5 Articles About Nonprofit Blogs

There have been some great articles recently about nonprofit blogs. I am excited that people are still interested in this topic.

Sixteen nonprofit blog post ideas (Nonprofit MarCommunity)

31 Nonprofit Blog Post Ideas (Wired Impact)

21 Ideas For Your Nonprofit Blog (Bloomerang)

6 Offline Sources of Blog Ideas for Nonprofits (Business 2 Community)

6 Essential Components of Top Notch Nonprofit Blogs (Hubspot)

3 Nonprofit Technology Tips You Can Learn From Disney

1. "You'll never know unless you try"

Your organization will never know if social media sites, having a blog, adding new features on your website, or anything else related to technology will help your organization without trying.

2. "Always try again"

Your organization may not be successful at first with social media or online fundraising. You can always try again to make it a success.

3. "Wish I could be part of your world"

People want to be part of your organization! Make sure it is clear on your website how people can donate, volunteer, sign up for your e-newsletter, and connect with you on social media.

14 Things Nonprofits Can Learn from The Millennial Impact Report

The Millennial Impact Project published their 2013 Report.  Here are some of the findings -

• Millennials prefer to share information about the cause, not the organization itself
• Millennials use websites first to learn about the organization, and then connect with their social networks to stay updated
• 75% of Millennials like, retweet, or share content on social media
• Millennials like photos
• Millennials' biggest website pet peeve is when the information has not been recently updated  (I wrote a blog entry on Website Pet Peeves in 2005)
• Millennial Action Taken On Websites - 51% connect via social media, 46% donated to a cause, 46% read a blog post
• More than 60% of respondents liked it most when nonprofits shared stories about successful projects or the people they help
• Organizations should post regularly on Facebook with photos, infographics, and videos 
• Make sure the "About" section on your website is easy to find
• Make it clear how to get involved with your organization
• Include a way to donate on your homepage
• Show a clear call to action in e-mail messages
• Show how the money donated goes towards specific projects
• Include photos of who or what the money donated goes towards

How the National Museum of American History Uses Social Media

The National Museum of American History does a great job of using social media. Since today is the 4th of July, I wanted to share examples of how they use social media.

Blog 

The museum's blog, O Say Can You See?, has been around since 2008.  The blog has lots of content about their collections with photos in each post.

Pinterest
http://pinterest.com/amhistorymuseum/

Their account currently has 1546 pins, which is the most of any Smithsonian account on Pinterest.  Boards include American Flag, Flags at the Smithsonian (group board for Smithsonian), and Today in History.

The Smithsonian Twitter account shared their group board in a tweet on Flag Day (June 14). Their tweet was "Check out our pinterest board showcasing U.S. flag use http://s.si.edu/11nEJhX".  This is such a great way to spread the word about a Pinterest board.

Twitter
@amhistorymuseum

They share daily "Today in..." tweets with links to their website.

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/americanhistory

They post "Today in..." posts, links to their blog, and links to Pinterest.  Each post has a photo.

2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report

The Social Media Examiner recently published the 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report.

Miratel Solutions wrote about the report in their blog entry titled 4 Insights from 2013 Social Media Marketing Report Nonprofits Can Learn From.

This report was mainly for businesses, but nonprofits can also learn from this report. Both businesses and nonprofits have the same questions and goals when it comes to social media.

Here are some of the findings:

• At least 88% of marketers want to know the most effective social tactics and the best ways to engage their audience with social media. 
• A significant 69% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube, making it the top area marketers will invest in for 2013.
• While 58% of marketers are blogging, 62% want to learn more about it and 66% plan on increasing blogging activities in 2013. 
• The top two benefits of social media marketing are increasing exposure and increasing traffic. 
• 87% of marketers want to know how to measure their return on investment for social media activities. This question has been top of mind for marketers for the last three years.
• 26% are able to measure their social media activities
• 62% of marketers are using social media for 6 hours or more and 36% for 11 or more hours weekly. 
• The top five platforms used by marketers are Facebook (92%), Twitter (80%), LinkedIn (70%), blogging (58%) and YouTube (56%).
• YouTube is the top area where marketers plan on increasing their social media efforts.

Here are some of the similarities between nonprofits and businesses:

• Facebook was the top platform used. Twitter was the second platform used the most.
• Both want to learn the best ways to engage their audience with social media.
• Both want to learn how to measure their social media activities.