The joy of helping and why sometimes that can also hurt
This is a fun little share. I think we often forget that things we take for granted or that seem simple to us—aren’t always obvious to others. But also an important lesson.
I’m part of the PTA at my kids’ school, and before a recent meeting, I noticed a budget line item for the website that seemed high for what they actually needed. Curious, I reached out and discovered that it’s high because they anticipated an issue with the migration of their new website from the old.
After a few follow-up questions, they told me the domain had been purchased years ago by a parent whose child has since moved on and that parent is no longer responsive and was holding up from going live.
Fortunately, they were still able to log in to the WordPress site. I suggested setting up a redirect from the old site to the new one. The idea was simply something no one thought about, and it worked!
It’s not a perfect fix, but at least the existing links now work, making it easy for parents to find all the current and new information about donating food and other essentials to families in need.
Sometimes it’s the small things that make the biggest impact, and many times people are just not aware or, even more so, the thought did not occur to them.
It’s a good feeling knowing you made an impact, but it’s also important to understand the lesson. We’ve all seen it happen. A well-meaning volunteer builds or manages the website, then moves on… and suddenly no one left has the login. Emails go unanswered, ownership is unclear, and the organization is effectively locked out of its own digital home.
In this post, I break down a few simple, practical steps any group can take to avoid that costly loss of access and keep control where it belongs.