Q: I’ve been hearing so much about online blogging lately, but I don’t really understand the ways that a nonprofit organization can use blogging tools?
Here are some different ways that nonprofit can use blogs to help their organization be more effective.
1. To report back from an event or conference
Example: Patricia Jones, manager of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee’s Environmental Justice Program, is blogging from the Fourth World Water Forum on the UUSC blog, Hotwire
2. To involve staff and take advantage of their knowledge
Example: The Walker Art Center’s blog contains postings from art center staff and others describing recent and future community programs and educational information about exhibits at The Walker.
3. To involve volunteers and document their work
Example: The surgical volunteer staff who do reconstructive surgery all over the world for Interplast upload posts to the blog from their worksite.
4. To provide resources and information to constituents
Example: AARP’s Blog is an online resource for a variety of aging issues such as retirement security, health and volunteering.
5. To provide resources and information from constituents
Example: The Best Friend Network allows its supporters to create blogs around animal and animal adoption issues that they care about. NetSquared’s blog is a community blog that anyone can post to about resources, events and information related to how nonprofits and NGOs can use the social web for social change.
6. To give constituents a place to voice their opinion
Example: Ann Arbor District Library System uses a blog for the front page of their site. Library users can ask questions and make suggestions about library news, announcements and events in the comments of each post.
7. To give constituents support
Example: March of Dimes’ Share Your Story blog allows families with children in NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) to share their experiences with one another.
8. To create the media coverage constituents want
Example: When the men accused of murdering Gwen Araujo, a woman they beat, bound and strangled after they discovered that she was biologically male, went to trial, the Community United Against Violence decided to use a blog to document the trial.
Because many of CUAV's volunteer bloggers were more knowledgeable about issues such as the trans-phobic tactics that were being used by the lawyers, they were able to address many issues that the mainstream media missed. The blog also kept people informed during the second trial, when media coverage had diminished, and eventually drew attention to the trial when the blog got news coverage.
9. To give constituents the power and tools to create change
Example: Human Rights Watch doesn’t have a blog, but specifically offers RSS feeds of human rights news to supporters so that they will blog about human rights issues.
10. To reach potential donors
Blogs are not replacements for paper newsletters or e-newsletters, they are an additional way to reach a certain audience.
To learn more about how blogging can help your nonprofit organization, visit www.netsquared.org
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