The Minnesota International NGO Network (MINN) serves to connect humanitarian and development practitioners and supporters based in Minnesota but working or serving people internationally, through education, networking, and information resources.
MINN seeks to create and support a cadre of Minnesota professionals who provide relevant, quality services, partnerships and resources to those in developing communities across the globe. Minnesota is filled with highly philanthropic and service-minded individuals who consider those beyond our borders. Through our website and the events we host, MINN makes connections between these professionals and organizations to bring about greater collaboration on international efforts, increased knowledge of best practices, and wider exposure of the work and achievements of Minnesota-based practitioners.
MINN is your forum to connect with colleagues and stay aware of what other NGOs based in Minnesota are doing around the world. We host a large amount of networking and educational events throughout the year, frequently in partnership with community organizations and local experts, including social gatherings and meet and greets, seminars, expert panels, brown-bag lunches, and roundtable discussions. Additionally, our annual MINN IDEA Summit is the largest gathering of international practitioners in the state.
MINN’s website serves as a vital connection for interested parties to plug into and network with the high number of Minnesota-based organizations and individuals working in the international development field. Our website is central to our work and to the connections we make and foster within this community. MINN was founded in the spring of 2005 and gained its 501(c)3 status in 2012.
What new functionality we are looking for
We have 10 main goals for our website:
1. Update/improve the MINN website design to make it more sophisticated and user-friendly for those visiting our site, including MINN supporters who will visit our page from other countries.
2. Create a streamlined layout and tab design that guides users to all of our services and resources, rather than force users to face a maze of fractured links and pages.
3. Nimble templates that can be customized as MINN branding grows and changes (e.g. changing template colors, font, etc.)
4. Ensure that the Salesforce integration/portal pages and Paypal plug-in look "native" to the rest of the website.
5. Eventbrite integration, as we host numerous events every year.
6. Calendar that more effectively displays upcoming events to users.
7. Ensure that MINN volunteers can add content via cloud platforms with minimal training.
8. Clean archiving and cataloguing for news articles.
9. Easy web administration for non-web trained individuals.
10. Capability for adding login and password accessible-only web page content.
While the list above is our priority, we are very open to other ideas / suggestions that The Nerdery Web Team might have to improve our site - you’re the experts!
How the new functionality will help
As a 100% volunteer-run organization, the only “office” or common space MINN holds is our website. Despite conducting most of our work and communication virtually, our website lacks smooth transitions, easy interfacing, and content that is well catalogued for use as a later resource. A new website will expand our online presence, increase our SEO, better communicate the opportunities available to professionals and supporters, help foster countless new links within our constituency, therefore, better serving MINN’s overall Mission.
Learn: Our “events” page alerts our constituents and new visitors to the multitude of upcoming internationally-related events and functions going on in the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. As a hub for organizations, we receive a large number of requests from organizations to expose their event and attract interested attendees. However, the current layout of the event pages does not display the calendar or list of events in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Likewise, it does not display the relevant information in a clean or efficient way. A new website that organizes this information in a more straightforward and eye-popping way will increase the exposure of ongoing events within our community, will support the growth of our constituent organizations, and will therefore fulfill our mission of connecting international practitioners and organizations.
Network: MINN is the largest convener of internationally-minded nonprofit organizations in the state. Our constituents come to us to find out what organizations to target for jobs, to learn who to contact about a challenge they are facing at their own nonprofit, and to find potential partners for collaboration on regional issues. On our "Organizations" page we highlight the enormous international humanitarian community that Minnesota boasts and supports. Yet, our current platform limits us to an unappealing and hard to find list of these organizations. Help us turn this comprehensive organization list into a more relevant and functional part of our site so we can better showcase Minnesota’s impressive community. In short, by supporting the MINN website, you are elevating the profile of hundreds of other Minnesota-based international development organizations working locally and abroad.
Exchange: MINN’s volunteers design and run our programming for the benefit of all Minnesota-based practitioners and the individuals they help around the world. We do it for the exchange of ideas, expertise, and career development know-how. Unfortunately navigation to the volunteer portions of our site is not completely straightforward and is uninviting. Connecting ready and willing volunteers to our various committees is crucial for our programming and our exchange, and we hope a new website can guide greater participation and connect a wider range of people. Another key place for this exchange is our MINN IDEA Summit, which gathers together international practitioners from around the state. A new website will focus on all of the exchange MINN facilitates, but the layout should also integrate and highlight the IDEA Summit to encourage attendance and communicate the benefits of attending this premier event. Finally, we are trying to build a stronger community of individuals who support MINN’s cause and want to be at the forefront of conversations on international development and humanitarian topics. Therefore, a website that increases membership and expands our exchange is of paramount importance.
A new website will help fulfill the three tenets of our mission by broadening the community network around the critical work being conducted by international organizations based right here in Minnesota, by increasing knowledge and access to international-related events, and by focusing on our annual IDEA Summit and other educational programming.