Content management secret all NGOs should know

NGOs are always pressed for time and find content creation and distribution daunting tasks.  How do you manage to put out entertaining and informative content month after month? Information dissemination need not be a black hole which sucks up all your time. A well-planned editorial calendar helps! We share some tips:

• Define your goals: What is the objective of the communication? Getting donors to connect with your NGO is an ambiguous plan. Do you want donors to donate after reading one of your articles or posts – lead them there! Pre-empt a donor’s needs by using your content to communicate impact visually, numerically or in words. This is a great way to provide donors with a sense of satisfaction about their contribution to the NGO. A newsletter or a Facebook page are effective ways to keep media contacts updated about your work.

          Remember: Match your content creation goals with your fundraising or donor communication ones. It creates a sense of continuity.

• Define your channels: The number of social media and outreach channels available can be overwhelming. Don’t let it get you down! We’ve found that our own website is the most useful channel followed by an in-house newsletter and Facebook posts. Choose channels that are familiar to your donors and regularly measure readership/click metrics.
• Schedule your annual calendar: This can be in the form of a rough sketch. Choose a time of the year that is a slack period for you, rather than being bound by the calendar year. Brainstorm about a plan for the next 12 months. Don’t despair at the thought of generating vast amounts of content. A newsletter could be monthly or bi-monthly. You can schedule a newsletter summarizing the contents of your annual report, killing two birds with one stone.

         Remember: It’s better to put out quality content on one or two channels than to put out generic content on many.

• Plan your content: If you’re an NGO running a school, you can schedule a lot of content around the beginning of the school year. Encourage students to share their work or manage parts of the newsletter. Facebook pages like Humans of New York that tell the stories of ordinary people are extraordinarily successful on social media. Plan a series on your beneficiaries, human or otherwise! Remember to create content that goes out during the festive seasons, New Year’s, tax-planning season.

          Remember: All content does not have to be proprietary. Do share others’ relevant content (with due credit of course!).       Positive, upbeat messaging works well, do thank donors for their support.

Having a preplanned calendar will help you slot time needed to spend on content dissemination each month. Clearly defined goals help in creating content that is relevant and interesting to readers. Keep your readers coming back for more!