I’ve always loved the phrase “word cloud.” And even though these have been a bit overused in the past, I have to admit to creating a few myself – including the visual in a recent guest post. But I think word clouds may now have found a whole new “raison d’etre.”
In an interesting post in the Nonprofit Professionals Forum on LinkedIn, Kevin D. Turner recommends organizations create word clouds to help develop more effective grant applications. He suggests that “by dissecting the grant requirement for words that appear more frequently in the source text you can make sure that your response highlights those requirements.” If grant seekers focus on the key words in their applications, Turner believes they will be “more likely to get through the filters and land on a decision maker’s desk for a real review.”
Other forum members came up with additional applications for using word clouds, such as:
- creating a word cloud of your organization’s mission and using it for marketing purposes
- making a word cloud from job postings to write more effective resumes and cover letters
I’m wondering if a word cloud might also help in creating more engaging membership or fundraising emails? What about helping create more effective news releases… or even blog posts!
Social media insights
So I’ve learned two very important lessons from this LinkedIn forum post:
- Sometimes even fun little applications can offer new and helpful insights
- It’s worth the time to at least scan pertinent social media sites – by listening and following you may find fresh ideas that might help with your day-to-day challenges.
Want to give Word Clouds a try?
If you are new to word clouds and want to try your hand at creating your own, here are some tools you can use:
Let me know if you find word clouds helpful and I’ll share your ideas and feedback with Kevin D. Turner and the Nonprofit Professionals Forum.