Your Secret Weapon: The Overlooked Power of the Blog

With the meteoric rise of Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks, it’s easy to forget about one of the original social media staples, the blog. It’s true that the popularity of blogs has waned somewhat, but there are a few things blogging can do for a nonprofit that social media cannot, such as, share a lot of content.

In fact, the most important reason for a nonprofit to blog is because the organization has something substantive to say. The lynchpin of blogging, after all, is solid content – fresh, relevant content, frequently delivered to engaged readers. That not only makes for interesting reading, it also keeps search engines humming, because they love to index updated content. The result could be a rise in search engine rankings – a pretty nice payoff for blogging.

Nonprofit communications expert Allison Fine interviewed blogging expert Britt Bravo in a recent podcast for The Chronicle of Philanthropy and Bravo confirmed that nonprofit blogging is far from dead. On the contrary, Bravo says, social media “conversations are good but you want to push people back to your website,” and blogs do just that.

Bravo makes the point that a blog should not exist in a vacuum; rather, it should be part of an organization’s larger communications plan. “We need a blog” is not reason enough to start one. Bravo says it’s important to ask “clarifying questions”: What is the goal of the blog, who is it intended to reach, and what content will be shared?

Another related point: Blogs can easily be integrated with other social media. Blog articles should be shared via Facebook and Twitter, for example. Nonprofits should think about how to re-purpose content from blogs into Facebook posts, e-newsletters, and through other communications channels.

Blogs, says Bravo, are excellent tools for sharing longer content, such as commentary and interviews. They can and should be integrated with an organization’s website, but you need “an exit plan.” If there is a concern about whether a blog will be sustainable, Bravo suggests the possibility of starting the blog as a standalone project, separate from the website, to see how it goes before making a long-term commitment.

As for creating the content, Bravo says it is a common mistake to focus on who writes the blog. Some nonprofits, for example, think the author of the blog should be the Executive Director. That’s generally not feasible, since the ED will never have the time to blog on a regular basis. Bravo thinks readers are less concerned about “the who” than “the what.” If the blog is interesting, inspiring, and educational, and makes readers want to return for more, who wrote it is immaterial.

In terms of executing a blog, “be realistic about timing,” Bravo says. Making a commitment to blog daily doesn’t make sense if you don’t have the staff or time to do it. It’s more important to create a realistic schedule and stick to it; consistency is key.

How can a nonprofit improve an existing blog? Bravo says it’s important to review statistics and see what’s working. Has a particular post gotten a lot of media coverage or attention from readers? Which posts have been shared? Which posts have received the most comments? All of these metrics should guide the organization to ask, “How can we do more of that?” so the blog can be all the more effective.

For more about nonprofit blogging, you can listen to the entire podcast here.