Content curation is the process of sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific theme. The work involves sifting, sorting, arranging, and publishing information. A content curator cherry picks the best content that is important and relevant to share with their community. Content curation is not about collecting links or being an information pack rat, it is more about putting them into a context with organization, annotation, and presentation. Content curators provide a customized, vetted selection of the best and most relevant resources on a very specific topic or theme.

What does that mean for nonprofits and the people who work for them? For some staff members, content curation can be professional of learning. Professional development used to be about getting trained or acquiring a specific skill. But, with so much information available and coming at us from many sources, we often don’t know if it’s the right information or if it’s current. And depending on our field, it can get out of date quickly. In today’s world of content abundance, the skill of how to find, make sense, and share content that we need to be effective in our work is critical. Simply put, being a content curator is a method to help you stay informed about your field and be more effective at your job.