Blogging for Charity

This time of year often prompts people to look inward. We make resolutions and take stock of our lives. For bloggers, many of whom are already writing regular posts about their lives and thoughts, this time of year can be overwhelming. At some point you just get sick of thinking about yourself.

I mean, in theory.

If you’ve arrived at that point, I suggest taking an alternate route. Rather than continuing to blog about your hopes for the new year, your feelings about the holidays or your crazy Aunt Maude who makes everyone drink her homemade prune juice, try using your blog to draw attention to something else. In other words, use your powers for good. Here are some quick tips on blogging for charity:

Pick a cause, any cause
What do you love? You’ll be more enthusiastic if you pick a cause you’re interested in. For example, if you love gardening, you might look for local community gardens that need volunteers to help beautify your neighborhood. If you’re into gaming, find out whether your local game stores are running toy drives you can promote.

Add the info
Of course you’ll want to link to the organization’s website, but you should also add their contact information directly into your post. (Do take care to obfuscate the email address a little to defeat spammers. You might want to write it out, as in “fakeemail at domain dot com.”) Also remember that people are kind of lazy, especially during this exhausting season, so any additional information you can provide will help. For example, is there a hard-to-find driveway into the org’s parking lot? Talk about how to find it. Are they only open on weeknights from 6 – 9? Say that. And so on.

Contact the charity
It’s not egotistical to let your org of choice know that you’re rooting for them. If the organization knows about your post, they might want to link to it on their website or use it some other way. They may also want you to add more information, such as plugs for upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.

Set up a fund
A simple Paypal link (or a similar site if you’re anti-Paypal) on your main page can be a big help. After people read your post they should be excited to help the charity; don’t give them time to get complacent again. Take advantage of their enthusiasm by collecting funds for the org – and don’t forget to actually pass the funds along when you’re done.

Written by Kris Larson from Carthage
Posted on December 20th, 2007 and filed under Blogging
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