Led by: Rebecca Dvorin and Kaitlyn Zurcher

Overview � Organizations that utilize blogs can see

higher engagement and give people insight into the inner workings of a club.

�  Learn tips to promote your organization by starting conversations, sharing stories, and engaging individual members.

Why Have a Blog?

Blogs are good for student organizations because they can help communicate with the world in an organized and informational way.

Choosing a Platform: WordPress

�  WordPress �  Started in 2003 �  1 in every 6 websites runs on

WordPress, the most popular blogging platform in the world

�  Pros �  Flexible: themes, widgets, customization

�  Cons �  One-sided (difficult to make it social) �  Complex: more effort to set up and maintain

�  Best for �  Longer text posts �  Creating a hub for all online presence

University of Texas longhornhsa.wordpress.com

Choosing a Platform: Tumblr �  Tumblr

�  Started in 2007 �  Currently: 147 million blogs, 67 billion posts

�  Pros �  Interactive: emphasis on social engagement through tags,

reblogging �  Easy to post, great for mobile

�  Cons �  Informal �  Not as flexible

�  Best for �  High-frequency posters �  Visual/multimedia elements �  Interacting with audience

University of Alberta uofa-vasa.tumblr.com

Setting Up �  Choose a name: think simple, SEO �  Pick a theme: nothing too crazy; you want content to

stand out �  Set up an “About” page with mission statement/

vision, contact info, meeting times/location �  Tips:

�  Think about what you would want out of an org’s blog, both as a prospective and current member.

�  Make it so that handing over control of the blog to future members will be seamless (easy to keep consistent look and feel).

�  Consider having both a WordPress and Tumblr – different purposes, content opportunities.

THON Blog- use your own pictures

Keep your blog fun and organized

Also, always link to other social media platforms!

Find your focus and target audience

Example from Saint Michael’s College

Show your personality

From Harvard College Student Blog

Update Frequently

Pillar, a THON organization, updates often

Also…. � Use links in your posts � Respond to blog comments �  Join conversations � Utilize hashtags

Don’t…

� Make grammar mistakes � Be negative or bash other sites/

organizations � Plagiarize/steal photos � Use profanity

Content: What to Post 1. Blogs from members, especially leaders, to establish themselves as experts on a subject.

�  Examples: ○  Professional org blogging about internship

experiences, tips for younger members ○  THON org blogging about what they learned on a

trip to Hershey Medical

�  Why? ○  To give unique insight on a topic ○  To tell interesting, entertaining stories ○  To humanize the organization as a whole

Content: What to Post

2. Recaps of past events and promotions for future events

� Why? ○  To show that your org is active ○  An exciting recap/promo might make people

more inclined to go to future events

Content: What to Post 3. Calls to action

�  Get people to participate (fundraise, donate, volunteer, etc.)

�  Tell why people should get excited to help out ○  Go beyond a simple, “This is happening, please

help out.” �  Why? ○  People will feel more involved if they are able to

read about where the money goes or how other org members have benefited from doing something similar in the past.

Posts

�  Length � Relatively short; long posts lose interest

�  Frequency � Make a consistent schedule ○  Must be manageable (be realistic) ○  Be active ○  Try to post on the same day – i.e., if you post

once a week, schedule it for every Monday

Unique Tips � Use to optimization (not too much) � Pick one keyword topic per post �  Turn readers into viewers/members � Come up with realistic schedule for

yourself � Make as easy as possible to understand � Make it worth sharing

� Culture surrounding organization � Who is going to read it? What topics/issues

do they care about?

Thank You

� Please ask us any questions you have � Rebecca Dvorin: rdvorin18@gmail.com � Kaitlyn Zurcher: kaitlynzurcher@gmail.com