By Daily Press staff
For many small, not-for-profit organizations, having a Web site is not just a perk, it’s a necessary tool to providing services, resources, and information to the communities they serve.
While most organizations have Web sites, they are usually basic at best, and at worst, ineffective because of their high costs to develop and maintain. That’s why student and faculty volunteers at The Art Institutes, a system of 32 schools throughout North America, including The Art Institute of California-Los Angeles in Santa Monica are dedicating this year’s National Web Raising event to helping charities boost the impact, appearance and effectiveness of their Web sites.
The Art Institutes’ fifth annual National Web Raising event takes place on Saturday, May 13, with live Web site launches in cities across the U.S. Since its inception, the National Web Raising effort has created hundreds of Web sites for not-for-profit organizations providing services in the arts, the environment, social programs and education.
Interactive media design students and faculty volunteers at The Art Institute of California-Los Angeles work for months with charity organizations to learn as much as possible about what the agency does and what it wants its Web site to accomplish.
The National Web Raising links students to community leaders and groups that create solutions to local issues.
“As they volunteer their services, the students become part of the solution,” said Jan McWilliams, academic chair of the interactive media design department at The Art Institute of California-Los Angeles. “This is as important to their futures as developing their professional skills.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 11, 2006. Read the original PDF.