Proving the Value of a Good Government Website

According to a recent survey conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, nearly 66% of mayors project their city will experience a budget shortfall this fiscal year and 81% anticipate a shortfall in the next. In a similar survey conducted by the National Association of Counties, 47% of counties are expecting budget shortfalls this year and nearly 82% said the shortfalls will continue into 2010.

So what does this mean for local government websites? It means that taxpayer dollars spent on developing a new website, or additional functionality, are under increased scrutiny. While you and I understand the value of a functional and interactive government website, it's not always immediately clear to all government leaders or tax payers, which is why we need to validate the value of our online initiatives.

Let the Numbers Speak for Themselves
The best way to illustrate a website’s value is with cold, hard ROI (return on investment) numbers. This is done differently in the public sector than it is in the private sector. In the private sector, especially with e-commerce websites, the end goal is converting website visits into sales.

In the public sector, the goal varies between organizations; Organization A may want to reduce customer service phone calls by placing interactive forms online, while Organization B wants to increase the number of job applications they receive via their website.

Let’s look how Organization A can determine their ROI:

1. Organization A records the number of incoming customer service calls two months prior and two months after the release of their online forms.
   
   
2. Organization A records the average time spent on a customer service call and the average hourly cost of customer service representative.
   
   
3. To determine their costs prior to using online forms, Organization A multiplies the average number of phone calls per month before using online forms by the average length of each phone call. This number is than divided by 60 (to define it in hours), than multiplied by the average hourly cost of customer service staff.
   
   ex: Average of 120 incoming calls/ week Each call lasts 6 minutes Hourly cost of staff is $11.00/hour
   
   120 x 6 = 720/60 = 12 hours x $11.00 = avg weekly cost of $132 x 4 = avg monthly cost of $528
   
   
4. After two months of using the online forms, Organization A uses the same equation provided in Step 3 to determine their new monthly cost.
   
   ex: Average of 65 incoming calls/ week
   Each call lasts 5 minutes
   Hourly cost of staff is $11.00/hour
   
   65 x 5 = 325/60 = 5.4 hours x $11.00 = avg weekly cost of $59 x 4 = avg monthly cost of $238. This is a monthly reduction of $290 and a yearly reduction of $2856.
   
   
5. Let’s say the investment for the online forms was $500. Organization A takes the gain from their investment, $2856, minus the cost of their investment, $500, and then divides this total by the cost of their investment, $500. They multiply the answer by 100 to achieve the percentage increase or decrease. In this case, Organization A experienced a 471% return on their investment!
   
   ex: ROI = [$2856 (gain from investment) - $500 (cost of investment)] / $500 cost of investment= 4.712 x 100 = 471% ROI
   

These steps can be easily adapted to any of your website objectives. The idea is to quantify your objectives to prove that your use of taxpayer dollars was a wise investment.

Award-Winning Validation
Another way to prove the intrinsic value of your website is to win a website award from one of the many prominent government associations. Obviously this is easier said than done, but when your website is honored as one of the best in its class by a group of government website professionals, both your constituents and leaders will take notice of your wise investment.

While there is no single secret to an award-winning government website, there is a rule of thumb that if you maximize online customer service and interaction, you are on the right track. When you do this, you will simultaneously impress the judges and better serve your constituents.

With the current status of our economy and tightened government budgets it’s more important than ever to maximize the use of every dollar spent. When you invest in a well thought-out e-government website, or functionality, you are investing in a medium that will streamline procedures and automate routine tasks. By providing a positive ROI analysis and winning government website awards, you are further justifying your educated decision.