Hi Paul, It sounds a really good idea, I have a couple of comments that couple be a help or not.
Have a RSS parser you can then pull content from there current site (if they have one and if they have RSS feeds) this reduces the burden on them having to update two websites and open up pulling content from other sites. As you want to get the idea up and running fast why not outsource parts of the website to a third parties, for example events, there is a poster on here http://www.eventhq.co.uk that does it, they might have a web service available which would save you time writing that part? Ian On 7 Jan, 15:51, WebbedIT <[email protected]> wrote: > Luke in Glasgow is the winner so far ... looks like my post is going > to spark other sub-regional groups. Sounds like the makings of a > annual UK CakeFest type get together!!! > > As for the business idea, there is nothing tangible as yet to show. > The company name is LocalCause and it's aim is to make it easier and > affordable for not-for-profit organisations to communicate with > existing and potential fundraisers using their most cost effective > tool - the Internet. In essence we are going to create a one-stop > information portal and social network for not-for-profit organisations > to interact with anyone who is interested in their activities. > > I'm sure you'll be aware of sites like JustGiving and ByMyCharity > etc. Well I want to create a site which combines what they do with > something as informative as the BBC website and interactive as > Facebook or BeBo (that's the ultimate goal which will take a good few > years to get anywhere near achieving). We don't plan to compete with > the likes of JustGiving (over £5million turnover a year) and other > existing sites so will be looking to compliment existing service > offerings where we believe they are professional enough and of the > right ethos to align our brand with. > > For a cost of under £100 a year a not-for-profit will be able to > subscribe to LocalCause and create themselves a virtual website which > will appear in the directory of LocalCause. Within their virtual > website they can add News, Events, Jobs, Blogs and Manage Mailing > Lists to which they can send professional Newsletters. > > As well as their content being available within their virtual site, > all content is then pooled and displayed in the LocalCause portal > where socially aware users will come to read about the activities of > the UK's not-for-profit organisations, find out when events are on in > their area and interact via blog comments and newsletter > subscriptions. We will invest heavily in continual development of the > site with the wim to constantly add new features without increasing > subscription costs. > > When a user is reading an article submitted by a Cancer Charity in > Newcastle upon Tyne they will be served related information from other > Cancer Charities and/or North East Charities. Other facilities will > allow people who want to run in the Flora London Marathon or Great > North Run to search for charities with spare places or to express an > interest in other activities such as Coast to Coast bike rides or > Adventure Treks. > > I have excellent access to markets from the work I have done over the > past 5 years with organisations such aswww.fundraising.co.ukand I > have recently won a contract with one of the North East's largest > Council for Voluntary Services who exist to support the development of > not-for-profit organisations. > > Development has twice been started and shelved due to having to get > back on with client projects (I'm only a one man development team). > I'm confident Cake will not only cut down on the project's overall > development time, but will also produce a more maintainable and secure > application. > > I'm cutting my teeth by redeveloping one of my client's large apps > which is taking longer than expected, but only cos I have been lacking > motivation over the festive period (too many distractions, especially > the excesses of alcohol and chocolate). I believe I'm beginning to > make good progress, but would be good if I could get together with > someone who can look at my attempts and confirm if I'm using Cake to > it's fullest potential. > > It's an extremely exciting project which has been met with approval by > various business development/management consultants I have ran it > past. I even got into the finals of a Dragon's Den style entrepeneur > competition with it, but failed to communicate the concept in the > miserly 3 minutes I was given. > > I desperately want to bring this to life so will consider bringing in > whoever I need to get the ball rolling, but the barrier is the fact we > have no money to hire people and have very little chance of attracting > investment in the current climate. So the current plan is to plough > on alone and create a beta version of the site (it will actually be a > number of sites) using Cake and maybe then I can go looking for > investment etc. > > Paul. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CakePHP" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cake-php?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
