One of the most important tools for a charity blogger is the ability to write a strong call to action. Letting others know how they can help your cause without sounding too forceful is difficult and essential. While the sole purpose of your blog is probably not to bring in donations, it’s probably one of the reasons you maintain your blog. Strong calls to action in every post will go a long way to bring in the support you need to continue operating efficiently.
Blogging for Charity, Part 1, introduced you to a variety of content ideas to keep your blog fresh, relevant, and personal. The next step is to generate high-quality posts on a routine basis. In the second part of this series, we will cover resources you can utilize to help you post high-quality content.
1. Fundraising plugins allow you to accept donations directly from your blog. The beauty of a blog is that you can reach people from all around the world. Many of your readers will be unable to contribute to your events, but many will gladly contribute a financial donation if you make that option available online.
Some of the most popular fundraising plugins and their benefits are listed below for your convenience:
- PayPal Donations – Allows secure donations through PayPal. You can redirect contributors to a thank you web page, but there is no system for thank you emails.
- Seamless Donations – Allows secure donations through PayPal, and the system maintains detailed logs of all donations. You can send out automated thank you emails and set up different payment levels. You can add the code to place this feature anywhere on your blog or website.
- Donation Can – Allows secure donations through PayPal and shows a list of donors on your website. It also includes a thermometer image to show readers how close you are to reaching fundraising goals. Contributors are redirected to a thank you web page after donating.
2. If you don’t use Donation Can to accept online donations, you can use plugins like Donation Thermometer to place thermometer images on your blog. The idea is to show blog visitors how close you are to reaching specific fundraising goals. As you get closer to your goals, readers will feel more inspired to help the thermometer rise to the top by contributing more.
3. Donation Content Locker allows you to lock premium content on your website, opening it only to visitors who make a small donation. This is not a free plugin, and it is not a resource that every charity blogger should use. You have to present the locked content in a fun, attractive manner. Handle the words surrounding the locked content with care, and make sure the locked content is worth the price readers must pay. Some charities can come up with creative ways to use this feature, and it can bring in a steady stream of donations if you have heavy traffic to your site.
4. Blog-writing services like BlogMutt allow you to maintain a steady schedule of blog posts without generating all of the content personally. If you don’t know how to craft high-quality blog posts that entertain, educate, and inspire readers, it is always best to leave the writing to the professionals. You can still create some content personally and post updates as needed, but by relying on BlogMutt, you always have a healthy selection of high-quality posts ready for posting.
5. Linky Tools allows you to create lists or thumbnails of links going to other websites and blogs. You can use this to connect your blog to other blogs that promote your cause or to personal blogs of people actively working for your charity. This resource does cost a small yearly fee, but there are some free alternatives, such as InLinkz. This alternative service limits you to one list.
Even with the best resources, effectively blogging to support your charity takes time and effort. If you need some help taking your blog to the next level or starting a new charity blog, contact us to discuss your content management strategy and start generating professional posts today.
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