In trAce , several volunteer mentors welcome newcomers to the community. Yet, it can be difficult hiring a moderator with all these qualities. One solution can be to designate these functions to more than one person based on their people and technology skills. The Nebraska Network for Children and Families' enlists parent volunteers to provide offline technical assistance in addition to online guidance to new and established members. And, no matter what kind of staffing and technology you employ, always build in time and contingency plans if the forum software goes down.
Nothing can stop a conversation more quickly than the unintentional pulling of the plug.
When an organization builds a presence on the Internet, it competes with millions of Web sites, discussion forums and other online distractions. Fortunately, once a nonprofit has defined its goals and audience and committed staff resources to growing its online community, most of the remaining work involves developing proactive strategies to promote and engage the community. He would then follow up by inviting them via e-mail to join an online discussion forum. An additional 2,500 subscribe to a weekly e-mail newsletter. In addition to promoting through existing discussion lists, Sue Thomas of the trAce Writing Community sends out postcards that list her online community's Web or email address.