Blogs have been around for several years now and some nonprofits are using them to reach potential donors. In addition, more and more grantmakers are starting blogs. So does this mean your nonprofit should also start one?
Blog World & New Media Expo just finished up this weekend and here are some interesting stats about blog users:
* Over 12 million American adults currently maintain a blog; over 57 million Americans read blogs
* 89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years
* Technorati is currently tracking over 70 million blogs
* 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs
* 120,000 new blogs are created every day'; blog readers average 23 hours online each week
So should your nonprofit start a blog? That would depend on who you are trying to reach and what you want to accomplish. A recent study conducted by the interTrend's Knowledge Center surveyed 1,380 Asians including Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Filipino and Asian Indians, both in-language and in English. The study found that nearly ninety percent (90%) of respondents are online and seventy percent (70%) are visiting ethnic websites/portals. Asian Indians and Chinese spend the most hours on the internet and young Asian Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 are the heaviest users. If this is your target market, then I believe starting a blog might make sense.
I recommend that you start with the Nonprofit Blog Exchange and visit several of the blogs listed to see how other organizations are blogging (there are over one hundred blogs focusing on the nonprofit sector listed). I believe the biggest hurdle you will encounter is finding the time to consistently write posts. Fortunately, there are now 'blog-writers' that you can outsource this work to. Here are a few sites that have great articles to help you figure out if a blog is something your organization needs.
Nonprofit's Guide to the Blogsphere, from TechSoup
Should Your Nonprofit Blog? from Donor Power Blog
Should Your Nonprofit Launch a Blog? & Three Steps to Launching Your Blog, from Nancy Schwartz
Launch Your Blog With a Bang, from the Bamboo Project Blog
5 Tips to Start a Nonprofit Blog, from Have Fun Do Good
As a nonprofit executive director or development professional, wouldn't it be nice to read what leaders of grantmaking institutions are thinking of? Here are several interesting ones out there...
Beneblog: Technology Meets Society, Jim Fruchterman's blog. Jim is the Founder and CEO of Benetech
Bob's Blog, Robert K. Ross, MD, President of The California Endowment
SVP Blog, Paul Shoemaker, Executive Director of Social Venture Partners
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