"
Nonprofit Blogs Worth Reading
The
nonprofit blogosphere has really matured in the last two or three
years. There are literally hundreds of blogs about nonprofit issues
available for your to peruse. Match that up with the fact that we still
only have 24 hours in each day and you have a challenge: How do I make
the most of this great resource and still get my day job done? We'll
look at how to choose the best blogs for you in a minute, but first,
remember this:
1. Blogs are nearly always opinion and not facts.
Certainly some bloggers (yours truly included) post facts, or links to
articles and findings, but the vast majority of blog posts are simply
the (hopefully) educated opinions of the blogger. My point is merely to
read them with that in mind. Just because one blogger says something is
cool, or new, or the best thing ever does not make it so.
2. Blogs are a really good way to take advantage of other people's time online.
I find that one of the best benefits of reading blogs is to find links
to news/research/findings that I might otherwise miss. Likewise, I post
links and new/cool stuff on my blog. In that way, everyone saves some
time and effort.
3. Even if you
don't read nonprofit blogs you have to be aware of what bloggers (of
all types) are saying about your organization. Whether it is a compliment or a complaint, you need to know about it and deal with it. Fortunately,
Google Alerts is there to help you keep track of coverage of your organization online
.
Click on the link. If you don't have a Google ID you'll
need one, but then you can set any search term you want. Google will
alert you by email to postings on the web that match that search
string. Start
with your organization's full name (in quotations) and then any
shorthand or acronym people may use. You may be surprised how often
people comment about your organization, and if they don't....at least
you know that there's nothing bad floating out on the net about your
nonprofit. This is a set it and forget it kind of app. Do this.
So,
with those thoughts in mind, and hundreds of nonprofit blogs to choose
from, how should you find and decide what blogs to read? Take a look at
my seven blog steps and I think you'll be able to winnow down the field
to the best blogs for you:....."
