Hong Kong Red Cross Website Sucks
Topics: China, Internet Marketing, Non-profits, Politics
It seems like we’re in an era of natural disasters. The US is still recovering from Katrina, while these past two weeks we’ve seen tornadoes all across the Midwest, a huge cyclone in Myanmar (Burma) and a devastating earthquake in Sichuan, China. It’s sad to see so many people lose their lives, and so many people have theirs disrupted.
In addition to making me sad, these type of events inspire me to help out other people. I’m a successful entrepreneur, and I consider myself a fortunate guy. I know a lot of people who read this blog are in the same position, and on the same page. We have an opportunity to help people, and though we can’t do everything all the time, I think it’s nice to do something some of the time.
From what I heard, Red Cross seems to be doing a good job in channeling donations to where it is really needed. So last Friday, I went on the Red Cross Hong Kong website to try donating some money to find out that their website sucks! Simply sucks. I had a hard time to even find the donation link, and when I did find it after 5 minutes of stumbling on their website, I found out that they don’t take credit card directly online! They require you to print out this form, enter your credit card information, and then fax it back to them. Thats so ridiculous that I immediately left the site, went to the American Red Cross site and donated there instead.
That shows you two things - a clear defined call to action is not only important to an ecommerce store, it is also important to a non-profit organization. And that if you make your visitors take excessive steps to complete your conversion funnel, better believe you’re losing a good amount of them along the way.
Besides from Red Cross, you can also find a ton of ways to give just by googling either disaster, and plenty of other people around the entrepreneurship and web 2.0 world are starting their own initiatives. If you feel like it, find some of them, and join in!
In addition to immediate help, I think it makes sense to start helping those in need on a more-consistent basis, in whatever way you can. While the goal is always to make money, I’m a bigger and bigger fan these days of social entrepreneurship. I like the idea that we should give back, and design our companies to give back in small ways whenever we can. Sometimes, it can be carrying products that support good manufacturing practices. Other times, it can be designating a certain amount of your profits to charity. There are other ideas, both bigger and smaller, that you can do to help. It shouldn’t be hard to think of some that work best for you.
And even though these things may cut into your bottom-line in the short-term, they’re important. They position your business as one in the natural flow of the business world, and the world as a whole. That helps everything around you, and in the end, helps you. It may bring you more business, or may just make your business better. And while this happens, it’s not necessarily the end goal. It’s about doing the right thing, and helping others… energy coming back to you is just an added plus.
So that’s what I try to do… do the right thing, and do what feels right. I hope you join me!
Here’s the link to the donation page of Red Cross for China’s Sichuan earthquake relief effort, donate now!
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