ARTICLE
It's Time For Nonprofits To Become Expert Publishers
Most nonprofits have no shortage of things to talk about online: their mission, their activities, their needs. While it’s true that supporters want to be kept up to date on what the organization they support is up to (particularly how their donations are being spent), they also want to stay informed on the topic at large. Those nonprofit marketers and fundraisers who seek to educate and empower their constituents, rather than simply soliciting, may reap benefits in the form of increased donor loyalty and retention. So how do you get started?
Don’t Just Talk About Yourself
It’s fine to blog about your recent fundraising event or to send an email about a new volunteer, but if your communications start and end with what’s only going on in your world it’s unlikely that you’ll create real engagement. What would happen, instead, if you published expert content that your community could view as a resource?
Find Out What People Want To Know… and Answer Their Questions!
If your organization supports a specific cause, there are likely a lot questions about that cause or issue that you can answer. For example, a quick search on Quora for “alzheimer’s caregiving” returns dozens of questions. These are potential blog, seminar, webinar and newsletter topics that you can tackle in order to create value for not just your current constituents, but prospective ones as well.
Harness Your Internal Experts
If you’re worried about who will write all of this expert content, look no further than those within your organization. Your employees, volunteers and board members likely have some expertise around the cause you support – harness this knowledge! The more authors you have contributing, the more expert content you can publish.
As you start to create expert content, your nonprofit organization can evolve from just a cause to support to being a true resource in the community. Give it a try and see what happens!
Comments
3 Common Nonprofit Website Mistakes and How To Avoid Them
7 Reasons Why NPOs Should Shift Focus From Earned Media to Owned Media
3 Ways to Attract Cause Marketing Partners
Steven Shattuck
Laura Neidig