Blogging is an excellent, low-cost marketing tool that offers nonprofit organizations a unique opportunity to speak directly to their supporters, share facts and stories about their mission in a creative way, and even reach global markets.  Posting regular blogs to your website has many positive benefits and will help your nonprofit thrive! 

Your organization needs donations, volunteers, and supporters to thrive and accomplish as much as possible. Blogs are one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website. They give your website more searchable content for Google to scroll and also give you more content for your supporters to share. This is an easy and free way for you to get more eyes on the cause and the work you’re doing.

Because nonprofit organizations need to make every dollar count, blogging gives you another way to compete in the digital space. Regularly updating your blog tells search engines your website is relevant and operational, so it should keep putting you at the top of searches and increase your visibility in search results. Plus, it doesn’t cost you anything to add a blog page to your website. You can also use other platforms like WordPress to blog for free. Think of blogging as extremely informative, free advertising.

Your blog will provide another place, outside of newsletters or social media, for your organization to share updates, events, or activities with your audience. In addition, it helps news outlets, reporters, and everyone else find information in real-time. The best part is that you can blog as often as you’d like, and your blog provides a space where you can be more creative in how you connect with your audience.

Your website should always have important facts and information about your cause and your nonprofit’s work front and center on your homepage, but your blog provides a creative space to not only expand knowledge but share original thoughts and start a dialog with your visitors. Some content you might share in your blog includes volunteer or beneficiary success stories, interviews with experts or nonprofit employees about the cause, a breakdown of how donations are used to further your work, fundraiser or event updates, upcoming conferences or classes, milestones, or goals achieved, or highlight a donor who’s done exceptional work to say thanks and inspire others with a powerful, positive message.

Your website serves as a hub for volunteer opportunities and to collect donations. However, your blog provides an opportunity for your work to connect with your supporters. Authentic stories and experiences powerfully connect with your audience. Donors and volunteers want to know that their efforts are contributing to the greater good, and they’ll want to see how it’s helped. Having confirmation that they’ve been able to positively impact someone’s life will encourage them to donate or get involved more in the future.

You should also try to share things like videos, images, charts, graphs, articles, and statistics to create more impact, keep things fresh, and generate more interest. Every cause is important and serious in subject, but that doesn’t mean that you have to stay confined to rigid perimeters when you’re sharing on your blog. The more diverse you can be, the more engagement you can encourage. However, make sure that anything you share is in line with your brand and your cause, and adds value to your nonprofit’s mission or supporters.

Having a blog helps your nonprofit spread awareness, establishes your organization as an expert in your industry, builds trust and connection with your supporters, and provides a creative space for learning and sharing. By posting regularly, and varying your content to include interesting visuals or stories, you’ll increase your audience, boost organic engagement, and build trust with your supporters.