Managing a nonprofit is already more than a full-time job. Often,
when operating on shoestring budgets to make a dent in large-scale,
intractable problems like poverty or human rights, writing up a few
hundred words for a blog post can seem like the least important of the
myriad to-dos.
But that couldn’t be farther from the truth! For your supporters,
your organization’s blog is a window into your world. It showcases what
matters to you, how you’re achieving your mission, and provides insight
into the type of organization you are or want to be. Perhaps most
importantly, it’s a critical marketing tool to spread knowledge of your
work and the issues you prioritize to millions of potential supporters.
Yet, too often, nonprofit blogs look like an afterthought, with
infrequent posts, poor editing and lack of a unified voice. Rather than
give up and let your blog collect digital dust, try a few of these
strategies to make sure your blog reaches its full potential:
Define your objective up front
The first step is to determine what you want your blog to do. Is it a
place to showcase your research, field projects, and other activities?
Are you hoping to use it as a platform to raise the profile of your
issues and experts more broadly in the media world? Both? Answering
these questions can help you figure out exactly what your blog looks
like.
Organizations that rely on gifts may want to show donors what their
money has bought, or encourage passive supporters to become active
funders. In that case, readers may be your existing audience and the
tone may be convivial and community-oriented. The Alameda County Food
Bank in California uses its blog
to highlight community action and features volunteers and recipients,
nurturing both the community of volunteers and the organization’s place
within the community.
Groups working on under-the-radar issues or developing large
coalitions may strike a more journalistic tone aimed at non-supporters
and the general public. The UN Foundation’s blog educates readers about their programs and features on-the-ground stories that connect readers with people benefitting from their work.
Harness your staff’s creativity
Think for a second about Buzzfeed. While quizzes like What Flightless Bird Are You? and listicles like 17 More Smells ’90s Girls Will Never Forget
may not seem that important to your work, there’s actually a lot you
can learn from them. Buzzfeed is the most notorious purveyor of a new
style of online content geared toward catching people’s attention and
providing information in easily digestible snippets. The lesson here is
about creativity: while a painstakingly edited executive summary may be
the right way to start a report, long paragraphs and lots of jargon may
not be the best way to reach a blog audience.
Think about how you can best tell your story. It may be that a short
video clip, a photo slideshow, or listicle conveys the information
better than a traditional article. The most successful blogs—both
for-profit and non-profit—have a personality and aren’t afraid to try
something new.
Write something you’d like to read. Not every post will work, but
they all provide a chance to learn about what works for your audience,
your brand, and your mission.
Incorporate blogging into people’s jobs
Your staff, from assistants and temps to program managers and
executives, is doing a lot of great work to further your mission. But
part of making their work as meaningful as possible is sharing their
success stories, issue briefs, and opinions. While the communications
team may manage the blog day to day, relying on just a few people to
provide content can be limiting. Having multiple voices sharing their
real expertise adds excitement to your blog.
The Natural Resources Defense Council’s staff blog Switchboard
does a great job of integrating the organization’s diverse work
portfolio by letting employees tell their own stories about their
challenges and successes. There may be some push back at first, but
developing a smooth editorial process and providing guidance about
writing subjects and style can actually make blogging fun for employees.
Recruit guest bloggers (and their guest audiences)
Blogs are a critical part of outreach and a great tool for connecting
with other organizations and reaching out to new people. Guest bloggers
can offer a fresh perspective on issues that your organization covers.
It’s easy to see how publications benefit from high-profile writers that
bring an audience with their name. But even featuring local folks
(perhaps the beneficiaries of your work) and relaying their experience
in their own voice can add depth and engage your supporters. You can
also use these relationships to cultivate dialogues among practitioners
and develop on- and offline relationships.
Develop a promotional strategy
The worst-case scenario for a nonprofit is to devote time and energy
to a blog post that no one reads. The internet is a big and complex
place, so you can’t just rely on Google Search to direct folks to your
page. Integrating your blog into your other points of outreach can drive
readership. Your blog is a trove of great content for your official
social media accounts. Don’t be afraid to ask your employees to tap into
their own networks. Blog authors should want to share their work on
their personal accounts, especially your employees who’ve created a
strong online presence around their professional work.
Beyond social media, you have a lot of other ways to push your
content out. Make sure to feature your blog on your own website and link
heavily within it. That means not only links to the blog as a whole
from around your site, but also connecting posts together to give
readers a chance to delve deeper within an issue and learn more. New
posts are also ripe for inclusion in your newsletters to engage your
existing supporters. And don’t forget to practice good SEO, so that when people are searching key terms, your post has a better chance of showing up in the results.
Don’t forget fundraising
Behind every successful and influential organization is a team of
people finding the money to fund great work. While your blog shouldn’t
only be a vehicle to support the development team (after all, who wants
to read 5 posts in a row asking for money?), every post is a good
opportunity to turn a casual observer or activist into a donor. Consider
building a donation button into your blog’s layout to take advantage of
reader’s excitement about your organization and desire to contribute to
the change you’re making every day.
Eric Rardin is the Vice President of Business Development at Care2 and the ThePetitionSite,
where he advises on donor lead acquisition and multichannel conversion
strategies. He has helped nonprofits in over 100 countries, including
here in the U.S..Eric has an MBA from the Carey School of Business at
Johns Hopkins University, an MA in government and international studies
from the University of South Carolina and a BS in political science from
the University of Wyoming.
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