Starting up a blog is a great way for charities to connect with a wide audience and promote long term engagement with the work they’re doing. By creating informative and valuable content, your charity can provide a better insight into your work, highlight your cause, and build trust with potential supporters and donors.
If you’re looking for some inspiration and motivation with your blog, then we’ve put together a list of the best charity blogs to follow.
These are a few of the best charity blogs to follow that share fundraising news and ideas, as well as important updates in the charity sector.
UK Fundraising covers all the latest news and updates across the charity sector in the UK. It’s run by Howard Lake, founder of the fundraising consultancy, Fundraising UK, which helps charities to use digital tools and channels to enhance their fundraising activities.
The news section of UK Fundraising shares important announcements and information that will help anyone in the industry stay up to date. And the charity blog shares regular posts full of useful advice and insights.
Fundraising Fundamentals is a blog run by international fundraising consultant, Tobin Aldrich, who aims to share content that focuses on ‘doing fundraising better’. Blog posts discuss key, critical issues in the charity sector and provide actionable advice that can help other charities.
Charity Choice provides a directory for UK based charities, and their blog covers ideas for fundraising, news, events, and volunteering opportunities. The posts are all quite short so it’s a good place to look for quick updates and insights.
JustGiving is a platform for fundraising that deals with thousands of different causes and charities. Their blog is packed with useful advice and valuable ideas that you can implement for your charity.
Plus, they produce regular ‘How to’ guides that deal with current issues charities face, such as setting up virtual fundraising events and online appeals, so it’s a good charity blog to keep your eye on.
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) shares lots of useful advice and fundraising ideas on the NCVO blog, which anyone working in the charity sector should follow. They regularly post round-ups about new policies and changes that will affect charities and non-profit organisations, as well as covering conferences and summarising reports.
If you’re looking for ideas and inspiration for creating content for your charity’s blog then take a look at these great examples:
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a non-profit organisation that focuses on encouraging and spreading kindness. The Kind blog is full of useful and engaging content that connects to the organisation’s audience and promotes its values. It provides useful resources, personal stories of people that have been involved with the organisation, and initiatives that followers can get involved with.
Charities are often trying to reach out to a diverse audience, and The Kind Blog is a good example of how to produce a range of content that will be useful to different people, but all in line with their main idea of promoting kindness.
From how to show kindness when you’re travelling to kindness tips for caregivers or creating a better culture in workplaces, there is plenty of content that’s informative and engaging for everyone. The blog posts are also fairly short and direct — covering the key ideas in a way that’s easy for readers to scan through and understand.
GiveDirectly is a charity that supports donors sending money directly to the world’s poorest people. The idea is that the recipients can spend the donations on exactly what they need, instead of charities deciding how they think they should be helped.
The GiveDirectly blog shares personal stories about the impact of donations to individuals, and provides insights into exactly how the charity operates. These come from a range of perspectives: staff, donors, and recipients. They share a lot of posts that further explain the benefits and success of how the charity works, which will answer a lot of questions that potential donors would probably have.
It’s a great example of how to share the work that your charity is doing. And it’s not all positives, they offer very real insights into the effect of their work, and even cover when things have gone wrong and the lessons that the charity has learnt.
By being so open about their operations through the blog, GiveDirectly is able to reassure donors and convey their key value of transparency. It directly tackles the concerns that have developed in recent years about how much of donations reach the people in need and what difference the money really makes.
The Women’s Aid blog, which focuses on women’s issues and fighting domestic abuse, is a great example of how to use content marketing to highlight the cause your charity is working for.
They share important announcements related to the charity’s work, as well as statements and insights from key supporters, and personal stories from people they’ve helped. They also share responses to current news stories about women’s issues that highlights where their support is needed.
The Alzheimer’s Society Blog is a great resource for the people that the charity is trying to support. They share real-life stories from people that have been affected by dementia, as well as the latest news, research, resources, and campaigns. The blog is able to provide more information and help to people that have been impacted, and supports the work that the charity is doing. This also provides a good insight for potential donors to how their money will help.
The Alzheimer’s Society Blog also uses lots of photos and images in their content that helps them to connect further with their audience, and focuses on the real people that they are helping.
The British Red Cross blog shares in-depth stories about the work that they are doing, the people they work with, and the realities of the disasters that they respond to. This content really emphasises just how important their support is, but also how much more there is to be done in each situation.
While these are often quite hard to read, they give their audience a better idea of exactly why the British Red Cross is so essential. It’s good to remember that a charity blog doesn’t have to be just full of success stories and positive news — it should focus on exactly why your charity is doing what it’s doing, and why you need support and donors.
Cats Protection rescues, treats, and rehomes thousands of cats every year, and they use the Meow Blog to share the stories of the cats and kittens they’ve helped. They also post content with advice for cat owners and other cat-related information.
The blog highlights the great work they’re doing and provides a lot of content that will be relevant to potential donors and people considering adopting a cat — so they’re successfully promoting their cause too.
By following the best examples of charity blogs, you’ll be able to pick up on the content and style that really connects with their audiences.
And while every charity is going to be different, there are a few best practice tips from these examples that you can implement:
This list covers the best charity blogs to follow for industry news and updates, as well as content ideas and inspiration from how other charities are using their blog to engage with their audience.
By following these charity blogs you’ll be able to improve your non-profit’s digital marketing, create better content and use your blog to support your goals.