Here’s why nonprofit organizations absolutely should be blogging ... and some sobering reality checks.

By Jeff Brooks

Blogging for Dollars

by Steve Froehlich
These days, it seems like everyone has a blog. By some estimates there are now more than 50 million blogs on the Web. Recently, it also seems like the number of blogs focused on nonprofit fundraising has dramatically increased. Many of these sites offer daily posts filled with news, advice and humor, but it remains to be seen if they’ll attract enough of a following to stand the test of time.

Here are five blogs that definitely are worth a look. They offer both useful information and an online destination for fundraisers who don’t want to feel too guilty when they’re surfing the Web at work.

The Agitator
Long-time fundraising strategist Roger Craver has been doing direct-response fundraising for more than 35 years. This past summer he launched The Agitator with co-editor Tom Belford. The two offer reflections on a wide variety of fundraising programs, and the site provides data on the latest donor trends; white papers and case studies on philanthropy; relevant lessons from the world of commercial direct and relationship marketing; and their own opinions on who’s “got it” and who doesn’t.

Donor InSite
Duke Smith is a vice president at the Russ Reid Co., overseeing Canadian operations from his office in Toronto. His blog, Donor InSite, launched in October 2006 and is one of the newest additions to the fundraising blogosphere. He offers one of the best sources of news feeds besides the AFP Blog and the DMNews site. Duke also uses multi-media to highlight creative advertising and public-service campaigns by some of the biggest charities in the world.

Donor Power Blog
Jeff Brooks at Merkle/Domain didn’t create the first fundraising blog, but many bloggers consider him the “blogfather” of this new medium. His posts on Donor Power Blog generally are geared directly to fundraisers and offer a mix of hands-on advice on how to increase revenue while encouraging fundraisers to respect and empower donors. In the “about” section of his site, Jeff writes in the third person, “He believes fundraising is one of the most noble of human endeavors. He’d like to see bad, misleading, fraudulent, thoughtless, and anti-donor fundraising consigned to eternal flames of woe.”

Don’t Tell the Donor
Perhaps the most humorous fundraising site on the Web deals with the gravest and most serious issues facing fundraisers today. The anonymous blogger who maintains Don’t Tell the Donor is known only as “a fundraiser,” who unlike many other bloggers, actually works at a nonprofit and not as a consultant. The author shines a bright light on the underside of philanthropy by sharing news and gossip about scandals and unsavory fundraising practices.

Where Most Needed
Where Most Needed is run by an anonymous blogger named “underalms” who says he is not just a watchdog. Instead, he describes the site as a “charity industry observer probing the deeper links and linkages.” The posts are always well researched and provide extensive citations for further reading. In a recent post, the blogger writes, “The charity industry is the business of selling dreams, just like Hollywood. Where Most Needed isn’t trying to emulate ... Consumer Reports. We’re trying to emulate Variety.”

Steve Froehlich is the director of development analytics at the ASPCA. Contact: stevef@aspca.org.

Should we launch a blog?” That’s what forward-thinking nonprofits everywhere are asking.

There’s a short answer to that question. (Hint: It’s yes.) But there are some complicating factors you need to think through.

That’s why we’ve taken a bloggish approach to the question and came up with five main reasons it would be a great idea to blog, tempered by the nagging comments that expose the problems within each reason.

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