Print or online: Which road to take?

If you’ve worked in a not-for-profit since B.I.—Before the Internet—you may have witnessed the following scene as Web sites gained traction.

“We don’t need to print anything anymore,” says the executive director slyly, rubbing his (or her) hands together. “We can put everything online! Newsletters, membership directories, conference brochures—nothing needs to be mailed out, ever again. Now we can save thousands of dollars a year!”

If you love the printed word, you may have shuddered when you were asked to put your beloved publications up on blocks. But wait—there’s no need to retire your print pieces. Your organization can communicate via print and online vehicles. In fact, it’s hard to do business without both.

Although PDFs have their place, the technology was often overused. In many instances, a perfectly delightful print publication was turned into a PDF and posted onto a Web site, without any attempt to rework the piece for online use. No longer would the publication land in the mailbox, its cover enticing the reader to leaf through its pages. The reader would have to hunt online for the latest issue of the newsletter, read a book or two while the file downloaded, then print out the document.