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Using the Internet for Fundraising
A One Day Introductory Tour

College of General Studies, University of Pennsylvania
Room 421, Williams Hall - November 10, 2001, 9:30-4:30

The Bootstrapper's Guide to Web Site Costs

Equipment/Software: Cost No Object

  • Computer, 128MB RAM, 20GB hard drive, high-end monitor, sound and video cards: $2,500
  • HTML Authoring Software -- up to $500 (Laura is using Dreamweaver and hopes to figure out Fireworks soon)
  • Image editing -- Adobe Photoshop (educational discount): $229 (street price $500-plus)
  • Sound Editing -- CoolEdit (shareware): $50
  • Video Editing -- Adobe Premier (educational discount): $229 (street price $500-plus)
  • Fabulous digital camera: $1,000
  • Scanner -- $200-$500 -- sky's the limit if you want to be able to scan huge images, big color transparencies
  • CD Writer -- $200-$500

  • TOTAL: $5,000-$5,500 (approx)
    (Add $1,000-$2,000 for VCR and tape deck if desired)

Equipment/Software: As Cheap As It Gets

  • Computer, the one you already have, or an old Pentium II with 32MB and monitor bought at yard sale: - $0 - $500
  • HTML Authoring -- do it yourself, use built-in editor from Netscape, use automatic convertor from Microsoft Word
  • Image Editing -- PaintShop Pro (shareware): $99, free 30-day evaluation copy
  • Scanner/digital camera -- none, scrounge help from friends or get images scanned from repro house, drugstore photoprocessor
  • Zip Drive or CD writer -- use to transport large files or groups of files to friends/family with better computer (optional): $150
  • Sound, video, digital camera, CD -- outsource or do without

  • TOTAL: $0-$720

Some Time-Commitment Rules of Thumb:

  • Time to get up the learning curve -- about 3 months of working at least 2 hours/day to get really comfortable
    ... but you can be online with something in as little as a week from a standing start
  • Time to develop pages, once experienced: average 1 hour/page for pages (once a format has been set) to convert text to html, scan/edit images, assemble page, check links, etc.

About Server Space

  • Some server space included with many basic Internet accounts (Bell Atlantic, AT&T;, AOL, etc.)
  • Commercial server space available from many providers -- as little as $.60/mo per MB
  • To create a skill-building site, free space is available from Tripod (http://www.tripod.com/) and many others

Related resources at this site: Chapter 7 from Fundraising and Friend-Raising on the Web; a bootstrapper's toolkit of web resources

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Send comments to Adam Corson-Finnerty (corsonf@fund-online.com) or Laura Blanchard (lblancha@fund-online.com)