Marijuana Policy Project Foundation

Donations page for MPP ("join" page)
MPP Foundation
fax 202-232-0442
P.O. Box 77492
Capitol Hill
Washington, D.C. 20013

Design notes: Lacks a plain "donation" page. Credit card info but probably not a secure page - not mentioned.

Creepy - there's no email address. This site will go nowhere until they provide an email address. There's nobody home. It's inconceivable to donate to a site that has no email address.

"membership" incentive - Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts, by Lynn Zimmer, Ph.D., and John P. Morgan, M.D., New York: The Lindesmith Center, 1997
"donat" doesn't appear on home page.
Not a mention of donating, at Enhance our activism and your own

Bad - note: Membership/join page http://www.mpp.org/join-mpp.html doesn't have a link which *is* shown on http://www.mpp.org/about.html -- the link is "why and how to join", http://www.mpp.org/whyhow.html. On the page where you ask to join, must put that link to page saying why to join. "why" page links to "join" form page, but not vv.

Of course, a detailed, hierarchical site map (search for "site map" at http://www.amptone.com/hypernav/infoaxcs.htm), linked via nav bar on every page, would be best of all.

Instead of big "HOME PAGE" linked gif at bottom of main pages such as http://www.mpp.org/join-mpp.html, strongly recommend a standard simple navbar with links to main pages including a "Donate/Join" link.

Confusing/ totally broken design: after I type contact info at http://www.mpp.org/join-mpp.html, am I supposed to click the button then fill in the rest of the form? Obviously not usability tested! And people wonder why online charity donations are only a third of one percent as much as non-online donations?! How am I supposed to remain calm and dignified when reviewing donation-page designs that are so staggeringly careless and ill-considered? It's like, oops, my cat walked on the keyboard and a donation page was accidentally created, guess we'll upload it and watch the funds roll in.

I almost donated with credit card, but it doesn't seem secure.

email announce:

Great news!

Thanks to the donations of hundreds of dues-paying members and a new

major donor, the Marijuana Policy Project is launching the first-ever

on-line monitoring system for marijuana-related bills in all 50

states. Please use http://www.mpp.org/WA to send a letter to

your Washington legislators at your earliest possible convenience. [or replace for another state]

In the next few days, you and others in your state will begin to

receive periodic alerts on important marijuana bills that are

introduced or voted on in your state legislature. (Probably no more

than three alerts per month.)

But, for now, we need your urgent help with the following ...

A growing coalition is forming to pressure the Bush administration to

change the federal government's policies that criminalize the medical

use of marijuana. Please visit MPP's site to send a pre-written letter

to your state legislators to encourage them to sign the coalition's

letter to President-elect Bush.

You might recall that in August, I sent out an alert explaining how

MPP needed at least $1,000 in donations from each of the 50 states in

order to launch this first-ever legislative monitoring system on the

Web. In September, I followed up with an appeal through the U.S. mail.

Thankfully, this project has turned out to be the most popular ever

among MPP's members and allies. We were able to raise more than

$127,000 to launch the legislative monitoring system, the cost of

which is above and beyond the general operating costs of MPP's core

work (with a $500,000 annual budget). Since October, the MPP staff

has been busily working to set up the technology and write background

materials for the 50-state system.

Would you please visit the site and send a quick letter to your state

legislators, encouraging them to sign on to the letter that asks the

Bush administration to change the federal government's cruel policy

that prohibits the medical use of marijuana?

Please let us know if there is anything you think we should improve in

the new system.

Thanks again. We wouldn't have been able to take our grassroots

lobbying campaign to this next level without your help.

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia

Executive Director

Marijuana Policy Project

P.S. If, in this message, we have directed you to a state Web site

that is not the state you currently live in, please let us know

by e-mailing us at Rob@mpp.org. Thank you.

Contact