The #1 reason people don't give is because they aren't asked. The #1 reason people aren't ready to be asked is because they don't know enough about you, aren't engaged enough with you, and just don't keep you top of mind. A blog can help you change all that. Learn why yesterday's website is today's blog, and steps to take to turn your blog into a powerful constituent engagement tool.

1. How to Blog your way to Increased
Constituent Engagement and
Fundraising
Claire Axelrad
May 8, 2012
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Claire Axelrad
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5. How to Blog Your Way to Increased
Fundraising and Constituent
Engagement
Put it together and what’ve you got?
It’ll do magic believe it or not!
Bliggidi-BLOGgidi-Bloo.

6. Of all the killer social media engagement tools, it‟s
the „thingamabob that does the job.” Few tools, if
any, beat it.
 Businesses that write on
blogs get 55% more website
visitors and have 43% more
indexed pages in Google
than businesses that do not.
 Next to email, blogs are the
most mature form of social
media.
 Blogs are among top 5 social
media tools used by
marketers.

8. I. 4 Reasons You Should Blog
1. Create awareness among potential new
audiences
a. Don‟t just blog for SEO.
b. Think about who should know more about you.
Define your target audiences so you can create
relevant content.
c. Don‟t just think from perspective of your existing
audiences.
d. Create valuable content audiences will find/read/
share. (Websites get stale fast; Blogs keep us fresh).

9. 2. Build bonds with
existing supporters
a. Don‟t just take the money
and run.
b. Re-enforce messaging that
drew people to you in the
first place.
c. Ask for feedback; create a
two-way dialogue.
d. Be human; have the blog
post come from a real
person with a photo.

10. 3. Build your brand;
Establish yourself as a
thought leader in your
field
a. Your blog is the hub of your
content and where your
leadership can be showcased.
Show what you know better than
anyone else.
b. Offer useful tips and advice (e.g.
“news you can use”).
c. Report from conferences to show
you‟re on the cutting edge of the
latest advances in the field.
d. Have your staff post.

11. 4. Drive traffic to your website (and vice-
versa) Your leadership, and ideas you generate through
your blog, is what will drive this.
a. Get folks to subscribe to your blog; then link back to your
website (where, btw, your donate pages lie).
b. Put a blog subscription form front and center on your website
home page.
c. Use universal share buttons to ask folks to follow you on your
blog (in addition to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or whatever
else you are using).

12. II. How to Get Started Blogging
Plan First
 Persuade the “powers that be” this is a good
idea by sharing blogs from other respected
organizations.
 Put your blog into the context of your larger
communications/social media plan.
 Figure out your audience so you can target
your strategies to meet your goals, stay
personal and know to whom you‟re writing.

13. Select a Template
 Look at Blogger, WordPress or Typepad.
They‟re all free (you can pay for „extras‟) and they all
work. Generally I see folks recommending the latter
two for professional purposes. WordPress also has a
self-hosted installation option. I use Blogger and am
happy with it. You have to choose what you're most
comfortable with and what works best for your level of
expertise and for the defined purpose of your blog.
Look at some blogs you like; then make your
selection.
Trust me, they’re simple. I’m a trogolodyte, and I can do it.

14. Decide What You’ll Post About
 Develop a 3 month+ editorial
calendar with topics of interest to
your audiences.
 Cover a range of topics. Some folks
like chocolate; others vanilla. Have
something for everyone.
 Identify need(s) your readers have.
Ask customer service or your
receptionist what your FAQs are.
Offer help!
 Be confident you can change the
world by sharing your expertise. Go
to a relevant LinkedIn group in your
industry. What are people
discussing?

15. Light Bulbs are Everywhere
 Look at what others are
writing about; find a new
angle.
 Write about something
that matters to you.
 Write about something
topical. What‟s in the
news?
 Try to stick to one topic
per post. Attention
spans are short. Focus.

16. Decide How Often You’ll Post
 Recommend: One post/week.
 Too often? Quality can suffer. Readers can
suffer fatigue.
 Too infrequent? You‟ll lose followers.
 Ideal? What you can manage. Consistency is
key.

17. Decide When You’ll Post
 Recommend: Test for yourself
 Try different days of the week/times of day.
 Monitor which posts get the most page views.
 Develop a schedule; stick with it. Exception: A blog
schedule is about keeping YOUR peace of mind. Different things can
come up, life may throw you something you just HAVE to blog about, or
promotional opportunities may come your way. Blog when you have
something to say.

18. Decide on the Post’s Length
 Recommend: 500-700 words
 It‟s not a book; too long and you‟ll lose readers. 500
words is just one page double-spaced. You can do it!
 Aim for something you can accomplish. If that‟s shorter, try:
“Top 10 Lists”; Event photos with short descriptions; Excerpts from
workshops you‟ve already created; Summarize an article in your field
and comment on it. Voila!
 Strive for variety. Use different formats. Have some
fun. Example: Repurpose videos, play with cartoons or other graphic
images.

19. Write a Great Title
 Headline copy is read by 8
out of 10. Only 2 out of 10
will read the rest.
 Technically, it becomes the
link when the post ranks in
search engines. Use any key
phrase you think folks will search on here,
preferably towards the beginning of the
title.
 Limit yourself to eight or less
words, or 66 characters.
 Emotionally, the title is what
captures folks‟ attention and
conveys a first impression of
your brand.

20. Format so your Post is Scannable
 Headers and subheads: Ask yourself: If folks read only my
headers and subheads, will they get the gist of the article? If to,
you‟ve succeeded!
 Short paragraphs: Generally no paragraph should include
more than 3-4 sentences. One sentence paragraphs can be used
to add emphasis and break up lots of copy.
 Bulleted lists and numbered lists: These are easy to
scan and work well within almost any post.
 Bold, Italics, Underline, Color: These are excellent ways
to add emphasis and make content more easily scanned. Like
anything else, moderation is the key.

21. Add Images
 They break up your
copy, making it easier to
read.
 They‟re worth 1,000
words.
 They make your post
more likely to be shared.
Plus you can share yourself on
Pinterest. This is a great way to
showcase a different side of yourself
and perhaps gain a whole new group
of followers.

22. III. Finding Time to Keep it Up
 Spread the work among a team.
 Invite folks to write “guest” posts.
 Include “who will write this?” as part of your
content calendar.
 Designate a content manager/editor to assure
everything meets the criteria in your content
calendar, adheres to your brand guidelines
and doesn‟t look sloppy.
 Decide who‟ll reply to comments.

23. IV. Leverage Other Strategies
 Consider the blog as the
hub of your marcom
strategy.
 Repurpose; share
information in your post
on other platforms.
 Link to your blog from
your e-news. No more
scrolling for fans; less
work for you!

24. Share Everything Back and Forth
 The magic of blogs lies in
sharing.
 To be perceived as a thought
leader, you must be visible in
places where your fans hang
out.
 Link to your blog from your
Home Page.
 Let folks subscribe through
RSS feed, Twitter, Facebook,
LinkedIn, etc.
 Comment on other blogs to
raise more awareness of
what you do.
 Acknowledge your sources
and inspiration.

25. Nonprofit Blogging Checklist
 I‟ll provide a Top 10
Checklist summarizing
this Webinar.
 Unleash your inner
blogger… Create
inspiring, relevant
content... Become a
leader folks will follow
and, ultimately, invest
with to help achieve your
mission.

26. Go Forth and Conquer
 Axelrad Social Benefit Consulting
 caxelrad@alumni.princeton.edu
 Clairification.blogspot.com
 @charityclairity

27. Find listings for our current season
of webinars and register at:
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