Sean Eric Watson – TechEffect

On a recent NTEN CoP Emily Weinberg posted the following question:

It seems like one of the biggest challenges nonprofits have with blogging is coming up with content to write about. I'd like to start a discussion about this topic.

What type of content do you write about on your organization's blog? What type of content can nonprofits write about?

Here is my response:

I'm going to come at this from a different angle, but one I think will provide value. I am completely and totally sickened by the negativity and utter crap the mainstream media, and even NPR at times, is putting out these days. There are so many wonderful, amazing, inspiring things going on in this world, and we need to hear more about them! Sure our credit rating has been downgraded as a country, and we're in multiple wars, and the neighbors dog just will not shut up at 3am. But do I really want to know every single detail on a daily basis about how bad the economy sucks right now? NO!

So the thought I had in response to your question is this, we need stories about victories and reason for hope! We need them for ourselves to keep passionate about our work, we need them for supporters to keep hope alive, and we need them for the public which is desperately seeking outlets to address the challenges we face as a community, country, and planet. We need to hear about funding being well used and groups that are meeting their mission. Blogs with deep heartfelt emotional stories about individuals and communities served (of the type of The Story with Dick Gordon on NPR), and posts with real data showing what is REALLY happening in the world.

In my mind, the goal of a blog post is to engage the reader:
1> as a member of the conversation (it's a dialog, not a monologue)
2> as another member of humanity (we all want to belong to something bigger, and something meaningful)
3> as a potential supporter (we want to contribute to causes that make our lives of significance)
4> as a potential donor (when we are too busy, or the cause is in trouble, we throw money at it, it's just who we are)

And my naive, optimist, head in the clouds belief is that when we succeed at 1 and 2, 3 and 4 follow naturally. I think a decent blog post about a tragic story with a happy ending due to a nonprofit's actions is the kind of post that could spread through Facebook and the rest of the web like wildfire. And that means the org gets exposure, and the public gets hope and faith in the nonprofit sector to create a better tomorrow.

So my recipe in short:
1> make them cry
2> make them laugh out loud
3> fill their heart with joy
4> gain a loyal supporter

And my process for this is also important. Posts need to be from the heart, with some post-writing head filtering. I know two ways that work well for me in creating such content.

Approach Number 1
1> I sit down and meditate for about 5 minutes
2> I continue meditating but add thoughts of the content area I want to address (homelessness, malnutrition, genocide, etc)
3> I also add music, and for me that is a VERY powerful piece of the puzzle. Especially music with a strong emotional connection such as works by Chopin, and often music from movies (the orchestral music, not the pop stuff). Really powerful music that tags my soul even when I'm not meditating.
I always have to follow what poors from my soul with a round of editing for other humans to understand/connect with, but that doesn't take much time at all.

Approach Number 2
The second approach I like to refer to as verbal thinking. I have ADD and I've found that when I discuss something with another person or small group of people, it helps harness my thoughts into coherent and useful communications. Having coffee with someone and discussing the ins and outs of genocide and our role in it for example, usually allows me to tap into my passion, courage, and commitment to creating something of value, while also bringing all the major issues into my mind.

One of my favorite approaches is to sit and chat with someone, and then we both whip out the laptops and start writing. Some of my best work has come from that approach. Plus, with nonprofits, it has the added benefit of building the relationship of the staffers or even inter-agency folks that do the session together.

The most important piece for me though, is that is absolutely must be a positive and building conversation (like brainstorming). We focus on points of agreement and we focus on solutions and victories. I don't think I'm alone in my disdain for negative information right now. There's a LOT of crap going wrong in the world, but there is also a lot of good. We can serve two purposes as bloggers, build our orgs base of supporters, and provide positive news and reason for hope as well.