While showcasing donors and volunteers and writing about where your fundraising money goes are all important things to put on your blog, they are not enough to sustain your content. Your audience craves variety and you need to provide them with it. To help you out, I compiled a list of unique blog post ideas that will keep your readers interested, engaged and coming back for more.
10 unique content ideas for your nonprofit’s blog
If your nonprofit blog is looking bland or repetitive, add some of these posts to the mix:
1. Then and now infographic
Has your nonprofit been around for a few years? Put together an infographic about how things have changed over time. Things to include:
- How many staff members and volunteers do you have now versus when you started?
- How many people do you serve now?
- How many communities do you serve now?
2. What would happen if you disappeared tomorrow?
Write a post about what would happen in your community if your nonprofit disappeared tomorrow. This should be a creative writing exercise versus a reporting of numbers. Imagine and write about how difficult it would be for the people you serve to find another organization (or organizations) to replace the services you offer.
3. Write from the perspective of those you serve
Another creative writing challenge would be to write a blog post from the perspective of those you serve. Write about what it is like to contact you for the first time – the fear, anxiety or confusion someone may feel when having to reach out for help. Write about how your staff and volunteers ease all those negative feelings and how they work to break down any cultural or language barriers.
4. Write about hope
There is no doubt that sad stories are powerful and generate donations, but if you only tell sad stories, people are going to stop visiting your blog because it is depressing. Write a blog post all about hope. About the hope you see at your organization, in your community, and in your world. Hope is powerful, too.
5. How-to article
Remember – your blog should not be all about you! The point of a blog is to build a relationship with your audience and no one wants to be in a relationship with someone who only talks about himself or herself. People know they can make a difference by volunteering with you or donating to your organization, but what else can people do? Write some step-by-step articles about other ways people can make a difference.
6. Propose a challenge
A similar idea is to write a blog post that proposes a challenge. Provide your audience with a list of simple ways to make a difference and challenge them to do everything on the list. You can even turn this into a social media campaign by asking your readers to share pictures of them doing the list items with you by using a campaign hashtag you created.
7. Answer some FAQs
Write a blog post that simply answers some of your most frequently asked questions. You can recycle this idea by making different versions for volunteers, donors and those you serve.
8. Get a guest blogger
Who is an influencer in your industry? Who does your good cause look to for the latest information, research or advocacy news? Ask that person to write a blog for you. Guest posts are great for everyone; you have one less post to write and the post will be promoted to your audience and the audience of the guest blogger.
9. Tell your community’s story
Nonprofits are most successful when they are in touch with their community members and involved in the community; write about how well your community embraces you and philanthropy, the community’s history and your history with the community.
10. Tell a story in photos
Instead of writing a few paragraphs about your latest event, tell the story in photos. This idea will require that you think ahead. Before your event, you will need to decide what photos you need. For example, you will need photos of the event set-up, the venue before the guests come, the guests coming in, pictures of each of the activities, people leaving, etc. You will need to use text to provide context, but keep it to a minimum; let the photos do most of the talking.
Keeping blog content fresh and exciting is a challenge, but these 10 ideas will keep your audience interested for months to come.
