How not to have a boring blog

What do most nonprofits blog about when they have blogs? Well, they talk about their cool programs. If that's you, take a look at this post on calacanis.com: Note to self: stop promoting, start thinking again (or "Scoble's Law")...

...people are really engaging me in discussions about what I'm writing, traffic is spiking, and so are inbound links.... Based on this I'm formulating the "Scoble's Law" which is currently stated as: The less you talk about yourself, the more folks will talk about you.

(For the non-geeks among us, Robert Scoble writes Scobleizer, a mind-bendingly popular blog on tech issues.)

That's advice many nonprofits could use -- and not just for blogging. Stop talking about yourself. It's boring. Talk about the world your donors live in. That's interesting. That's how you inspire donors to support you.

Thanks to JournaMarketing for the tip.

Technorati Tags: fundraising, blogs

Comments

[Karen]

Jeff,

You make an excellent point. Stated another way . . .nonprofit blogs, appeal letters, newsletters, websites, and so on, need to be “donor-centered.” Keep the focus on the donor and how their participation is making all the difference; it’s what the donor is doing and making possible. It’s analogous to any conversation in a social setting: Ask a lot of questions about the other person and what they’re doing – while keeping silent about yourself – and the other person walks away thinking you are a wonderful conversationalist and a very nice person. I believe the challenge for nonprofits writing their own copy is they’re so close to the work, and their passion is so deep they find it difficult to step away and see it from an outsider’s perspective. They may even think they have written something donor-centered when in fact it’s still focused on the organization.

[Michael Hoffman]

Great post. It is very hard for people who are used to top-down "voice of God" marketing to begin to have conversation.

Nonprofit management might ask, How can a conversation that doesn't talk about us, help us? Because through the conversation you show that you are an authentic, thoughtful source of information and action on your issues. Once someone is engaged on the issue many will naturally turn to you as the outlet for their support.