This post exploring reasons for getting involved with Non Profit organizations was written by Dr Mani Sivasubramanian from Money Power Wisdom.
Having my blogging structured around a charitable purpose has helped bring unique advantages, give greater visibility and made it deeply satisfying and enjoyable.
Here’s why you, as a blogger, might want to get involved with a non-profit too.
1. Karma. It’s the abstract, universal law that dictates that you reap what you sow – in the long run.
2. Prospects. Many people enjoy doing business with an organization that supports causes close to their heart.
3. Branding. Countless blogs and bloggers have enjoyed a ‘brand boost’ by being aligned with non-profit causes.
4. Inspiration. By seeing a bigger benefit from your blogging success, you’ll be inspired to work harder and push ahead to grow profits.
5. Purpose. While profits are ‘worthy’, a deeper meaning to what you do is a powerful driving force that guarantees sustainability and longevity.
6. Visibility. You get to leverage promotional activities the non-profit runs across multiple channels.
7. Taxes. In many cases, your expenses towards helping a non-profit will qualify for tax-breaks (but check with your accountant before you do anything).
8. Network. When you get behind a non-profit mission, you’ll quickly find yourself a part of a wide, caring network of like-minded people – with many benefits.
9. Sales. Yes, working with a non-profit can explode your sales, particularly when you tie it in with a promotion where your extra profits go to charity.
10. Happiness. In a deeply personal sense, peace, joy and contentment come from helping people less fortunate than ourselves.
These 10 reasons – and more – are what keep me involved in blogging, ezine publishing, website building and all my other online activities… because they all support my work at raising awareness and funds for congenital heart defects.
About the author:
Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian is a heart surgeon using his Internet marketing business to fund heart surgery for under-privileged children in India. On February 14th, in a worldwide event called “A DAY FOR HEARTS : Congenital Heart Defects Awareness Day”, he hopes to reach at least 500,000 people with the message of CHD awareness. You can help spread the word too.
The intrinsic reward is probably the most potent
An example of how bloggers focussed on helping nonprofits was during the, World Trade Center, Katrina and Tsunami tragedies – and now to some degree the Kenya tragedy.
Many had put Red Cross banners on their blogs and Web sites as well as having PayPal accounts to accept money for charities.
This is a very good cause that Dr. Sivasubramanian is going for the under previlized children.
I hope problogger will help to spread his good words. I will also try my best to spread this words as well.
As Darren has so often pointed out, the most effective bloggers are those who inject something of themselves into their content. And many of us, quite naturally, have a personal ’cause’ of some sort that begs to be spoken aloud. Where better to spread that word than in the ‘blogosphere’?
The simple fact is that the work of nonprofits — from community groups with a small local mission right through to major philanthropic foundations — are an essential part of any functioning and humane society. In as much as the internet is a reflection of the ‘real world’ in all its good and not-so-good aspects, an active nonprofit presence is vital to the health and balance of our online society, too.
Hi Darren,
You hit on an interesting subject area and one that is close to my heart as someone who runs an Non-profit network. Something that people often forget about Non-profit’s is that they quite often are forced to use the cheapest and most efficient means to get their word spread. This means that some none profits have to be quite innovative at times to be noticed or heard, shouting from the roofs doesn’t work. Those involved in such activities are also influential in their subject arena as well so those profit makers may also gain influence through the organisations network of contacts.
The branding boost that you talk about is an interesting one… A brand is only as good as the people behind it. One thing that bloggers need to be aware of is that they have to be authentic and really believe in what they are promoting. There’s no point being seen to support an NPO but not actively getting involved. Branding can be damaged by individuals acting irresponsibly but on the behalf of the brand so there are always two sides to these things and I think are something for individuals to be aware of.
One thing that I’ve not seen online is people offering NPO ad space for free (specifically just for npo’s) I’m wondering if anything like that would ever catch on… (random thought really)
Anyway I just wanted to say great post and keep up the good work!
Sarah
God created all humans, all people are not same, few people are have upper hand in regards to money or mind or distinct quality. And these are more responsibilities for helping other who don’t have these qualities.
And i suppose Dr. Sivasubramanian is one of them who is helping people who need more attention then any others, children.
I was quite surprised and very much impressed after I read an article on Dr.Mani and his objective in a national daily.. not only will a lot more people in India start looking at blogging as a viable option but the higher cause that he has taken up as well because of him which is great…
however, it is my personal opinion that charity done without humility is no better than not being charitable.. and if that is taken into consideration this post ruins the very purpose that it perpetrates…
this is not to take anything away from the doc, am sure he just had in mind getting people involved in charitable causes even if it is with the bait of more blogging success.. I just hope that more people take up any cause not for the benefits dr.mani mentions but simply follow his example .. it is indeed a necessity these days when we see that the ratio of people with and without privileges unevenly favors the former..
Many good points. Unfortunately the whole ‘make money online’ craze hit hard and too many people think about themselves first. It’s good to see someone who still thinks of others and dedicates a little time to blog for nothing more than self-fulfillment and helping others. Cheers!
As a blogger, author, and solo marketer, I’ve long wanted to work with a non-profit group. As strange as it sounds, it’s been difficult for me to find one in my area with a cause that matches my passion.
I put the project on a back burner while building parts of my enterprise, but this article encourages me to bring this focus to the forefront.
