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* Share Your Story by March of Dimes (http://www.shareyourstory.org). Share Your Story, as described on its Web site, “is an online community for parents of babies born prematurely or who have spent time in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).” It offers parents a place where they can participate in discussions, create their own blog and connect with one another. “It’s a very sophisticated implementation of blogs,” Quinn says, “but it’s a really compelling way essentially to get their constituency in to tell their own stories and share.”
Blogs can be an additional means for an organization to cultivate constituent relationships, which can result in increased support.
“You’re going to have a lot more effectiveness with an appeal if your constituents feel connected and feel like they know what you’re doing and there’s actual humans who are working hard at your organization,” Quinn says.
It’s important to define your organization’s intentions for creating a blog. Determine what type of information you’re going to include, why you’ll include it and who it’ll be targeted to.
“Think it through as you would any other content source,” she says. “You certainly wouldn’t decide ‘I’m going to do an e-newsletter’ just for the sake of doing an e-newsletter. A blog is basically the same thing. You should define who it’s for, what it’s for, who’s updating it, how long it’s going to take and all those organizational thoughts.”
There are some key things to keep in mind when creating a blog. The big, first question is which blogging software to use, a topic that is the focus of the Idealware report Getting Started With Blogging Software.
Quinn says organizations should consider whether they’ll create the blog in house or hire someone specifically with html knowledge and technical expertise. A basic blog does not require the blogger to have much technical knowledge, but Quinn says if you want the blog to match your organization’s Web site, colors, show your logo, etc., these things are hard to do without technical knowledge. The blogging software that doesn’t require technical know-how doesn’t allow for this level of tailoring.
Other things to think about are the ease of creating posts; the ease of posting photographs; the level of moderation; and the level of support you want. Quinn says some blogging tools offer a high level of support, while others are supported by a community.
“You can go to a forum and get an answer, but there’s no guarantee that anybody will be out there to answer your questions,” she says.
Laura Quinn can be reached via www.idealware.org
To download a copy of the Idealware report Getting Started With Blogging Software, visit http://www.idealware.org/blogging_software/
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