Iam writing just to great all of your staff, now I am in Tanzania working with an NGO dealing with youthes. I am programme cordinator in two years contrct.

I get many more questions about how to handle negative comments and how often you have to post than I do on the technology itself. Agree that Wordpress rocks, both the .com and .org!

Great post.

I wonder how much a perceived “lack of technical experience” holds folks back from starting a blog. A lot of my clients find WordPress very easy to learn once they start, and if they go with a self-hosted blog (WordPress.Org), they get to the point where they can finally fire their webmaster.

What’s your experience?

John

I didn’t mean to be derogatory about why you wouldn’t want to blog – just realistic about the way some people feel about putting their work “out there.” Fear is a legitimate emotion. First and foremost, a blog has to make sense within your organization’s communications strategy, and for many organizations, it’s just not going to fit.

I do understand the HIPAA issues (it’s a federal privacy law about health information for those who don’t know what we are talking about), but I also think some organizations (not saying you or yours, but some I have come across) use that as an excuse. It’s definitely a lot more work to thoughtfully figure it all out. You can’t really do it by the seat of your pants like many organizations can. As you noted, you really do need a social media policy that very clearly addresses how you are going to talk about your work in a way that gives your supporters the information that need to understand your work while also protecting the people you serve. It’s not the easiest marketing project around, but it can be done.

For example, you could choose to stay away from the storytelling. While that’s going to be one of the most powerful types of blogs for many orgs, it’s also going to be the most difficult from a HIPAA perspective. It can be done, by (1) getting permission from clients or (2) being vague about or changing specifics so it’s impossible to identify someone — talking about the situation rather than the person sometimes makes that easier.

Or you might write an entirely different kind of blog. You might try the “Executive Director Blog” route instead, where you end up talking more about state and federal policy, local health issues, care management, events, etc. You end up talking about your clients in aggregate that way.

Another alternative would be more of a “Resources” blog where it’s more directed at families, with lots of how-to posts, features on other assistance providers, etc.

Thanks for reading and commenting!