How To Start a Helpful Discussion in Community

Every day the Blackbaud Community gets asked tons of questions and our community members give tons of answers in return. But, for someone who is new to the community experience, start a discussion or sharing an answer - even when you know it - can be daunting.

There are basically three steps to composing a helpful discussion. Let's break them down:

1. Be human.
I know this might sound ridiculous, but people trust people more than they trust robots. When you decide to become active in the community (either asking or answering questions), I suggest you make sure you have a profile picture uploaded and a little bit of profile information in place.

2. Be concise.
When you are starting discussions and/or sharing tips, make sure that your discussion/response has enough detail to be helpful, but not so much detail that it becomes overwhelming. Whenever possible, include pictures. Nothing breaks up a wall of text like some strategically placed screenshots or other relevant images.

3. Be linked.
I love seeing links in a response on the community. Links mean that we are broadening the knowledge of the site and that you are either helping other community members learn about or be reminded of other resources to help them succeed. If you cite a book, link to the author (or the book). If you cite a blog, link to the post. If you cite another part of the community, link to that other part of the community. Links can often help provide the details that you may not have wanted to provide in the body of your response.

If you are wanting to start a discussion in community, here are some suggested writing prompts:

• My best practice for ....
• I learned this helpful trick in my product recently...
• This has really saved me some time in my day to day tasks...
• The new product features are helpful to me because...

Remember, this is a loving, supporting community of your peers! We are all here to help and support you, as best we can.