7 Ideas to Spice Up Your Nonprofit’s Blog

Blogging is an essential way nonprofit organization can both market their content and gain supporters/possible donors. In our last nonprofit blog post, we discussed WHY you should be creating and marketing your own content. To further assist in your blogging endeavors, we would like to provide you with this golden list of blogging ideas to get a blooming blogger started or keep the most experienced blogger from producing stagnant material.

Tell Your Story

Seems like you can’t throw a stone without hitting a ‘Tell your story’ blogging tip on the web these days. But there’s a reason for that: IT WORKS.

Recounting your organization’s origin and how far you’ve come since is a dynamic way to elicit emotion from your audience while also gaining their trust.

Answer Your Reader’s Questions

Have you received an email, social media or blog post comment asking the same questions about your organization over and over? Write a blog post with the answer! If optimized properly, people searching Google for these common questions about your cause may locate your blog posts, and consequently, your site. Some of the most common questions asked are:

• How can supporters get involved with your organization?
• How are you collaborating with similar organizations on a local, regional, or national level?
• What are the main challenges you face as an organization? How are you planning to overcome them?
• What are your annual goals, needs, and results?

If you would like to fill in the blanks on several subjects at once, consider creating a blog series instead of creating one mega blog post.

Keep Your Supporters & Donors Up-to-speed

Nothing beats hearing good news. What were the results of your last fundraiser? What were you as an organization able to accomplish? Inform your devoted peeps anytime a newsworthy occurrence happens. After all, your organization wouldn’t be in the position they’re in today without the support of their donors and volunteers!

Spice it up

Even the most brilliant blogger comes to their limit eventually. Blogging doesn’t always refer to researching a subject, sitting down and shoveling into a comprehensive blog post. Too boring!

To break up the monotony, introduce new blogging mediums like infographics and vlogs (video blogs). Use sites like visual.ly and infogr.am/ to create striking infographics. Vlogs can be created using a video camera (some people even use their phones) to discuss a certain subject. You could even create a compilation of organizational or fundraising highlights from over the years.

Other types of blogs used to shake things up are how-to’s, numbered/bulleted list posts, or round-ups. To compose a ‘how-to’ blog post, pick a subject pertaining to your cause and write a step-by-step guide to successfully complete the action. Topics could include “How to Recycle More Efficiently” or “What to Do if You Locate A Stray Cat”.

Round-up posts are a compilation of valuable blog or articles with a common, relevant topic. You could use your older blog posts however, I recommend using another blogger’s content. Doing so could result in a link back and increase your chances of building online relationships.

Numbered/bulleted list posts are extremely popular and eye-catching. Cover subjects such as ‘The Top 5 Ways You Can Support a Cause Without Spending Money ’ or ‘8 Things You Should Know about Pet Adoption’.

Post Success Stories/Case Studies

Sure, it’s simple to tell people how amazing your organization is, but allowing others to do it for you leaves more of an impression.

Request case studies or success stories from your supporters, sponsors, and volunteers. Ask them to write about what makes your organization so meaningful to them and why they plan to continue supporting your cause.

The Art of Letting Others Take the Wheel

There may come a time when you’re just too darn busy to blog. Don’t let your readers down! Request someone guest post for you. You could provide them with a topic or ask if there’s anything they’d like to write about.

If you’ve created connections with other nonprofit organizations online, try asking if they wouldn’t mind writing up a post for your organization. Let them know you’ll gladly return the favor someday. This could expose both your organizations to new audiences.

Promote yourself

Have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus? If not, start signing up now! Social media sites are a fantastic place to promote your blog content. Make sure to add social media buttons to your blog. This gives your audience the power to promote you on their personal social media pages.

Mixing up the type of blog posts you publish not only gives you a much need break from the norm, it continually provides your audience with something to look forward to. Keep these ideas in mind next time you’re fishing for blogging ideas. Write on!