Blogging for Non Profits

Deciding to implement a blog on your website is no minor feat.  When redesigning their websites, nonprofits are often faced with the decision of whether or not to include a blog.  We know blogs are trendy and popular.  But what are the concrete benefits that a nonprofit can hope to gain from incorporating a blog into its new website?

Variety of Content, Variety of Search Terms

The variety of topics you can cover in a blog can help you drive a lot of search traffic you may otherwise not get.  The key here is to pick topics for blog posts that are related to your services but may target different aspects of your organization than the rest of your website content.

Improve Rankings with Inbound Links

If your blog posts are providing value to your visitors, there’s a good chance you’ll eventually start getting people linking to your posts.  Search engines decide how popular you are (and factor this into how high you should rank) partially based on your inbound links.  While there is a lot more that goes into search rankings, having inbound links to your website definitely helps you rank higher.  And blog posts are much more linkable than something like your “About Us” page.

Newer Content Often Ranks Better

Understanding the impact of fresh content on SEO is pretty involved, but there’s research to support the belief that all other things being equal, in many cases fresh content will often rank better than old, stale content.  Since chances are you’re not going to significantly overhaul your “Contact Us” page on a regular basis, your blog is a great opportunity to routinely infuse fresh content into your site. 

Blogs Help Hone the Way You Think About Your Nonprofit

There’s an old adage that in order to teach something, you must really understand it.  The same holds true for blogging.  Writing posts on topics related to your mission can help to shape the way you think about your mission altogether.  In order to provide valuable content, you’ll inevitably have to stay informed on what’s happening in your field.  You’ll also get a lot of practice explaining your mission and various aspects of your nonprofit in ways that are clear and understandable.  All of this will help you not only with blogging, but also in the way you think about and explain your organization to those interested in your cause.

Blogs Help Establish Your Authority

The internet is crowded.  Chances are there are other organizations, possibly even in your city that have a mission very similar to yours.  A blog can be a great way for you to stand out.

If you remain focused on providing value to your website visitors, a blog can help you to become regarded as something of an expert in your field.  Anyone can say they know a lot about a topic.  But a blog is a chance for you to prove to visitors that you actually know what you’re talking about.

Show Your Nonprofit’s Impact

Chances are you have way more stories about your impact as an organization than you can reasonably put on one webpage.  These stories can make great blog posts.  You can show the concrete positive impact your nonprofit is having on an ongoing basis in the community you serve.

Cover Your Nonprofit’s Events

There’s a good chance most of the events you host don’t get a whole lot of media coverage.  Cover it yourself.  Take photos and videos from the event and craft a blog post.  Talk about the purpose of the event and what you were able to achieve.  Talk about what you’ll do differently next time.  Talk about ways that people who are interested in the event can stay involved or get in touch with your organization.

Show Your Nonprofit’s Personal Side

Your blog is a great opportunity for you to show off your nonprofit’s personal side that may not make it into your more traditional marketing.  Show your staff around the office or out in the field.  Give potential donors and volunteers a feel for the people behind the organization.