Blogs for Non-Profit Orgs

How Non-Profit Organizations and Local Governments Can Use Blogs to Communicate with the Public -- Part Four
Americans Give $241 Billion To Charity In 2003
2.8 percent growth in contributions is highest rate seen since 2000
One thing that all non-profits have in common is the fact you’re all competing for a share of the same amount of funding. A big part of your success depends on your ability to get the word out to the public. It’s not all about fundraising, either. There is always something going on in the non-profit sector; either news specific to your org or to the field in general. Whether you’re part of a large multinational NGO or a small local charity, blogs can dramatically improve the way you communicate with stakeholders and the public at large.

In the past, you’ve most likely depended on good relations with traditional media, and some combination of website, e-mail, and printed or electronic publications. Printed magazines and newsletters are expensive to produce, and e-mailed items run the risk of being neither received nor read. A website by itself can’t always be updated as quickly as you’d like, and none of these provide the immediacy or the conversational attributes of a blog.

The ability to frequently contact a large group of people has some great advantages, in that it not only keeps the needs and focus of your org more in the forefront of their concerns, it also benefits your respondents, as they can feel they are more included in the workings of the agency.

Everyone – from staff, to the board, to the volunteers and the community at large can all be receiving the same message at the same time. The transparency you’re willing to provide will serve you well, and encourage participation through cash donations and volunteerism.

Because of the low cost, and ease of use, even the smallest organization is on a level playing field with the big orgs, with more resources. A single external blog can be maintained by one volunteer or staff member with a minimal skill set. That volunteer need not even work on the blog at your office, he or she could just as easily work from home or elsewhere. Posting general information on the doings of the organizations, and providing readers with an overview of your purposes and issues, this blog could well be the centerpiece for a variety of blogs serving different functions.

Most important of all is the ability to approach the public with your own message, unfiltered and limited only by your own creativity.

When it comes time for a major fundraiser or an activist project, it’s easy to establish another blog for that specific purpose. You can expand your reach in the community even farther with some dedicated promotion, in combination with your usual media contacts.
A volunteer monitoring a variety of blogs can serve as an emissary for your org, joining in discussions and encouraging other bloggers to participate in your project. People outside your org, but interested in your issues, can be referred back to the central blog for more information or to ask questions.

Some of these interested people may be inspired to start their own blogs, each of them reaching a different audience, and build a network of blogs related to, but not directly of your organization.

Once the campaign is through, the project-specific blog can serve as a record of the way things went this time, to be used for reference in future projects. This blog can be allowed to sit idle until it’s needed again. Meanwhile it can show other organizations how they can emulate your increased public awareness. Both your successes and failures can add to the growing knowledge base of using blogs for campaigns in both areas – fund raising and activism.

Here are some examples of non-profit blogs & resources:

Non-Profit Quarterly Article
The Food Museum
Center for the Public Domain
Citizen's League
Earth Share of Washington
Green Media Toolshed
Children Matter
NPO Blogs
Buzz Flood
Network-centric Advocacy

Links for sections of this series:
Pt. 1 Introduction
Pt. 2 All the Basics in One Place
Pt. 3 Blogs for Government
Pt. 4 Blogs for Non-profit Orgs

Author: Trudy W. Schuett | Jul 13, 04 | Permalink | 2 comments
Category: @ Trudy W. Schuett | Topic 2 Corporate Blogging

Comments

Trudy - do you have tips for using a weblog to promote a conference on social policy?

Posted by: Trevor Cook at July 13, 2004 11:12 AM

What I'm thinking is that it could be much the same as promoting anything else -- you define your potential audience, and then you present your message to them. This could be by sending e-mails to any media professionals you have a relationship with, for starters. But then it's always a good idea to seek out the bloggers you can see would be open to whatever particular policy you're conferring on. ;>)

Right now, there are still general forums and discussion groups related to blogging, and those would also be places to frequent.

Note I said, "frequent." In my experience there isn't much of anything to be gained by leaving a message at one of these places and disappearing. So it's really a case of developing relationships there, too. I'm presuming the blog promoting the conference has been listed with as many directories as possible; there are also beginning to be smaller topic-focused directories here and there.

It's a good idea to run an ongoing search with Bloglines or PubSub, so you can be alerted to new blogs, or others you weren't aware of that discuss your subject matter.

Posted by: Trudy W. Schuett at July 13, 2004 12:25 PM

About: The Global PR Blog Week 1.0 is an online event that will engage PR, marketing and business bloggers from around the globe in a discussion about blogging and communications. The event is scheduled for July 12 - 16, 2004.

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