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When you obtain a unique identity on the internet, called a domain name, you can then use this identity for your website and for e-mail addresses. The Leipper Management group will provide either a custom domain name, such as SierraNevadaAirstreams.org, at a nominal fee or a free domain name such as snu.leipper.org that does not require any special registration or fee. The association domain name provides an identity for the association that can be used in e-mail messages and communications.
Your association website serves several markets including the public, the membership, and the board of directors. Each of these markets has a variety of uses and requirements that influence the content and structure of the association presentation on the web.
The public needs to learn about your association, what it does, and why they should support its efforts. To meet these needs you should have information for prospective members to encourage their joining the association, publicity and event management information and processes for association events, and other information as required by governmental entities for public disclosure about the association.
The membership needs to have a resource about association affairs that keeps them up to date on what their association is doing and encourages their participation. There may be a members only section of the web site.
The directors need governance information to fulfill their duties for due diligence. A protected site on the web is an inexpensive way to make sure that all directors have appropriate access to business and financial reports, meeting minutes, and other material they need for effective governance.
The web site should contain information about association affairs and events going back about three years except for any personnel records, primary accounting records, or other confidential materials. With this information readily available to properly qualified individuals, budget creation or activity planning can be easily researched to learn from past problems and successes.
The Leipper Management utilizes several levels of security either independently or in combination to help provide an appropriate level of confidentiality of association information.
Public materials are those readily available by web links and search engines. Pointing a browser to the association web site is one way to find this information.
Stand alone materials are only found if you know the proper URL, which is made available only to those who are qualified. Examples include required public disclosure documents and newsletter drafts for proofing.
Restricted access areas require an ID and a password to be able to read any documents. An example is the business area for directors.
Document security can also be applied to individuals documents that limit the ability to read or print the document without an appropriate identification.
The Leipper Management group structures web site information by function and year to help in archiving, backup, and location. This structure is implemented by folders or sub-directories just like you might have on your personal computer. Names for the folders are chosen to make it easy to understand what is in them.
business/ - a protected web page that requires an ID and password to access that is the association home page for its business affairs.
business/treasurer/ - the home page for financial documents and other matters in the treasurer's domain
business/treasurer/2003/ - the archive of documents for the financial year starting in 2003. Each year will have its own folder.
business/secretary/ - the home page for meetings, membership and other matters in the secretary's domain.
business/president/ - the home page for policies, correspondence, and other matters in the president's domain.
pubdocs/ - The directory where IRS tax exempt documents required to be available for public inspection are kept. This directory is only available to those who know its address, which can be obtained via a simple request as per IRS regulations.
news/ - the location for posting association newletters and bulletins
membership/ - membership directories and other material of primary interest to the members of the association.
Other folders might include education, events, or politics as needed to support association affairs and events.