Ed Batista is on a bit of a tear about the strategic significance of blogging for nonprofits. It’s all about cultivating a human voice and engaging in a conversation. Right on, Ed.
Blogs are fantastic tools for individual expression, and they’re also fantastic tools for an organization seeking to reach its online audience precisely because blogging tools enable conversations, i.e. authentic, responsive, individual voices.
The significant common factor isn’t the underlying blogging technology, but how you approach your online audience. Do you hand down stone tablets from the mountaintop? Or do you speak in a genuine, human voice…and ask questions…and respond to questions asked of you? If your answer is “Yes, all of the above” then you’re engaged in an effective conversation with your online audience, and whether you’re using a “blog” or not is irrelevant. If your answer is “No,” then you’re irrelevant (or you soon will be) and a “blog” won’t save you from the scrap heap.
