How Bloggers Can Help During Times of Tragedy

On April 25, tragedy struck Nepal as a 7.8-magnitude earthquake destroyed residences and buildings (including the UNESCO Word Heritage sites) in Kathmandu and took the lives of around 5,000 civilians (and counting). The earthquake is the most devastating natural calamity that hit Nepal since the Nepal-Bihar earthquake in 1934.

Relief efforts from all over the world are underway but frustration is boiling in some parts of Nepal who have yet to receive the assistance they badly need.

If you wish to help your Nepali brothers and sisters, below are links to online media outlets pointing to trustworthy organizations collecting donation or the victims of the earthquake:

• 6 Ways You Can Give to Nepal Earthquake Relief at TIME
• Nepal earthquake: how to donate at The Guardian
• How to help victims of the Nepal earthquake at CNN
• Facebook, Google and other tech firms aid in Nepal earthquake relief at San Jose Mercury News

Before sending out your donation, read this post at NPR first to understand how your donation is received and processed by these organizations.

While these are the steps that you can take in order to lend a helping hand to those in need, the question now remain: what I can do to help as a blogger?

If you are an authoritative blogger with a sizable readership and clout to influence your audience, you can use these to make an effort and increase the assistance to the victims of the earthquakes. Here’s what you can do:

Stay on top of news

As updates continue to develop regarding the Nepal earthquake, it’s best to keep abreast by closely following the most reliable news outlets. Use the update to write a resource page containing all the development on your blog to disseminate the information and let your readers know about the situation. If reporting news was never your niche, you can inform your readership that you will be taking a break from your regular programming to deliver them this message.

You can also use your blog section as a way to encourage people to donate, just like what reddit did on their blog.

The advantage of doing this is that you keep your audience informed will news that actually matter. It’s immaterial if the news isn’t within your niche – there are some things more important that sticking to your content strategy and editorial calendar.

Give proceeds for every purchase your customers make

If you are selling products and services using your blog, you can create a promo informing your customers that portion of the payment will go to the victims of the Nepal earthquake. This is a good way of going the extra mile to help the victims, thanks to your buyers.

Get out of your seat

Should words fail, actions won’t. Get hold of you local organizations making their donations to the victims in Nepal. Aside from bringing in donation (food, clothing, toiletries), you may want to consider taking time to do volunteer work for the organization to ensure that all the goods are taken care of.

Final thoughts: During terrible times like these, it takes extraordinary people to help out others in need. Whether you’re a blogger or not, taking part in this cause is a privilege and noble responsibility.

More on times of tragedy:

Social Media Is The New Face Of Disaster Response [Infographic]

Blogging in a Disaster

Image taken from Wikimedia Commons