Guest Post by Britt Bravo: 8 Benefits of Having a Nonprofit Blog

Submitted by Britt Bravo, publisher of Have Fun • Do Good

Should all nonprofits have a blog? Nope.

Can having a blog benefit your organization? Yup.

Below are eight benefits of having a nonprofit blog.

1. Blogs help provide quick, up to the minute news about your organization and cause.

If you've worked for a nonprofit, you know how painfully long it can take to put together a newsletter. Blog posts, on the other hand, can be written in 15-30 minutes. Not only can you share organizational news as it happens, you can also comment on how breaking news in the world relates to your cause, or organization.

Tip: If you're going to use your blog as a regular communication tool, please allow readers to subscribe by email as well as rss. Many, many people do not know how to subscribe by rss. Use a service like Feedblitz or Feedburner Email to facilitate readers' subscribing by email.

2. Blogs can help you work faster.

Just because you have a blog, doesn't mean you should stop having an e-newsletter, or print newsletter. In fact, it can help provide content for both. If you've been posting on your organization's blog regularly, you'll have lots of content to pull from when you sit down to write your newsletter. If you're writing an e-newsletter, you can point back to the original blog posts, which will also drive traffic back to your organization's website.

3. Blogs can help you reach more people.

It's been said that people need to see an advertisement seven times before they will buy. Below are eight ways someone might read one of your blog posts more than once:

• As the original post on your blog.
• As an excerpt in your e-newsletter, and clicking through to read the rest.
• As a mention in your Twitter feed, and clicking through to read the rest.
• As an excerpt on your Facebook feed, and clicking through to read the rest.
• When someone emails it to them.
• When someone shares it with them using an AddThis like button on the bottom of the post.
• When they find it saved by someone on a social bookmarking site like del.icio.us, StumbleUpon or Digg
• When another blogger links to it on their blog.

4. Blogs can increase the search ranking of your website.

Search engines like sites that update their content regularly and have lots of incoming links; consequently, they like blogs!

For more information about nonprofits, blogs and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) check out Organic Non-Profit SEO, The Nonprofit SEO Guide, Blogs and Search Engine Optimization, and 2009 NTC Preview: Kevin Lee on Search Engine Optimization

5. Blogs can give you the press you seek.

Rather than crossing your fingers that a reporter will cover a story about your work, blogs can help you create your own coverage. For example, Community United Against Violence used a blog to cover the trial of men accused of murdering Gwen Araujo, a woman they killed after they discovered that she was biologically male. CUAV's blog eventually drew media attention to the trial when the blog was covered by the news.

Also, if you are writing about the same topics repeatedly on your blog, when a reporter is searching online for an expert on your issue, your posts may come up at the top of their search results.

6. Blogs can help your supporters and potential supporters get to know and trust you.

As important as branding is in marketing your organization, it is also important to step out from behind your brand, and show your supporters and potential supporters that there are real people, like them, running your organization. In an overly branded world, people are looking for ways to figure out who to trust. The personal, human tone of a blog can help.

7. Blogs facilitate conversations with supporters and potential supporters.

In my book, there are two things all blogs must have: a way to subscribe and comments. Now, I know that many organizations have a fear of being overrun with negative comments.

Thing is, if you want to build relationships through your blog, you have to have conversations. Think of the comment area of your blog like a cocktail party. There are going to be superficial commenters, sad commenters, funny commenters, deep commenters, thoughtful commenters, commenters you don't agree with, and once in a while, commenters you need to ask to leave.

For now, just worry about getting people to come to your party, not how to throw them out.

8. Blogs can be fun!

When choosing who is going to blog for your organization, please don't assign it to someone who looks at it as another thing to check off of their to-do list. Writing for a blog is a creative and social experience. It involves not only writing posts, but also reading and commenting on other blogs. Again, it's like going to a party, and no one wants to chat with the person at the party who'd rather not be there 'cause they were forced to attend.

What do you think? How has having a blog been beneficial, or not beneficial to your organization?

This article was originally posted on Have Fun • Do Good at http://havefundogood.blogspot.com/2009/02/8-benefits-of-having-nonprofit-blog.html by Britt Bravo:

Britt Bravo offers strategic consulting, social web empowerment training, and career coaching that teaches individuals and organizations to realize their big vision.

Comments

[Jonah]

We have also found our blog to be a great way to generate ideas for short video pieces that get sent out to targeted audiences.

A recent blog post about our campaign to save Charity Hospital in New Orleans.
http://www.savecharityhospital.com/content/state-admits-it-has-no-business-plan-new-lsu-hospital

A 90-second video generated from that post that got sent to our media contacts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugwu1w3Blrg

[Joanne Fritz]

Great list, Britt! I would add one caveat....only blog if you can keep it up. There is nothing sadder than a blog that has not been updated recently. I've linked to your post here.

[pmatthews]

Awesome!
This is a great discussion.I really enjoyed it.

Stay connected with friends at global personal networking.

[Britt Bravo]

Thanks for sharing the blog post about your campaign, Jonah.

Joanne, I'm with ya! That is one reason I tell folks not to use interns as their main bloggers because often when the intern leaves, posting on the blog stops.

[Scott Rooks]

Great post Britt.

It also is a way to stay visible during a recession when ad money is not in the budget. Which is were most NPOs are in todays world. Staying visible and actively networking and marketing keeps you, potential donors and supporters in the NPO loop. The recession won't last forever so its good to stay out in the community in a variety of ways and media.

Blogs are very personal by nature as you said and therefore perfect fits for the NPO. Thanks for mentioning the RSS subscription as it makes staying in touch a snap. Like reading a newspaper.

Thanks again I enjoyed reading your post.

[Ed Nicholson]

Good post, Britt
I believe it's probably embedded in what you say, but I think one of the benefits is positioning the org as a thought leader and subject matter expert on the issue they're addressing.
Though we're not a non-profit, the company for which I work is actively engaged in a particular issue. I'm constantly looking for meaningful online discussion around that issue, and place value in the organizations participating in that online discussion; providing news and information, food for thought, and connecting me with other members of the community engaged in the issue. Though it might not provide an immediate ROI in the form of a cash donation, sooner or later that value is going to be reflected in a way that is beneficial to the non-profit.

[Fei An Tjan]

Good post! Especially liked the trust part blogs can provide and that it can serve as a means for communication with your customers. I think many companies don't realize that and still think about a blog as a cheap way of advertising their products.
Thank you for clearing that up!

[Britt Bravo]

Thanks for your comments, Scott, Ed and Fei!

Ed - The thought leader issue is a key one and I'm glad you brought it up. It is also important for organizations to think about their communications as a service to their supporters, as well as a service to the organization. Realizing that your blog can be a product and a value-add to your organization (by providing news and resources about the larger field they are working in) rather than just a tool to spread organizational news is important.