The Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Washington D.C. is one of the oldest and most active groups of its kind. It provides resources and activities for thousands of members in the nation's capital. 

This is my first NationBuilder site and I am constantly using it to develop new tools and techniques that unleash the potential of its user base. Here are some of the latest features:

Sourcing Forum Questions

We launched a bulletin board-style page at http://www.rpcvw.org/ask_peace_corps to source questions for a public forum. Members were encouraged to post questions with a simple form. Others could then comment on or vote on the worthiness of the question. The most popular questions were incorporated into the event.

Country Group Directory

Since many of our members also represent smaller groups, we wanted to offer them a piece of our website where they could advertise and recruit new members. This page, located at http://www.rpcvw.org/country_groups, allowed any logged-in user to post a group, upload an image (typically that country’s flag) and then write a small blurb about the group and its DC-area representation. A widget displays the 4 most recent entries on the homepage.

Featured Sponsors

We created a pilot advertising program where individuals or commercial entities can create a promotional presence on our website at http://www.rpcvw.org/sponsor_list. Sponsors create accounts, which are then tagged by an administrator. The names of sponsor accounts appear in a sidebox on almost every page in the website. When someone clicks a name, it reveals the sponsor’s logo and contact information, along with a link to a full bio page that the sponsor can customize.

Mentoring

We inherited a mentoring program from another organization and began working out a way to manage it through our website.  The mentoring system at http://www.rpcvw.org/mentoring is still in its early stages, but it serves the purpose of providing a secure platform for any logged-in user to declare mentor/mentee status and make contact. The page displays lists of “open” and ”matched” participants arranged by bio card that displays each person’s name, occupation, employer, country of service and a link to send an email. A mentoring committee, working behind the scenes, can then “link” accounts to track relationships and a system for establishing goals and tracking results is in the works.

Member Submitted Events

Due to popular demand, we created a calendar page that members could use to host community events. At http://www.rpcvw.org/member_led_events, any logged-in member can post an event. An event snippet will then display in widgets on the homepage and the normal events page. Posting an event is simple, and several members have used it to advertise fundraisers, picnics and interesting events.