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Website Development Tutorial

Are you at the early stages of developing a website? Writing a good RFP involves some of the most challenging skills in any step of building a website. So of course most nonprofits, switching from their mission to this once-every-few-years technical activity, struggle to do it well. SpaceShare is in an interesting position: we need web design and we've done web development for others. These pages share our ideas and experiences. This is a preparation section, aimed especially at nonprofits, for getting ready to hire geeks to build your website for you. You're welcome to use these planning resources whether you consider hiring us to do the work or not. Three stages in building a website:
  1. Brainstorming: What should a website cost? by Aspiration Tech is a great place to start. It goes far beyond it's title with "ideas on different project models and cost curves associated with different types of web site technologies."
  2. Outline: Web site preparation questions. Intended for potential clients of ours -- whoever you hire to build your website is likely to have their own set of questions.
  3. Review Your Plan: What goes wrong and how to avoid it. The mistakes nonprofits & the design teams they hire should watch out for while beginning a web design [hiring] project. Intended for a broad range of nonprofits -- learn from other people's errors.

Should you hire SpaceShare? 

Gallery of Websites developed by SpaceShare and designers we work with
SpaceShare was founded by web developer Stephen Cataldo, and we've partially funded our green work with contract web development. In addition, SpaceShare has many other contacts in design and development.

Stephen Cataldo: My preference is working with cause organizations from the beginning: understanding your goals, mixing my experiences running organizations and working with technology. Web programming, databases and Drupal are areas of technical expertise.

Currently, I think most nonprofits that haven't switched to a Content Management System should consider one for their next website: moving content into a database so that it's easier for you to edit, update and even redesign.

I love projects that involve a creative edge: not bleeding edge technology just for technology's sake, but putting technology to better use. I don't mind doing small-budget projects for great causes where I'm given both the challenge and the freedom to efficiently create just the tools the organization needs.

Design & Development: SpaceShare works with a variety of other Drupal developers, artistic designers and content developers at various times.

Requests for Proposals & Rates

SpaceShare occassionally answers RFPs, but we prefer to have a conversation to mutually discover what can work best for clients. If you would like a proposal, send a description or your RFP and a good time to call to discuss it. Our normal contract rate is $100/hour, some associates' rates may vary. SpaceShare gives most nonprofits a 20% discount. We're most inspired to work with people working for a better world.