave me a way to do it.

Here's what we posted:

Hi - we developed a new online community for nonprofits using Lithium with no experience in web design, usability or community building. We've started seeding content and are in the process of rolling it out to our customers, but we'd also love to have some "expert user testers" (especially if anyone knows about the Lithium platform) take a look at it and let us know what we did well and where we could improve. There's a lot of room for flexibility in the structure, so we're open to any and all suggestions. You can find our site at http://thenetworkforgood.org. Please let us know how we can improve its usability!

And here are some highlights from the 6 responses we received (we've improved the site a lot since we received these):

• Some of the graphics aren't the right resolution, which puts people off.  You want to make sure that you save your images in the size that they will be displayed by default, otherwise, the browser either has to blow them up (making them fuzzy) or shrink them, making the site slower to load. Good luck.
• Usual protocol for developing a web site is to first make a list of "Conversion Events." What do you want the user to DO on your site? Hope this helps!
•  My first and honest reaction to the site is "aaargh!" Had I been a user arriving here for real, I would immediately have left. - Remember that you only have about 3 seconds to leave a first impression!

My reaction at the time was mixed. While I appreciated the time that people had taken to provide feedback, I found it very difficult to digest the stream of consciousness brain dump that some people gave. I was also frustrated by the cold and/or condescending tone of some of the comments, which really made it clear how difficult it can be to work with volunteers that are not engaged with your organization.


As a result, my thank you turned into an attempt to educate the corporate types who are doing to work (okay, yes, it was a bit of a rant):

Hi all, Thank you so much for the feedback - we appreciate you taking the time to take a look at our site. We've made some of the quick fixes already and are working on how to implement some of the larger suggestions. One last request: as you continue to work with Sparked, consider your audience. Please keep in mind that the majority of the people who will be posting on this site represent small, resource-constrained nonprofit organizations that are trying to make a difference in the world. Many of them wear multiple hats (they may be the only employee or a volunteer) and don't get paid much (if at all) to do it. Whatever they're posting here probably isn't in their primary - or even a tangential - skill set. So please, give them a break. Take a moment to find something that you DO like about where their project is already or learn something about their organization and lead with a positive (remember: a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down). Then give constructive, actionable feedback, rather than just, "this sucks." And don't bury your valuable recommendations in a lot of commentary unless an explanation is absolutely necessary - bullets are great. You're here because you have great experience to offer, don't let it fall of deaf ears because of the way you frame it. Thanks again, Julie

Final analysis: It's free, easy to sign up and definitely worth checking out for discreet projects that have a clear end product and can be done online in a short amount of time with very little feedback from or interaction with you. I've heard great things about logos that have been designed by Sparked volunteers, and they provide a variety of templates for projects ranging from copy-writing and translation to design and promotion.

And yes, you can set up your account - and your first challenge - in under 20 minutes.