It can be a challenge for small community groups to create or maintain a website that gives them the tools that they need. There are plenty of options for creating inexpensive or free websites, but they usually don't provide what you need to get the most out of the internet for your group.

You can create a website using something like Google Sites. Or you can use MySpace. Ning may be a neat option for some groups. You can always use Yahoo! Groups or Google Groups for email discussion lists, but that doesn't provide a web presence to offer useful information about your group. Meetup.com can be good for some groups. While each of these websites are good at what they do, None of them offer tools or features that are geared towards community action or organizing.

So what are your other options? If someone you know is web-savvy and technical enough, they can set you up a website with a free, off-the shelf, Content Management System. There are plenty of blogging-type tools that are great for this. Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress, just to name a few. The list goes on. You'll probably at least have to pay a web-hosting fee, and depending on who you get to do the work, you may have to pay them a fee to install and set the site up for you. The downside to this: you're still not much better off than you were with the options previously mentioned. Drupal probably gets you the closest because it has so many plugins that can be installed. But Drupal can be bloated and overwhelming. It can also make for a slow website. Democracy in Action is definitely worth mentioning here. Great tools, but can be a little expensive for a small group or one that's just getting started.

There is a new option. The folks at Bliss Campus have created a website specifically for the purpose of giving community groups an online place for organizing. You can add your group to the index, and assign keywords to your group. People looking online for groups in their area can find you by searching by city, state, or zip code. What makes Bliss Campus really unique is the way it makes it easy to find groups that have things in common. It's a great resource not only for linking people to organizations, but also linking organizations to each other. You may find groups working on similar issues to what you are working on, and Bliss Campus provides a way for you to get in touch with each other.

Other features of Bliss Campus that you can use for your group include a discussion board and volunteer organizing. If you need more, you will be able to subscribe to their advanced plan and also get online petitions, email newsletters, document uploads, and a photo album.

Even if your group already has a website, you can still list your group on Bliss Campus. It provides additional ways for people to find your group, and you may be able to utilize some of the features that you may not have available on your existing website.

If you are an organizer of a community group and you need an online toolbox, you should definitely add your group to Bliss Campus.