What color is your nonprofit's blog?
I've been looking at the examples the folks have shared in the WeAreMedia Module 3: Sharing Your Story Social Media Style, particularly blogs and thinking about questions, strategies, and frameworks that one might think about before getting into the nitty gritty of the tool itself. (We'll be doing the nitty gritty in October)
For some reason, I landed on this excellent post by Nina Simon that categorizes different types of museum blogs. I really like how she has presented the different approaches to blogging. This framework could make a terrific card/training game for blogging workshop, too.
So, I thought I'd take a stab at remixing it for nonprofits. It is a good series of questions and a great rubric.
- What's the purpose of your organization's blog?
- And your organizational web site isn't enough because ...
- Who will write for the blog?
- What is the voice of the blog?
- How often will you post to the blog?
- What happens if something controversial comes up, how does your blog react?
Here's a remix of the approaches mapped to other types of nonprofits:
Blue: Institutional Information Blog
This is a blog that provides information about the organization's programs and services. The content includes announcements, events, program happenings, staff changes, commentary, stories about volunteers or donors, and answers to stakeholder questions. The blogging platform makes it easy for non-technical staff to update a web presence.
Strategy Tip: Get multiple authors to write the blog posts aren't dependent on one person.
Examples:
C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition
Un Dispatch
Easter Seals Autism Blog
Indiana Art Museum
Green: Aggregate Content Blog
These blogs distribute news related to the content of the organization. These become the living version of the organization's topic areas and are typically made up of short posts that link to other content sources for
the full story.
Strategy Tip: Become an expert in news gathering and RSS and aggregate content for your niche like no one else.
Examples
Lime Green: Community Blog
These are blogs communities or group blogging sites created by a nonprofit that lets their stakeholders blog on their site.
Strategy Tip: You need a community manager and an engagement plan.
Examples
Bright Yellow: Specialize Content - Campaign, Event, or Program
These blogs are focused around a specific event, program, or campaign. While they may include organizational information, they primarily serve as a focused source on a particular issue or topic.
Strategy Tip: Bring in subject matter experts to blog for a limited time period.
Examples
- Live from the Ice by HSUS
- Relay for Life Blog
Light Yellow: Personal Blog
Though this approach is the gold standard for personal professional blogs, it can be adapted for organizations. These are blogs where an individual from the organization or small group of staff offer their personal commentary about their organization, programs, issue areas, or field. It's blog with personality included.
Strategy Tip: The person who writes this blog must be passionate about the topic and love writing. Or don't do it because of the many challenges. See also Katya's advice.
Examples:
Does your organization's blog fall into one of these categories? If so, share the URL and a lesson learned in the comments below.
I'm very involved with a China microfinance organization called Wokai. Our blog Wokai Adventures, falls into the light yellow category. It has become a place for founders Courtney McColgan and Casey Wilson to share their experiences in building a person-to-person lending platform to support microentrepreneurs in rural China. One lesson that we've learned is that supporters comment more actively on posts that are fairly personal in nature, that describe the steps, doubts, and challenges that go into building a new organization.
Posted by: Leslie | September 19, 2008 at 05:58 PM
Thanks for including Wayne's blog in your list of personal nonprofit blogs and for gathering all of these other examples. This is a great resource. A lesson learned for us at the Humane Society is to keep the review process quick and limited to a small group of people so Wayne's voice and personality aren't diluted from his posts.
Posted by: Meghan Goss | September 19, 2008 at 07:11 PM
This post gives the most clearly broken-down system for figuring out what, who, when, and why a nonprofit should be blogging. I haven't yet blogged for an organization, but I hope to be doing this kind of work as a public relations practitioner after I graduate from Clemson University. Your explanations and tips have given me ideas for tailoring a blog beyond a simple effort at being media-savvy and "with-the-times" to making new media serve my intended purpose.
Posted by: Tiffany Sellers | September 22, 2008 at 11:31 PM
Tiffany, thanks for your comment. I'm hoping to flesh out the tips by type of blog - there are general tips for all blogs, but I suspect there are specifics to each type. We both owe the brilliant Nina Simon a hug kudos for such a great framework. I'm remixing this into a piece called "What Flavor Ice Cream is Your Blog?" so stay tuned
Posted by: Beth Kanter | September 23, 2008 at 09:07 AM
Thanks so much for reposting this and for the great comments. Beth, perhaps we can work together to create a constellation of best practices around the different sub-types!
One thing I have been recommending to museums that are uneasy about blogging is to start an "institutional info" blog alongside something more niche, personal, or unusual. That way, your institutional voice is "balanced" by something traditional as you start blazing into more exciting, unfamiliar territory.
Posted by: Nina Simon | September 23, 2008 at 01:23 PM
It's worth adding that the color of one's blog should be representative of its target audience. For instance, white is a symbol of purity in Western cultures but the Chinese equate white with death.
So, if you're an international organization with a significant Chinese audience, you probably don't want all-white. The Chinese view red as a symbol of power (it's in their flag, for instance) so swatches of red can't hurt.
Posted by: Ari Herzog | November 14, 2008 at 03:10 PM