Searching for some good article ideas for your next nonprofit newsletter, blog post or website update? Here are 15 places you can look for article ideas.
1. At the receptionist’s desk. Ask whoever answers your organization’s main phone number for the top three questions they get from callers and turn the answers into newsletter articles.
2. In your PowerPoint files. Look at the presentations you’ve given or written for others to give. Pull out a slide or two and turn them into articles.
3. In your annual report. Odds are that most people who receive your nonprofit annual report won’t read it cover to cover. Pull out an excerpt about an accomplishment you are especially proud of and expand it into a newsletter article.
4. In your board minutes. What topical questions did your board members ask at the last meeting? If they are asking those questions, chances are others who are interested in your organization’s work would enjoy knowing your answers too.
5. In your newsletter archive. What did you write about this time last year? Can you freshen up an old article or provide a timely update on something you’ve covered before?
6. In the headlines. Look at the last week’s worth of headlines from your local newspaper. What issues are they covering and how are those news items related to your work?
7. In survey results. Are you querying your donors, clients, or members about the issues they care about (it’s a great idea)? If so, write an article related to one particular statistic generated by the survey.
8. In your “sent” email box. Look at the types of questions you are getting and answering over email and turn those into articles.
9. In your “saved” email folder. Look at the messages you are saving. Do they contain any information that your newsletter readers would enjoy?
10. In your desk calendar. Think about hooks tied into holidays and other special days on the calendar. June includes Father’s Day on the 17th and the first day of summer on the 21st.
11. On lists of special weeks and months. There’s a long list of designated special months. For example, June is Adopt a Shelter Cat Month, National Iced Tea Month, and Rebuild Your Life Month. Chase’s Calendar of Events is the ultimate source for all such occasions.
12. Out your office window. Let what you see outside inspire you, including the seasons. See my previous post on newsletter ideas for summer.
13. In a keyword research tool. Find new phrases related to your favorite topics. Try Google’s free Keyword Tool. For example, if you type in advocacy, it will return bill of rights, civil rights, community service, child care, domestic violence, and more. Alternate keywords like these can help you find new story angles for the same topics you usually cover.
14. In your web stats. Look at your website statistics and you’ll find what keywords people are using at the search engines that are directing traffic to your website. Take those phrases and write detailed articles on those topics.
15. In other nonprofit newsletters. Read newsletters from other nonprofits who work in your subject or geographic area for inspiration.
Where else do you look for article ideas? Share your favorite sources by leaving a comment.
