Be sure it works

Can you guess why I was the first one to register for CiviCon 2025? And for the post-conference sprint? And for the pre-conference Admin Training?

• Because I was worried about space running out? (It could, but that’s not it.)

• Because I was just so excited to see CiviCon happening in the US again? (I am, but that’s not it.)

How about this:

It's because I was the one who created those event registration forms.

Why should that matter?

Before I told the entire world that registration was open for those events, I wanted to be 100% confident that the registration process was solid.

So I logged out of CiviCRM. And visited those forms myself as an anonymous user. And then registered and paid. For each event.

Sure, I didn't have to. If I had skipped that step, everything would probably have been just fine. Probably.

But then again…

I spoke with someone last week at an organization whose main donation page had been broken for months before they realized it. Fortunately, a friend emailed him personally to let him know.

But from our conversation, we felt pretty sure that he would have spotted it long ago, if he had tried making a donation himself after the last time he made changes to that page.

Here’s the thing:

None of us are perfect, and any number of little mistakes can make it difficult or impossible for our constituents to take that next step.

And if they’re having trouble donating, or registering for events, or completing a membership form … you probably won’t hear about it. They’ll just move on to something else.

If you’re lucky, a friend will notice and let you know. Eventually.

But a couple of minutes testing it yourself … that’s usually time well spent.

All the best,
A.