29 Nonprofit Blog Post Ideas for Content Marketers

Seventy-nine percent of marketers name blogging as their most effective strategy, and business-to-business professionals who use blogs generate 67 percent more leads than those who do not employ this tactic. Blog posts are a great way to highlight the success of your organization, build excitement around your campaigns, and provide a forum for continuous dialogue with your community. From a brand awareness perspective, quality content produced on a regular basis can also improve your overall search rankings.

Two of the hardest parts of the blogging process are nailing down what you want to write about and actually getting started. As a content marketer, few things are worse than feeling uninspired. It’s the bane of a writer’s existence, the proverbial thorn in our paw, the arrow in our Achilles’ heel.

That’s why we’ve created a list of blog post ideas to give your brain what it needs: exercise. Your brain requires it the same as your body. It’s how you strengthen your craft, juice your creativity, and produce valuable content for your audience. But there’s a reason we’re not all Olympic athletes. Exercise requires hard work and dedication. That’s why completing it in brief spurts—in the form of timed writing prompts—can make the process more manageable and effective.

Blog Post Ideas to Jog Your Brain

Use these 29 writing prompts to force your mind to hit the gym and create useful content for your audience. Dedicate 10 to 15 minutes of your time to each idea and free-write, or write without expectations. This is meant to be a creative exercise; you can always edit your work later. If you strike gold, feel free to keep writing and flesh out your post. If you get stuck, try moving on to a new topic. One idea may inspire another, so be sure to review your notes when the timer sounds and put a pin in anything you want to revisit later.

Here’s what you need to get started:

• A personal computer, or paper and pen
• A stopwatch or timer on your smartphone
• A quiet setting that works for you

Ready? Set, go.

1. Write About a Time You Felt Inspired to Make a Change

Maybe it was when you first joined your organization. Maybe it goes beyond the work you do, and it involves being moved by the passion of your friends or leadership staff. What moved you to get involved with your cause? Did something first upset, amaze, disgust, or disappoint you?

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Write About Your Favorite Part of Your Job

As a nonprofit professional, you’re at the forefront of some of the most inspiring work being done across the world. Even if you’re not in the field connecting with the people you serve face-to-face, what is it about the nature of your job that brings you joy and satisfaction? How might your readers relate?

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Write About an Upcoming Holiday

The holidays, hallmark or not, are a huge part of our culture and shared experiences as individuals. Use these occasions as opportunities to connect with your audience throughout the year. If certain holidays connect to your work more than others, those are prime times to explain to your audience what each day means to your organization and how they can help.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

4. Write About a Book (or Film)

Blood:Water posts about their book club on their blog and even hosts a discussion about it at set times on a Facebook event page. They first provide a summary of the book in their posts before discussing key elements like themes, impactful quotes, and questions for the group. Show your audience how you strive to always be learning by drawing insights from outside sources. Are you currently reading anything related to your work? Could your audience find value in it as well?

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

5. Write About Your Programs

Have there been any recent developments or news you could share? Your blog is a great way to loop your supporters into the work your organization does on a daily basis. These tangible events and milestones help them visualize the impact of their contributions and can spur them to continue their support.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

6. Write About Your Volunteers

Pat your volunteers on the back with a blog post. Do any of your volunteers demonstrate immense dedication and embody the values of your organization? Use this post to shine the spotlight on them and hopefully recruit others who might be interested in donating their time or skills. After you’ve brainstormed here, sit down with a few volunteers for testimonials.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

7. Write About Your Staff

Humanize your brand by highlighting the people who make your organization a success. Personal information and fun facts are a great way to make your team more relatable and approachable. For example, you might feature your founder to tell your origin story and strengthen your relationship with your community, or you might introduce your development director and mention a fun fact about them, like their favorite place for coffee.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

8. Write About Your Beneficiaries

Everyone has a story to tell. Help your beneficiaries tell theirs. CoachArt uses their blog to write about many topics, including the students impacted by their programs. Feature personal stories of the people you serve to make them more relatable. Tell a tale not of the masses, but of the individual.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

9. Write About Industry Trends

What current industry trends impact your daily operations? How does your organization continue to innovate? Are you taking steps to be more transparent with how you measure impact? Use a blog post as an opportunity to discuss hot topics across the sector and the initiatives that are top of mind at your office.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

10. Write About the Crazy Things Your Fundraisers Do to Raise Money

As a part of Blood:Water’s Save a Drink, Save a Life campaign, they created a blog post that featured a video explaining how to participate in the campaign. They asked fundraisers to give up their favorite drink for Lent to help raise money for clean drinking water, and the video showcased their engagement coordinator leading the way by foregoing her daily Diet Coke. What are some of the things you challenge your fundraisers to do? Write a blog post that both informs and inspires others to try an out-of-the-box idea themselves.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

11. Write About the Impact of a Donation

Help connect the dots for your audience by providing them with examples of what their donation could mean for your cause. What could $10 do for your beneficiaries? What could $100 do? What about a recurring gift of $25? Provide clear examples that will empower your readers to give.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

12. Write About Your Partners

You’re not in this alone. Who helped you get here? Who’s helping you right now? Feature your partners to not only give them a virtual high-five, but also to encourage an online relationship that is mutually beneficial and expands your respective networks. For example, a well-developed partnership might spark frequent guest blog opportunities that position your organization in front of a new audience.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

13. Write About Industry-Specific News

You can also write a post to announce any news that directly impacts your industry or organization. Mercy for Animals, for example, wrote a post to announce that the largest restaurant group in Canada had committed to using only cage-free eggs. This was a win pertinent to their entire audience and community. Rather than just reposting the news on their social channels, they took the time to highlight the news on their own blog.

