Blogging is a great inbound marketing and public relations tool that can accomplish many objectives for your organization, such as: - Provide important information to the public - Establish thought leadership - Connect and engage your community - Provide a different perspective to your organization - Drive search traffic to your website

1. NON-PROFIT/
PUBLIC SECTOR BLOGS
10 AWESOME

2. Benefits of Blogging
• Provide important information to the public
• Establish thought leadership
• Connect and engage with your community
• Present a different side to your organization
• Drive search traffic to your website

3. What Makes a Great Blog?
1. GREAT CONTENT THAT’S RELEVANT!
2. Potential for social sharing & engagement
3. Visually appealing with plenty of white space
4. Use of calls to action
5. Well organized and categorized

4. { }10 Second Harvest
This community-centric blog is dedicated to the
people who keep this Toronto food rescue
charity afloat: volunteers. The blog is full of
behind-the-scenes images of volunteers in
action. Grade: B-

5. Source: http://www.secondharvest.ca/blog

6. { }Wellesley Institute
As a research and policy institute, the Wellesley
Institute’s blog is what you’d expect it to be: well-
research and well-cited with frequent use of
graphs. It’s obvious that a lot of work goes into
this blog. A must-read for policy buffs. Grade: B+
9

7. VISUAL
get
Source: http://www.wellesleyinstitute.com/blog/

8. { }8 Toronto Cat Rescue
In addition to informing its community, Toronto
Cat Rescue uses its blog to tug at heartstrings by
posting adorable cat pictures. And we all know
nothing says viral like a good cat pic. Grade: A-

9. VISUAL
get
Source: http://torontocatrescue.ca/

10. { }Oxfam Canada
The Oxfam Canada blog is a great read. The
content provides both thought leadership on areas
such as social policy as well as emotional appeals
and evidence of progress to donors. Grade: A-
7

11. VISUAL
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Source: http://www.oxfam.ca/blogs

12. { }6 Covenant House
Covenant House Toronto is dedicated to assisting
the city’s homeless youth and uses its blog to help
achieve this objective. The blog provide readers
with an up-close-and-personal look at the people
the agency serves. Grade: A-

13. VISUAL
get
Source: http://www.covenanthousetoronto.ca/blog/

14. { }Toronto Police Service
The TPS blog gives the public a different
perspective of the police that isn’t often covered
in the media, highlighting the police’s community
involvement. Grade: A
5

15. get
Source: http://tpsnews.ca/blogs/

16. { }4 MaRS
From listicles to newsjacking, the “MaRS Blog”
makes use of popular blog types to highlight
innovation in Canadian technology and
entrepreneurship. Grade: A

17. get
Source: https://www.marsdd.com/news-and-insights/

18. { }Ecojustice
The folks at Ecojustice, a Canadian
environmental law charity, do an excellent job at
categorizing and tagging their blog posts based
on issues. The blog is visually appealing with
various authors participating in its production.
Grade: A
3

19. VISUAL
get
Source: http://www.ecojustice.ca/blog/

20. { }OpenMedia.ca
This online privacy organization uses its blog to
educate stakeholders about issues concerning
digital policy. The frequently used blog also
includes external media posts with comments
enabled to foster discussion. Grade: A+
2

21. VISUAL
get
Source: https://openmedia.ca/blog

22. { }SickKids Foundation
The “SickKids Main Street” blog might be the best
one out there. This blog not only looks terrific, it’s
also shareable and engaging, providing donors
with a behind-the-scenes look at their money at
work. Grade: A+
1

23. VISUAL
get
Source: http://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/skf-blog

24. John Gilson is a Toronto-
based digital marketing and
public relations professional,
with many years of experience
in the non-profit sector.
www.john-gilson.com
Twitter: @John_Gilson
JOHN GILSON

25. THANK YOU!
Please check out my website and blog
at www.john-gilson.com