Reaching Out: GFOA's New Member Community.

• Author: Martin, Timothy

When Mikaela Rhoads, internal auditor for the City of Iowa City, Iowa, had a question about how to handle the city's grants management process, she turned to GFOA's new Member Community. Within a few days, she had responses from members across the country, offering input and sharing their policies. Mikaela is just one of many GFOA members who have joined the new community to network with their peers, and this is exactly the kind of engagement we were hoping for when we launched the platform back in April. I'll talk more about communities in a moment, but first, we need to talk about the beginning of GFOA's new digital journey--which really began more than two years ago, when we decided to overhaul the new GFOA website.

All about the website

By overhaul, I mean building from the ground up, not just throwing in a new template. As the process began, website consultants met with GFOA members face-to-face to get a good understanding of what they thought about our old site, why they visit, and what they would change. GFOA also dove into the data from the old website to see what the numbers showed. One clear theme emerged. While the old site was filled with important and useful information for members--like best practices and research--important connections were missing, which left visitors sometimes missing out.

From there, GFOA's new Materials Library was born. When the new gfoa.org launched in June 2020, it quickly became a popular feature. The library allows members to browse best practices, publications, research reports, past articles from Government Finance Review, and more by topic. We've also added member-only content to the library, with more on the way. Overall, the site gives GFOA new ways to bring you the latest information on public finance. The navigation at the top allows you to easily log into your member account, or browse the Events Calendar or Materials Library, or head to the new Member Community. Our drop-down navigation allows you to find membership information, best practices, advocacy updates, and more with just the click of a mouse. Need quick help? Use the "I Want To" drop-down menu to join GFOA and view resources such as the GFOA Job Board, register for training, apply to award programs, or ask about GFOA resources. Browse our front page to find GFOA's latest updates in different display options, all designed to get you the information you need faster.

The website's first year has been a success. We've had more than...