Very cool post. I have a friend who runs a non-profit that brings fresh water to an island in the Pacific that doesn’t have fresh running water. I’m going to give him a call. Thanks for the heads up.
When I started my blog, it was actually intended to be a job posting site with only one job listed per day. I realized that low traffic on the weekends would be hard to sell to employers, so I thought I would “donate” those posts to non-profit organizations. Well “selling” free trial job postings to employers without any traffic didn’t work out so well, so I decided to change my tack and become a blog about entry-level jobs.
I stuck with the idea of non-profits on weekends, and it has worked out well. The readers love it and the non-profits are excited to see their jobs featured. It also allows me to give a little more attention to causes that I think are deserving.
Well said points Dr.Mani. It was really very new to me seeing people write for non-profit and help others. Dr.Mani you are really a pretty real ‘good’ heart surgeon I’ve come across. Kudos..
As someone who works for a non-profit, you have to remember 2 things: 1) When working with (or for) a non-profit, find one that you are passionate about. Just like with blogging, if you aren’t passionate about the topic, you won’t get anywhere. And 2) Not all non-profits are equal. Many non-profits are funded solely by government grants, while others are funded by individuals. The latter are more “activisty” and the former usual have higher overhead costs. Consider guidestar.org or another non profit search engine before donating your time or money to them.
Good points shared Dr. Mani
Very happy to see a person working on a non profit for the welfare of people.
And most of the points in the post are well said :)
I’m thinking about sponsoring kiva.org on my new blog. It’s a wonderful system; a gift that keeps on giving.
Sarah touched on something I have been wondering about whilst reading Problogger. How can a ‘blog with a cause’ tactfully + ethically make money to fund into its cause (ie not for itself or overheads) without large ads and the appearance of being desperate or detracting from its main purpose!?
@Search◊ Engines Web – Absolutely, nothing beats that inner feeling of satisfaction and purpose that comes from supporting something you care about passionately. The rest is icing on the ‘karmic cake’! :)
@Sangesh, @rebecca, @Bits, @Fat Kid Unleashed, @maheshexp, @Chetan – thanks for your comments/feedback.
@Sarah – Great points. And highlight the fact that it doesn’t always take huge budgets to bring about meaningful change. Just yesterday I was privileged to help with Beth Kanter’s drive to win the ‘Global Giving Challenge’ – and in 8 short hours, the momentum gathered on social media (for FREE) took the donor count from 1,345 to 1,710… where ‘The Sharing Foundation’ now TOPS the leaderboard!
@maneesh – A national daily?! Wow, didn’t know about that. Do you remember which one, or have a link to it on the Web? I take your point about purely altruistic support for a non-profit being the perfect ideal. The reason this post took the angle it did is because, from years of testing various things to raise awareness/support for congenital heart defects, I’ve found it often helps to position it from the ‘user benefit’ perspective. Zig Ziglar puts it more elegantly this way: “You can have everything you want if you give enough others everything THEY want!” :)
@Solo Business Marketing, @Scott Magdalein, @Giada – Glad to rekindle that spark of passion. Go for it. The results are highly rewarding.
@Willy – Cool idea. Thanks for sharing it.
@Elizabeth – Awesome insights. Thanks for your post.
@Kinderlehrer – Interestingly enough, the ‘companion’ blog post I wrote along with this one, which I published on my blog, is titled: “11 Ways To Integrate Your Blog With a Worthy Non-Profit” you may find it interesting :)
http://MoneyPowerWisdom.com/11-ways-to-integrate-your-blog-with-a-worthy-non-profit/
All success
Dr.Mani
Karma brought me to this wonderful post!!!
we, 4 bloggers from Madagascar actively involved in our blogasphere, have decided to merge our brainpower and passion to creat FOKO. In Malagasy FOKO mean heart and when we plan to do whatever it takes to save our Nature and help our people, we didn’t expect to meet hundreds and hundreds of supporters !!!
Every Cause deserves a fight and I learn everyday from our successes and fiascos (mostly from the fiascos because it happens to hurt a lot!)
Keep on the good work all!!
Best,
Joan
I’m involved with my fiancé’s non-profit, albeit in a “can you come and fix our computers” or “help, our internet has gone down” sort of way.
I may not get much out of it branding wise, but it does give me ides to write about.
Great list. I think a good blog can really help organisations to get more visitors. There are many wonderful organisations out there, but many are not known to most people.
For me I’ve included two links to websites about bird conservation on my blog/website and I really hope this will help those organisations a little bit to protect those fascinating animals.
I did recently start some new campaign regarding non-profit to promote one of my blogs and I think it is really something worth.
I’ve been blogging professionally for 15 months now – but mostly about my career. I recently started a 2nd blog geared towards non-profit work/information, and it’s been intrinsically very rewarding. Yes, I’m running a few affiliate ads – hopefully they will generate some revenue, which will further help the non-profits. But even if we don’t generate a penny, it’s a great way to share information & help others who need it..
ps – I also chaired a holiday fundraiser for one of these non-profits, and was able to post about it on my main blog. It generated a lot of unanticipated support from readers who didn’t know I was involved with those charities.
Dr. Mani, I am proud to join you in your Congenital Heart Defects ‘Day for Hearts’ Blogathon. I am behind the eightball at getting the blog up to par but it will be done.
Blessings to you and yours. ( And No crying…it will all come together. :-) )