Homestead for Non-Profits: Customer Success

Joan on Government

Challenge

Joan Spiczka never followed local politics too closely until1998 when a measure was being debated in the Minnesota Legislature proposing the use of state tax money for a new stadium for the Minnesota Twins baseball team. She discovered in herself a strong belief for the separation between pro sports and state. She started following the issue closely on the local TV news, and then she'd go to St. Cloud Times Online to learn more about the issue. Joan began researching her state government on the Internet and then started a one-woman

Solution

On an endorsement from the Minnesota chapter of Women of Today, Joan decided to check out Homestead. As soon as she saw how easy the SiteBuilder was to use and the range of graphics and features it offered, she knew she had found what she was looking for. She had her site up and running in about 2 days, and she's been developing it ever since.

letter writing campaign on the stadium issue. As her knowledge grew, she soon began discussing this and other issues on the "Story Chat" section of the St. Cloud Times, posting links for others so they could find the information too. At one point, someone suggested she start a Web site of her own. Joan was very interested in helping others to learn more about the legislative process and the issues. But she had no experience building Web pages.

Success

Since launching her site, Joan continues to be a local leader in grassroots government as Township Supervisor for a central Minnesota Township, which she first ran for in 1999. The St. Cloud Times has added a prominent link back to her site from the "Story Chat" page where the idea for her Web site got its start. Joan has gotten great feedback from countless people, including local government officials, schoolteachers and others who say they've given her URL out as a reference for people interested in learning more about how their state and local government works.

"I always recommend Homestead because of the ease of use and the ability to make virtually anything that you want. I feel really good about providing a means for the public to learn more about the workings of their government."

Joan Spiczka, founder: http://joanongovernment.homestead.com

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