In this final installment of
Social Media Week posts, I would be remiss to not touch on the topic of
the blogging world. From personal to professional blogs, I’ve been
sharing my opinions for about two years now and have found this part of
the technical arena to be something that I love. Here are some things
I’ve learned:
Obviously as a nonprofit your topics will probably orbit around your cause and mission statement, so keep that in mind when you write. Avoid random political opinions, anything that might isolate your supporters or any negativity that would turn someone off. This is a great platform to share your heart and readers will keep coming back if they know that they’ll find something thought-provoking and informative.
2) Keep it Real and Relaxed – Unlike reports, news articles, and board minutes, blogs are meant to be conversational. Keep it relatable and avoid sounding like a textbook. If your readers are primarily donors, share stories of how your charity is making a difference or honestly share a difficulty that your organization is facing. You may also want to discuss a measure coming up on a ballot that directly affects your cause (without sounding too controversial or preachy). This is a great way to build relationships with your donors because they can truly see the reality of your cause on a regular basis.
3) Finding Content – Sometimes it can be tough to write on the same topic day after day but you just need to know where to look. I love Google Alerts; you can type in keywords that are the core of your topic and everyday Google will send you e-mails with lists of articles pertaining to your subject matter. Also try typing in keywords into any search engine; it’s amazing how many newsletters and websites are devoted to specific topics of interest. As a nonprofit, the Chronicle of Philanthropy and Mashable have great updates on the philanthropic world.
4) Creating a Blog – I’ve used WordPress for almost a year and a half and they have a great site if you want to create a blog. It’s free, easy to use and I’ve never come into a problem with it. It also shows you stats on how many people are reading your blogs, which posts are the most popular and it helps to sort out real comments from spam. If you’re considering starting a blog, this is the perfect launching pad.
Blogs are a great way to connect to donors and supporters by sharing updates, special needs, client success stories and plans of action. Through this form of social media you can expand on thoughts that would be limited on Facebook and Twitter or costly via direct mail. Blogs also are a great strategy to tie your donors in to future fundraising campaigns; instead of making the occasional ask you’re inviting them into your organization’s world one blog at a time.
In this series:
Happy Social Media Week – http://bit.ly/yKlkNr
Woman Uses Fundly and Facebook to Help Fulfill Stranger’s Last Wish – http://bit.ly/wluGiv
Twitter vs. Facebook: To Tweet or Not to Tweet – http://bit.ly/ADdqwn
Implementing an Online Fundraising Plan for Beginners – http://bit.ly/x5BymH
Starting Your Own Blog – http://bit.ly/yxR2kG
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