Veronica Tang | @tang_veronica A "blog," which is a short form of "web log", is one of the most popularly used marketing tools on the internet. By using blogs, organizations or businesses brand themselves and establish their voice. A good blog gives visibility to the organization, enabling them to reach their potential audience. Considering the importance of blogging, many organizations spend a lot of time and effort into crafting quality content for their blogs. Most companies even have their own team dedicated solely to blog management.

For non-profits, this is not the case, as many simply don't have enough manpower to form a special team of writers. The value of a blog for non-profits should far outweigh the time it takes to produce it.

A blog can help non-profits in many ways. It's a great tool for non-profits to reach out and connect with their donors. Through blogging, non-profits can share their success stories and accomplish their mission. For example, if an organization helps cancer survivors, they could publish a how-to article for taking care of a family member battling cancer. Blogging drives traffic to your site, and helps spread the word about your organization.

Here are some tips for non-profits to make blogging a valuable digital asset:

1. Start by doing research on what people are saying about your cause. The result of this research might lead to ideas for your first few blog posts.

2. Write great content. Always write about thought provoking ideas, influential issues, or original opinions. You can read and follow other non-profits blogs to find out the hot topics for your specific audience segment.

3. Link to other blogs in your post. Linking to other sites and blogs improves your search ranking on Google. Additionally, the other blogs may link back to you and bring referral traffic.

4. Educate people about your cause and your organization. Write a post introducing your organization and your cause. Share why you think people should care about your cause. Let people know what you are doing, and how they can support you. Use your post to send the right message about your organization.

5. Share updates about your cause. Keeping others in the loop about events put on by your organization will make them feel that they are a part of your team.  You can also share short stories about your team members.