What announcements could you give space to on your blog to help keep your audience informed about the sector? Browse your go-to news sources for some inspiration before jotting down ideas on what a recent headline has to do with your work.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

14. Provide Fundraising Best Practices

People are increasingly perusing the Internet to learn. What can you teach your audience? For example, you might provide tips on how to be a better fundraiser, or how to keep a pulse on industry news.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

15. Write About the Daily Grind

Every day comes with a new set of inputs and outputs. Look around the office. What changed today? Did you have a new hire? Agree to try a new strategy? Fail at something? Complete a project? Get a new coffee maker? (Remember, there’s room for humor in blogging, too.)

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

16. Announce Company News

Your blog is a great place for big time news as well. Big news can be a lot of things. Sometimes it’s the confetti-falling-from-the-ceiling type—such as meeting a fundraising goal. Other times, it’s more urgent matters, like sending a warning out about inclement weather. What announcements do you want to be sure to highlight throughout the year?

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

17. Write About Your Challenges

What challenges does your organization face as you advance your mission? Big or small, write about some of the things that stand in your way and help your readers understand how you’re overcoming them.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

18. Write About the People Who Inspire You

We all have a list of people we keep tabs on or look to for inspiration. Maybe they’re active in the space today, or maybe they’re from generations past. Consider which thought leaders you follow and what organizations you look up to. Maybe this even ends up being a blog post about your mom. In any case, connect it back to the work you’re doing and offer a piece of valuable information for your readers.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

19. Write About Your Donors

Many people donate because they have a personal connection to your cause. Consider your avid supporters and highlight their dedication to your effort by giving them space to share their story. After you identify people to potentially feature, email them for testimonials, or ask them to record a video of themselves that you can upload for your post. Ask them to share what supporting your cause means to them to inspire donations from your readers.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

20. Write About Something You Wish Everyone Knew

As writers we strive to share novel information. And as an organization dedicated to a specific cause, there’s probably a lot you know about your space that the larger community does not. You might use your blog as a platform to respond to a frequently asked question among your community. For example, in response to the recent water crisis in Flint, Michigan, charity:water received several questions via Twitter from community members. To address current and future concerns around this issue, they decided to write a blog post to respond for their supporters looking for more information.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

21. Write About Your Events

What’s up next on the calendar? Use your blog to support the narrative of each of your events. Call your readers to attend, and let them know about your results afterwards on your blog as well.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

22. Write to Reflect on Campaign Milestones

Milestones are an important part of the goal setting process. They help us measure our success and motivate us to continue forward. Let your readers know about these milestones to help develop a sense of urgency around your goals. Are you close to reaching a fundraising goal? Let everyone know that you just need a little bit more support.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

23. Write to Say Thanks

Thanking your donors is not only common courtesy, it’s a large part of your donor stewardship strategy. Brainstorm creative ways to thank your donors on your blog. Consider what you could include in a fun thank you video or open letter.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

24. Write About Your Next Campaign and Its Goals

Ready to tell the world about your next campaign? During your hard launch, post a blog inviting your entire community to participate. You might describe how the campaign came to fruition, or just provide the logistics, your fundraising goals, and how your readers can get involved.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

25. Write From The Field

Sate your supporters’ curiosity by providing regular updates on what’s happening in the field. When possible, a real time update to show your impact will help to legitimize your work in the eyes of your donors and reengage anyone whose interests might have waned.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

26. Write to Have a Dialogue

Your blog is a great place to start discussions. Consider asking your readers direct questions about fundraising or your events and ask them to provide feedback in the comments section.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

Alternative Content Formats

Here are three ideas that don’t necessarily require much writing, but do require a solid brainstorm. Use these prompts to generate ideas:

27. Feature a Guest Blog

What blogs do you follow and find most helpful to your work? Do you share audiences? Invite industry professionals, thought leaders, volunteers, or donors to submit blog entries and offer a fresh perspective to your audience. The King County Sexual Assault Resource Center features posts written by their volunteers to highlight their experience on various topics.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

28. Create a Video or Podcast

Eliminate the need to write an entire post and outline a short script instead. Athletes for Cancer used a video to thank their donors, volunteers, and advocates and wish their community a happy Thanksgiving. Would any of those prompts work well for your own video or podcast? Jot down ideas for possible non-written content.

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

29. Feature a Bunch of Beautiful Photos

How your post visually appears to a reader often determines whether or not they will continue reading. Break up text with photos to help readers digest information. You might even just compile a group of beautiful photos relevant to your work and provide captions in your post. What topics might lend themselves best to a photo entry?

Write for 10 to 15 minutes.

Use this list of blog post ideas to generate new content for your blog. After you’ve identified which concepts to build out, share them with your entire team to get their input. Remember that each post should be targeted to a specific audience, have a goal, and feature a call to action at the end to steward readers toward greater levels of support. Publish valuable content consistently in a clean and uncluttered format and you will strengthen your relationships with your community.

We’d love to hear about the content creation process at your organization. Do you write about a topic we didn’t cover? Let us know in the comments below.

Fundraise Smarter With Inbound