Common requirements for community organisations.
WHAT THEY USUALLY NEED
Information: about, contact, location, times
News or announcements An events calendar
Media: sermons, newsletters, photographs
Sometimes online giving or fee payment Sometimes member-only areas
THE PRACTICAL PLATFORM
WordPress with a suitable theme handles all of this without difficulty. A dedicated platform is rarely necessary.
MEDIA STORAGE
Audio and video accumulate rapidly. Host video on a video platform rather than uploading it.
Audio files are smaller but still add up over years of weekly recordings.
ONLINE GIVING
Use a payment gateway properly rather than publishing bank details on a public page, which invites impersonation.
WHO MAINTAINS IT
The common failure: built by a volunteer who moves on, then unmaintained for years and eventually compromised.
Establish who is responsible, and make sure more than one person has access.
ACCESS
Give each person their own account. Shared logins in organisations with changing volunteers become impossible to control.
