The “Blogging for Nonprofits” Course

Kivi Leroux Miller December 13th, 2006

What Is a Blog?

• Web + Log = Blog
• Online journal of running commentary, in reverse chronological order
• Lots of links, in sidebar “blogroll” and in posts
• Posts are categorized by time and topic (aka tags, categories, labels)
• Content is updated frequently

Blogging Lingo

Giant Blogging Terms Glossary

Some key terms:

• Post
• Tag
• Comment
• RSS
• Feed
• Subscribe
• Ping
• Trackback
• Permalink
• Comment
• Blogroll
• Plug-In / Widget

How Blogs Are Different from Other Online Tools

• Easy, fast way to communicate
• Frequently updated (several times a week or more often)
• Brief entries
• More personal, informal style (usually)
• Heavy use of links
• Technology is generally easier to use and maintain than static websites
• People can subscribe in numerous ways

How Nonprofits Can Use Blogs

• Organize information for either internal or external use
• Communicate more frequently with people
• Get small bits of information out that wouldn’t warrant a newsletter article
• Involve staff, community, volunteers, leaders, clients in shared experience = community building
• Live blogging events as they happen
• Provoke debate and action on issues
• Provide resources, tools, information to people more quickly
• Increase publicity for your organization or issue - can spread from blogosphere to mainstream media
• Content development tool - cross-pollinate to website, newsletters, e-books, etc.
• Drive traffic to website - search engines love blogs
• Can even replace your website if webmastering is beyond your abilities

When NOT to Blog

• When being informal or personal scares you to death
• When the thought of publishing something without time for tons of editing/rewrites scares you to death
• When you can’t make the time commitment
• When you don’t want other people to comment on what you are doing (either through comments on your blog or on their own blogs)
• When you can’t articulate how the blog fits into your larger communications strategy

EXERCISE: Your Questions About Blogs - Post Them to This Blog!

Use the login information Kivi gives you and then write a new post in the category “Questions about Blogging.”

• Lecture & Exercises