Review of Links on T/MC web site

[Daniel Bassill]

In May 2008 I invited interns from Korea who were spending a month in Chicago as interns with the Tutor/Mentor Connection to look at the Chicago Tutor/Mentor Programs listed on the T/MC web site, as a first-time visitor.

Here are questions we've asked them to consider:

* Home page features "mentoring or tutoring" with headline words and/or pictures

* Home page has easy-to-find subfeature of "mentoring or tutoring" with words and/or pictures

* Volunteer involvement opportunity is clear

* Contact information is clear so volunteer or donor can contact program

* Case made for why tutoring/mentoring is important

* Site shows role of tutoring/mentoring in workforce development

* Site shows benefit of volunteer involvement in tutoring/mentoring on the volunteer

* Site provides links to research related to tutoring, mentoring, poverty, education, etc.

* Site links to other tutor/mentor programs in the same city

* Site links to one or more Tutor/Mentor Connection web sites and/or Program Locator

If you register and log in on the T/MC site you can rate any of the web links and offer comments. We encourage anyone to do that. The collective wisdom of many people will offer a much better review than just the opinion of one or two people.

Our aim is not to criticize, but to help programs learn to use their web sites to attract volunteers, donors, and other needed resources so they can do more to help the kids and volunteers in their programs.

As you read these reviews I hope it helps you begin to build an understanding of the different tutor/mentor programs in Chicago. As leaders of these programs read the reviews, we hope it helps them see ways to constantly improve their own web sites, by borrowing ideas from other web sites or from these reviews.