Fundraising in the modern world
Published by Incomedia in Success stories · Saturday 29 Dec 2018
The birth of a child is always a joyful event. Sometimes however, there can be complications. A premature birth is a fragile moment for both the baby and the parents, one which requires extraordinary care and attention.
That is why in 2010 a group of doctors and parents who had experienced the situation decided to create Neo-n, a nonprofit organization that aims to help babies, moms, and dads through the work of numerous volunteers as well as fundraising initiatives.
The president of the organization is Kosmé De Maria, a very dedicated teacher who understands how crucial it is for this kind of group to spread awareness about its mission.
Find out how WebSite X5 helped the organization reach its goals.
Neo-n: from fundraising to tangible support
From its very start, the organization focused on the needs of the families, and dedicated a good part of its efforts to raising money to expand the neonatal care department. The biggest accomplishment to come out of this mission was the purchase of a ret cam to identify retinopathies: this advanced piece of equipment allows doctors to diagnose problems in the retina, which are fairly common among premature babies.
How were they able to make such a significant purchase? Through a fundraising initiative via their website, www.neo-n.com. This is where Riccardo Bianco stepped up, together with his partner: WebSite X5.
An intuitive website for a big project
Riccardo, whose son was born at seven months and received help from the organization, first used the software for a personal project.
“I’m an avid photographer, and I wanted to make a website for my snapshots. When I searched Google, I saw that WebSite X5 was the most recurring and clicked-on software in the search engine. I asked a friend who is a photographer in Milan for advice, and he suggested I download the Demo version. I tried it out and loved it.”
That website is no longer online, but Riccardo used his experience when Neo-n supported him after the birth of his son in 2011.
“Their site was pretty outdated. I wanted to help out, so I offered to redo it for them using WebSite X5, a program that had impressed me with its ease-of-use.”
Simplicity resonates beyond Italy
Riccardo tells us that there are many advantages to WebSite X5.
“It’s simple, very intuitive, and easy to use in all aspects. Anyone can use it, even people without much knowledge of coding in HTML programming. It’s compatible with every browser, the formatting is always right, and it allows you to create very many graphic layouts. The very few times that I wasn’t able to resolve a problem, I posted on the dedicated forum and someone answered almost in real time to explain what I should do.”
The websites simplicity and clarity allowed the organization to gain recognition beyond Italy.
The future starts with a makeover
Riccardo’s next goal is to remake the website using the most recent version of WebSite X5.
As of now, Riccardo has already added a calendar to allow volunteers to manage tasks, schedules, and whatever changes during the day in real time, but he would also like to create a secure page that can only be accessed by the organization’s leaders and would contain all of the files they need, from meeting minutes to financial statements.
“Ideally, we would each have a personal account that we could manage autonomously.”
There’s still a lot to do, but Riccardo knows that with WebSite X5 he can create a project that meets his expectations in just five steps.
Software he recommends to everyone
In the past few years, Riccardo has dedicated a lot of time to the organization and hasn’t been able to make other websites. He has, however, recommended WebSite X5 to two friends, both of whom purchased it.
“I promoted it a lot, because it really is a clear, straightforward software that’s accessible to everyone. It’s ideal for people who want to create a website but don’t know much about programming or designing one.
I did it myself. You can do it too.