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Share a link with the International MOMS Club!
Because we are an organization of mothers and children, the MOMS Club is very concerned with safety for all our members. Therefore, we have established guidelines for all MOMS Club websites. Refer to these guidelines as you create your chapter’s website. All sites (linked or not) are expected to meet the guidelines and all sites are reviewed before being linked. A reciprocal link back to the International site is expected from every linked chapter. If you have any questions, contact your Coordinator or email us at MOMSClub@aol.com. Identification of your site: * Be sure your website clearly identifies your chapter name and state (and country, if outside the US). * Our name and logo are registered service marks, so you must use them correctly: - Our name is “MOMS Club” just as it is on this Fact Sheet. No periods, no apostrophe, caps as shown. Use the circle R after the first reference only, as it is on the headline on this Fact Sheet. (In Word, you add the circle R by clicking on “Insert,” “Symbol” and the circle R. Subscript it to make it small and low.) - The mother/children logo may not be altered in any way. You may print it in a different solid color, but keep the design intact, with no changes. No shading, no multiple colors, alterations or additions. - Our slogan is “MOMS Offering Moms Support” with the caps as shown. - When you refer to the “mother” organization, call it “the International MOMS Club” with caps as shown. - Your chapter’s correct name is “MOMS Club of (geographic area), (state)” with caps as shown. Contact your Coordinator if you are not sure of your chapter’s correct name. Contents of your site: * On your website, give only an overall description of your chapter. If you wish to include a list of events, make it generic. Do not post meeting locations, dates or times. Prospective members should talk with an officer to find out where and when an event will be held. For safety, no one should be able to read your website and know where and when to show up for an activity uninvited. * Never post anyone’s last name or address on-line. * We prefer that you use only an email address as a contact on your website, but you may post an officer’s first name and telephone number, if you have her permission. Do not list anyone’s contact information without her permission. * Do not include a membership form on your website. That form should only be given out in person, by an officer, at a MOMS Club event. * Some people like to post pictures on their websites, but pictures make a site slower to load for many computers and posting pictures may not be safe. If you include pictures, make sure you have permission, in writing, of all adults in the picture before you post it. We suggest for safety that no children be pictured on any website. However, if your chapter chooses to post children’s pictures anyway, you must have written permission from both parents. Post only a brief description of any event pictured, and never include names, telephone numbers or where they live! * Do not publish any sensitive data, personal information or chapter activity locations on your site, even in a password-protected, members-only area. Passwords can be easily by-passed and may lead to a false sense of security about members’ personal data and children’s photos. Publishers of password-protected members-only areas on chapter websites must forward the password to the chapter’s Coordinator. Whenever a password changes, you must forward the current password to your Coordinator. * Do not include on your website any contact telephone numbers or email addresses for other chapters. Instead, direct mothers looking for chapters in other areas to us at MOMSClub@aol.com. That is the only email address you should include for inquiries outside your area. Do not list your Coordinator as a contact on your site. For mothers who cannot email us, you may include International’s mailing address: Inquiries, International MOMS Club, 1464 Madera Rd. #N 191, Simi Valley, CA 93065. This is the ONLY location address that should appear on ANY website, and it should only be used for International MOMS Club mail. * Do not try to list all the chapters in your area or state. This is misleading to new mothers and is impossible to maintain, as new chapters are being added all the time. Also, listing chapters discourages mothers from starting chapters in new areas and encourages them to try to join chapters outside their area. To help mothers find the chapter in their own area and to encourage mothers to start chapters in new areas, always refer any out-of-your-area mothers to International for the most current information about other chapters. * If you mention the number of MOMS Club chapters/members overall, be sure you update the total frequently. We are adding approximately 30 chapters a month. For the most recent figures, check the International MOMS Club site. * If you include any seasonal or dated material on your website, be sure you have time to update it frequently. A general description of the chapter’s activities will make a better impression on visitors than old, outdated material, which may make your chapter look like it no longer exists. * We would be glad to help you with your website. Ask your Coordinator to review your site before you post it. If your Coordinator is not on-line, contact us at MOMSClub@aol.com. Advertising: * Do not include any advertisements intended to produce income for your chapter, members or projects. Local chapters may only fundraise within their general geographic area. The Internet is an International venue, and only the International MOMS Club may contract with advertisers or perform fundraisers on a national or International level. * When ads are a part of the bargain to obtain free space for your website, include a statement that neither your chapter nor the International MOMS Club endorses any advertiser. Neither your chapter nor your members may benefit from that advertising. Links: * We only link chapter sites to International’s website if requested. All linked sites must meet these guidelines. To request your site be linked, contact your primary coordinator with your request and put “Links” in the subject line. In the email, include your site address, chapter name and state, and your name and e-mail address so we can contact you. All sites will be reviewed before links are added, and all sites are re-checked periodically after that. * Because your site will be linked to the International MOMS Club’s website, it is not necessary to link to other MOMS Club chapter sites on your own. By linking with us, you will be connected to EVERY other MOMS Club chapter website, and you will know that each of those sites has been reviewed for safety. If you wish to link to other chapters that are very close to you, be sure you have the other chapter’s permission before you post the link, and we suggest that close chapters only link to each other if they share a MOMS Club site. Do not link to chapters that are outside of your chapter’s immediate area. * If you choose to link to any other chapter sites from your website, it will take longer to review your site. You will not be approved for linking to International’s site unless all the other sites you are linked to are also approved. This takes much longer, and chapters linked directly to other sites will be reviewed only after we finish reviewing other sites that have taken our recommendation to only link to International. * At this time, the International MOMS Club is not establishing links to commercial or outside organizational sites. Please do not send us information on possible outside links at this time. We will announce when we will be considering linking to other sites, if we decide to do so. Responsibility and Liability: * Because of safety concerns, all Internet communications must follow these guidelines, including notices on community websites, Yahoo groups, MSN groups, Meetup groups, outside parenting sites, chatrooms and password-protected “member-only” areas on chapter websites. All our chapter sites are expected to follow these guidelines, even if they choose to be unlinked to the International MOMS Club site. * International maintains a directory of all chapter websites, including those who have not requested a link to our site. Provide your web page address to your Coordinator or email us at MOMSClub@aol.com so your site can be included on our database of websites, even if you do not wish to be linked. * All responsibility and liability for any and all content of a chapter website, public or private, and for any chapter Internet communications shall rest solely with the site, list or room’s designers and owners, and on the chapter’s officers. The International MOMS Club, its volunteers, employees and representatives are not responsible for any content of any chapter’s Internet communications, nor for any chapter website, linked or unlinked. If you have any questions, A directory of all web pages is maintained, including those who have not requested a link on the International site. Provide your web page address to MOMSClub@aol.com so that your site can be included on the database whether you want a link or not. Please direct any questions or suggestions for these guidelines to MOMSClub@aol.com
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