Marketing, Media and Post - Marketing and the Web: Free Websites for Your Community Group

Marketing and the Web: Free websites for your community group

Having your own website can, if you are not careful, become a costly experience.

And given that community groups often operate on tight budgets and small margins, they can ill-afford to be ploughing good money after bad into a fancy website with all the bells and whistles.

The good news is that in some parts of Australia, there are facilities available that allow selected community groups to grab a slice of the "web pie" for nothing.

These initiatives are scattered across Australia and offer a variety of different options for community groups or not-for-profit organisations to consider.

The list of regional initiatives is an ever growing one. So if your region is not listed below, it might be a good idea to contact your local government and see if they are running or know of any programs that you might be able to access.

It may also be that your local government body is planning something for the near future, and you could get involved early on.

A List of Free Website Options for Community Groups

In Victoria, free websites are available for community groups through Vicnet (www.Vicnet.net.au).

As a community and non profit group Vicnet can help you get online by giving you 10Mb of web space with an FTP (file transfer protocol) account, unlimited traffic, no ads and a free introduction to HTML training.

Those eligible for Vicnet support are: Vicnet Volunteers, hobby sites, special interest pages, community groups (health, sport, arts, and more), individuals, Vicnet members, and Members of Parliament. Government agencies and commercial organisations are not eligible for this service.

Within VicNet is a section entitled MC² (My Connected Community). MC² works to ensure community groups are provided with the support and tools to "build" an on-line community.

It provides training and online resources that help community groups to:

Publish online.
Network with members.
Extend group membership and activities.
Communicate with other communities of interest, either locally or worldwide.
Establish a website.

According to the Victorian Government, MC² aims to "rapidly stimulate the development of online communities of interest within Victoria". (mc2.vicnet.net.au/docs/About_my_connected_community.doc)

MC² also combines with the Victorian Government's other initiatives, including Skills.net and Libraries Online, to ensure greater Internet access, more user-friendly resources and Internet training and support is available where needed.

For more information on MC², refer to the website: mc2.vicnet.net.au/index.html

Finally, if you are in Victoria and live in the City of Darebin, you can also build your own website through the Darebin Community Portal (via Darebin Council). For more information, click here.

For community groups in the Australian Capital Region, which consists of the ACT and the surrounding NSW shires, the Healthy Communities scheme (http://136.153.10.110/acr/acronline.nsf/) provides that "if you are a member of a community group you can create a homepage free!"

Note, though that that's a page, not a full site - better than nothing, but not powerful enough for all your needs.

In Western Australia, visit http://multicultural.online.wa.gov.au/wppuser/owamc/about/faq.html.

The Online WA Multicultural Communities Gateway offers 400 "incorporated ethnic/multicultural groups and non-profit community organisations across Western Australia" (www.multicultural.online.wa.gov.au/wppuser/owamc/newsletter_1_2004/faq.html) access to a number of facilities, including your own website. However, some minimal costs/annual membership fees apply.

South Australia's Community Website Project is a joint initiative of the Office for Volunteers and the School of Communication and Information Studies at the University of South Australia.

According to the project, it "provides volunteer groups [and not-for-profits generally] with the opportunity to have a web page designed and incorporated onto a host site on the Internet free of charge." (www.communitywebs.org/comwebsite/index.php?page=about.htm)

It operates by linking IT students at the University of South Australia to community based volunteer groups which do not presently have a website. A web page (or more; some of the sites have two or three pages) is then designed according to the needs of the group. All sites created are posted on a new website: http://www.communitywebs.org for a period of 12 months.

There are costs involved if you wish to continue with the same site after the first year.

Also while there are no other state wide schemes, an increasing number of local governments and regions are taking up the idea. If you live in Brisbane, you get almost as good a deal from the Brisbane City Council (http://www.ourbrisbane.com/community/building/)

According to the council, they "through ourbrisbane.com, is offering 150 community groups an opportunity to have their own website using ourbrisbane.com's ourweb starter – an online website-building tool. (www.ourbrisbane.com/community/online/building/ourwebstarter.htm)

"This program will be fully subsidised by Brisbane City Council for a period of 12 months. After the initial 12 month subsidy period you will have the option to renew your ourweb starter account. This will be at a 25% discounted rate – on current costs that would be $22.45 per month."

Remember, more and more other bodies, particularly local governments, are looking into ways they can provides these sorts of services to the public. Local governments in Ballina (northern New South Wales) and Subiaco (Western Australia) are now offering programs as well.

If in doubt, contact your local government to see what, if anything, they are doing on this front – or if they have something planned for the near future.

The information contained on this site is subject to change. Australia Post or Our Community will not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever coming from reliance placed on all or part of its contents.