During World War II when the Allies were preparing to invade at Normandy, they had a big problem in how to supply soldiers with equipment. They needed a port for unloading ships. They could capture enemy ports – but there was a risk that the enemy might make the port unusable before it was captured, leaving the soldiers helpless without supplies.

So what did they do? They created portable floating ports out of concrete called mulberry’s and dragged them along with the invasion fleet to France. Then the ships could quickly unload them while the real port could be secured, fixed up and used. They had one purpose and were designed to be temporary fixes. (It worked brilliantly, by the way.)

So what does this have to do with you - a nonprofit trying to make sense of all the possible things you can do online? You can create a “mulberry” of your own!

A mulberry is simply a micro-site of sorts and works the same way as WWII mulberry’s. They aren’t permanent flagships for your organization – they’re temporary and are designed for a specific purpose, to support one particular campaign. They are designed to get people to do something!

The beauty of a mulberry is that ANYONE can do one - whether you have a main website or not, whether you have a huge budget for online activity or zero, whether you’re a techy or not - this is something you can do!

So what kind of mulberry should you create? Well, first, don’t limit yourself to one! Second, focus on an upcoming campaign or project and build the site around that, be it a holiday clothing drive, a letter writing project, a petition for volunteers to help deliver food baskets, etc.

There are all sorts of places you can go to create your site. A handful of options are: Wordpress.org, Homestead.com, Freewebs.com, Bravenet.com, or Firstgiving.com.

Now, after you create your mulberry, don’t forget to PROMOTE IT! Talk about in your newsletter, write a press release, make it the topic of your next direct mail piece, and call some of your best donors and encourage them to get involved.

With a little effort, you can build a lot of excitement and energy around the cause you’re working for, but it has to begin with YOU!