January 02, 2017
There is abundant information online about every conceivable topic, including grant writing and philanthropy. One way to stay abreast of nonprofit-related news without overwhelming your inbox is to use a content aggregator that collects relevant articles and blog posts from around the Web. Some services will email you a weekly or daily consolidated list of relevant articles, while others provide tailored content on their websites.
In addition to making your inbox more manageable, content aggregators also help you discover new content related to philanthropy from both mainstream media and lesser-known sources.
Three Resources for Finding & Storing Online Content
Feedly: Feedly collects your favorite blogs, YouTube channels, and website content into a single view. You can also use Feedly to discover new sites that publish information relevant to your interests. Feedly has a free basic service and two premium options.
Medium: Medium is hard to describe. Essentially, it is a blogging platform (see this article from The Atlantic to learn more about what it is). On Medium, you can find articles on grant writing and philanthropy, as well as on topics such as poverty and social justice.
ContentGems: ContentGems scans content from respected online sources and presents you with a list of relevant and current articles based on your interests. You can link any website with an RSS feed to your ContentGems account, as well as use the service to monitor any Twitter account. The company offers a free basic account and two premium accounts.
Instapaper: Instapaper lets you save, read, and manage content you find online, including videos, news articles, and web pages. You can access saved content on multiple devices, including iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle, and Kobo e-readers. Instapaper also offers a notes feature that lets you highlight and comment on text.
News Resources for Nonprofits and NGOs
If you'd rather visit a couple of websites periodically than receive content from a large number of sites, three resources to check out are Devex (global news and NGO focused), The Chronicle of Philanthropy (U.S.-focused, with coverage of global philanthropy), and The Guardian (global news with a dedicated section on global development).
Online Forums
Online forums and community bulletin boards are other good resources for information on philanthropy-related topics, with the added benefit of allowing you to post questions for community responses.
If you are interested in participating in an online forum where you can ask questions and provide answers to fellow grant seekers, one site to check out is Reddit. Reddit is an online bulletin board where registered users can post content and ask questions. Entries are organized by topic areas called "subreddits." Two subreddits of interest to the nonprofit community are "nonprofit" and "grant writing."