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May 20, 2008 9:15 AM

a week of poor forms

I went to a volunteer orientation session last week for a not-for-profit organization that will remain unnamed. Before the orientation session, people who wish to volunteer had to fill out a form on their website. It was a bit long but straightforward. I even got an email confirmation that my form was submitted successfully. Perfect. When I showed up at the in-person session, I noticed everyone was madly filling out the hardcopy version of the form. I asked the organizer if this was necessary if we already filled in the online form because I certainly didn't want to go through the hassle of repeating myself again. Well it turns out I did have to fill out the hardcopy form again even though I had successfully filled out the online form. Why? It was sort of a convoluted explanation about how the information somehow gets "lost". Why bother having an online form at all? And how does the information manage to get lost?

I was on another site for a professional organization in the high tech sector this time. This should be a better online experience right? Not so. The "form" I needed to submit was actually just a Word doc that I had to download, fill out, and then email into the staff. It's a bit archaic but fine. Well that didn't really work out either because they didn't process all of the information that I submitted, even when it was sent in the Word doc.

There's a lot of really cool technology out there these days, so it's a little surprising to see some organizations still struggle with building forms. I know people will argue that these are not-for-profits, so they can't afford to have a website with proper forms. I say "poppycock" to those people. We have loads of not-for-profit clients, large and small who can create forms on their own. It doesn't take deep pockets or technical knowledge.

Watch for a new case study coming soon on the Union Gospel Mission and what they've been able to do with marketing automation. Their forms really do work.

Posted by Thao Ngo at May 20, 2008 9:15 AM