Blogs and CRM: managing the new ways to speak to donors.

Blogging has dramatically reshaped the way Americans interact with corporations, politicians, the media and charitable organizations. The constituent relationship management (CRM) paradigm has shifted. The public doesn't want to be "managed." They want control of the dialogue, to dictate terms, and choose methods of communication.

As fundraisers have made the move to CRM, the target has moved. And, the question for fundraisers has become: Is the mechanism in place to enable your constituents the channel to create a two-way dialogue with your organization?

What is blogging? A blog (or Web log) is a personal, Web-enabled diary that allows collaboration between its creator and users. Blog authors can instantly begin an ongoing dialogue by posting messages, photos or Web links with the ability for users to post comments or directly contact the blog owner. Constituents now have the opportunity to customize their online experience and personalize their interactions--the benchmark of true CRM.

According to a Pew Internet & American Life Project memo on the state of blogging, 27 percent of Internet users, or 32 million Americans, say they read blogs and 12 percent have posted comments. In fact, by using blog sites such as blogger.com, blogmaker.com, and typepad.com, anyone can have a blog up and running for little or no cost in less than 10 minutes.

For fundraisers, creating and disseminating a blog can quickly broadcast pertinent information to an organization's core audience, allowing them to receive instantaneous feedback. The blog platform is a forum that allows two-way communication to share experiences and thoughts among a group of like-minded peers. It offers an ongoing outlet for constituents to speak, reach out and connect with the organizations they support.

And, just as email and Web technology leaped into the public domain during the 1990s, blogging has just begun to creep into the mainstream.

There are myriad strategic applications blogs can have as they evolve and continue to become mainstream. A real-life example of blogging that impacted news coverage was before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina. During this tragic event, blogging became an important and expedient method to catalog and report minute-by-minute events from the scene. And many organizations and individuals were quick to adopt this technique.

Metroblogging New Orleans, sponsored by Metroblogging, a network of international city-specific blogs on the Web, became a magnet for residents affected by Hurricane Katrina, allowing them to post their experiences as the event unfolded. And, the Survival of New Orleans Blog, according to its creator, was launched to "... share first-hand experience of Hurricane Katrina and her aftermath...." This blog contained sophisticated, content-rich first-hand accounts and amateur photography detailing every aspect of the Katrina disaster and links to important informational sites to assist and inform, including fundraising organizations such as the American Red Cross.

The Campus Crusade for Christ, a religious outreach organization that offers spiritual enlightenment on college campuses, hosted a Katrina blog that gave constituents and volunteers a forum to share thoughts on the disaster, ideas to raise funds for disaster relief, and offers of prayer support. Specific categories included, "How can we pray for you" and, "What is your campus ministry doing?"

Traditional media outlets such as CBS and NBC also offered Katrina blogs from their Web sites, continual updates on the scene by embedded reporters who provided commentary on not just the disaster, but their personal accounts of what life was like working through a Category 4 hurricane.

Each of these blogs allowed a national audience to understand and comment on the tragedy as it unfolded.

In addition to providing a first-hand account of events, as was evidenced during Hurricane Katrina, blogging can integrate with an organization's ongoing marketing strategies, build rapport and lasting relationships with constituents, and become a key component of an existing fundraising program.

Take for example the innovation of the organization Greenpeace, which posts blog content that is immediate, edgy and interesting. Greenpeace's "crew and activist blogs" contains first-hand accounts provided by the ship's crew members, embedded journalists and researchers. And their Rainbow Warrior 20th Anniversary Weblog brings to life an event staged to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the bombing of their ship the Rainbow Warrior. In each instance, Greenpeace's efforts are brought to life by capturing spectacular actions that illustrate to constituents how and where their donations are being spent. Blogging capabilities offer audiences a sense of being connected to their interests that until now was not possible.

Building your own blog

Any organization can benefit from incorporating a blog campaign. To begin, fundraisers should test a blog strategy that seems fitting for their charitable mission. A test could comprise of choosing a senior member of the organization, perhaps a leader in research, to author a blog. Working with an assigned writer/editor, the lead blogger would create an ongoing, interactive dialogue targeted to clients, family and friends--the inner core of donors most likely to be interested in and to benefit from pertinent information. In parallel to this effort, the direct mail channel could be used to drive renewal donors to the national or chapter Web sites where they could gain access to the blog feed.

Consider this: According to the Pew Internet & America Life Project's Digital Divisions study, 80 percent of Americans ages 30-49 go online while 84 percent of those 18-29 go online. Blogging represents a promising way to create relationships with this younger, traditionally hard to cultivate group of donors.

To attract this sought after audience, blogging offers:

* Two-way, instant communications that email does not allow;

* A viral approach to building a constituent database from a group of potential donors who have selected themselves as being interested in your cause;

* A method to increase traffic to your organization's national and local chapter Web sites;

* The opportunity to raise funds and support by driving constituents to Microsites designed to solicit an immediate donation.

Relationships with other constituencies, such as high donors, can be nurtured through creation of a blog. How about offering a password-protected blog in which only special donors have access? Or, if you're a membership organization, offer a password-protected blog as a member benefit.

In addition to improving communication with traditional constituent audiences, another application for blogging could be special events. Blogging can offer special event organizers, team captains, and participants a method to log their experiences before, during, and after events take place.

Examples of how a blog could support special events include:

* Offering a first-hand method for special events captains and participants to record their personal experiences, raise funds and recruit participants;

* Posting live commentary during the event;

* Supporting ongoing communications with event participants after event season is over;

* Providing a low-cost channel to deliver event results, post event photos, or to enable participants to keep in touch with each other throughout the year.

Along with its exciting potential, blogging offers challenges which must be considered prior to implementation. Organizations must be vigilant while monitoring content. The freedom offered to blog users can also become a license for posting derogatory or factually incorrect information.

To combat this potential problem, clearly state that blog posts must be approved before they appear publicly. Promise that after clearance, posts will appear within 24-hours.

With the many options charitable organizations have in which to communicate with its constituents it is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid channel conflict, develop relationships that are mutually beneficial, and to choose the manner in which constituents want to be communicated. By testing a blogging strategy to reach under-served audiences, augment existing strategies, or to boost special events, fundraisers just might find one more effective component to their ever expanding CRM options.

Blogging should be tested as part of your 2006 fundraising strategy and could become a key ingredient to further connecting with constituents as goals change in the upcoming years.

Michael Baler is vice president, Fundraising at Epsilon, a national fundraising and database firm based in Wakefield, Mass.