May

25th

2011

11 Benefits of Blogging for your Nonprofit

May 25th, 2011 by johnhaydon

Ten years ago, blogging used to be called journaling. And  for good reason.

It was mainly pursued as a way of expressing one’s personal thoughts and ideas. Essentially a personal pursuit and certainly not a business tool.

But not, blogging has become an essential marketing tool for brands and nonprofits. Organizations like Oceana and the National Wildlife Federation use blogging as an advocacy tool, a way to more intimately connect with constituents, and a way to drive traffic to their website.

11 Benefits of Blogging:

Here are just a few benefits you can expect from blogging for your organization:

  1. Your blog will enable you to deepen relationships with your fans. They find fresh, relevant content that is useful them – and have a place where they feel heard.
  2. Your blog will be a tool to enhance and develop valuable partnerships with other non-profits.
  3. Your blog can be a powerful way to attract new visitors by demonstrating social proof.
  4. People using Google will find your non-profit a lot easier if you have a blog. Blogs get much more search engine juice than traditional, static websites.
  5. Your key executives will learn to speak in a more human voice through blogging.
  6. You, yourself will become a better writer through regular blogging.
  7. You can trash your marketing theory in exchange for valuable insight into why donors really give you money.
  8. You will experience a spike in the number of visits and depth of engagement from your fans.
  9. You can increase donor conversion rates with content that is relevant and useful.
  10. You’ll empower your board members to talk about why they love your non-profit, and possibly reawaken their sense of mission.
  11. Instead of waiting for your IT intern to return your call, you’ll communicate urgent news very fast with your blog.

How has your organization used blogging?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 25th, 2011 at 11:09 AM and is filed under Social Fundraising. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Casey Karl

    Blogging is a platform that I will begin using to share the voice of our local small business and non-for-profit community. I look forward to sharing the countless stories of how small businesses came to be in their respective towns and villages and how they support each other as well as the no-for-profits and other organizations within their spheres. I look forward to working with Estrella Rosenberg as well as Tim McDonald to build and share my community voice.

  • http://twitter.com/joewaters Joe Waters

    Good one, John. I know the power of blogging personally, but I’ve also blogged for nonprofits. A blog puts you in the driver’s seat of engagement with stakeholders. You can discuss what you want, when you want and connect tangibly and meaningfully with your audience. Your blog is also a greater stepping stone to other social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.nnStart blogging today!

  • http://twitter.com/joewaters Joe Waters

    Good one, John. I know the power of blogging personally, but I’ve also blogged for nonprofits. A blog puts you in the driver’s seat of engagement with stakeholders. You can discuss what you want, when you want and connect tangibly and meaningfully with your audience. Your blog is also a greater stepping stone to other social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.nnStart blogging today!

  • http://johnhaydon.com John Haydon

    My favorite line from you is “Email is where good stories go to die. Blogging gives them eternal life.:

  • http://johnhaydon.com John Haydon

    I don’t know Tim, but Estrella is a Blogzilla!

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  • Bwonson

    I love the idea … and the practice when I actually get the blog entries done. u00a0It is tough to keep it up. u00a0Which I know is a piece of the effectiveness. u00a0I am wondering about the best ways to get people to comment…or is that not as important as generating content? u00a0

  • http://www.margieclayman.com Marjorie Clayman

    Great post, and more importantly, this is such a great group. I think what you are doing here is FANTASTIC!!nnI’m working on an engagement series on my blog and as I’ve been going through it, I have come to the realization that what most industries need is not a general “this is how to use Social Media” resource. Rather, they need to know how they specifically can use Social Media to strengthen their companies or organizations.nnApparently you all beat me to that concept. Great stuff :) n

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