10 Twitter Tips for Nonprofit Organizations
Published March 11, 2009 @ 06:42AM PT
Newsweek said it best: "Suddenly, all the world is a-Twitter." Simple and powerful, Twitter is a must for nonprofit organizations. I created and manage a portal to nonprofits on Twitter @nonprofitorgs and based on my experience using site, I have crafted ten of my favorite Twitter Tips for beginners:
1. Authenticity before marketing. Have personality. Build community.
Those nonprofits who are most successful at utilizing social networking Web sites like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace know from trial, error, and experience that a “marketing and development approach” on social networking sites does not work. Simply put, it comes across as lame. Traditional marketing and development content is perfectly fine for your Web site and e-mail newsletters, but Web 2.0 is much more about having personality, inspiring conversation, and building online community. Nowhere is this more true than on Twitter. Relax, experiment, let go a bit… find your voice. Be authentic.
2. Be nice. Be thankful. Reply and Retweet!
Twitter functions much like Karma. The nicer you are to people in the Twitterverse, they nicer they are to you in return. The more you ReTweet (RT) others, the more they will RT your Tweets in return. And whether it’s Twitter, MySpace, Facebook or YouTube, if someone does something nice for you in the public commons of Web 2.0, it is always a good practice to send them a message of “Thanks… much appreciated!”. Kindness and appreciation will make you stand out from the others and makes an excellent impression.
3. Follow everyone who follows you.
This is a hard one for a lot of nonprofits. They want to keep their “Home” view clutter free and controlled and only follow a select few. Honestly, they only want to follow those whose Tweets that they are really interested in reading. But I say this often… “This time it is not about you, it is about them.” Web 1.0 communications is all about us and our messaging i.e, your Web site and e-mail newsletter. Web 2.0 is all about your supporters and their messaging. It’s better to create a personal Twitter profile in order to only follow those select few you are interested in reading, but if you are going out on Twitter behind your organization’s logo a.k.a. avatar, it is a mistake to not follow all your followers in return. Why?
1) Twitter is about conversation. You can’t have a conversation on Twitter if you are not following your followers. It is a one-sided relationship.
2) They can’t message you on Twitter if you are not following them.
3) It’s a snub. Let’s face it… people on Twitter want to be followed. That’s what the site is about! How can you build community on Twitter if you won’t even participate with your followers?
Have a look around Twitter… you will see the most successful, ReTweeted nonprofits follow everyone who follows them.
4. Use “Favorites” to organize the chaos and feature your most important Tweets!
So, if you are going to follow everyone who follows your organization (which is hopefully thousands of people) then “favorite” Tweets by those who you are most interested in reading and favorite your most important Tweets. The favorites option on Twitter is a simple, excellent tool to help you organize the chaos.
5. Don’t tweet about your coffee (unless it is fair trade), the weather, or how tired you are. Provide value to your followers, not chit-chat!
It’s one thing to chit-chat about the weather, your headache, or how you need coffee to wake up in the morning on your personal profile on Twitter, but it’s quite another if you are active on the Twitterverse via your organizational profile. The messages you send reflect upon your organization. Example of what not to Tweet: “Such-and-such Nonprofit got stuck in traffic this morning. Ugh! I need coffee and a vacation… and I think I am getting a headache!” No one likes a whiner and this just makes it sound like Such-and-Such Nonprofit is not a fun place to work. People follow you because they want good content from your organization on subjects relevant to your mission. Make sure your Tweets provide value and are Re-Tweetable.
6. Don’t only Tweet your own content.
Twitter is a news source. Participate in news. Tweet articles or blog posts by your favorite newspapers, bloggers, or other nonprofits (yes... other nonprofits! Find allies, build relationships). If it is a good read or a good resource, it reflects well upon your organization that you Tweeted it. There is also a good chance you might get ReTweeted if the article is deemed timely and worthy by the Twitterverse.
7. Send messages, but not via auto-responders.
There are tools out there that will automatically message your new followers. Don’t use them. It’s Spam. It’s not authentic. It’s not human. It's lazy marketing. I think this cartoon sums up auto-responders perfectly.
8. Don’t worry about those that “unfollow” you.
It’s easy to feel slighted when someone stops following you. What did I say? Did I do something wrong? Let it go. Who knows why they followed you in the first place. Give it no more than 3 seconds thought and then move on.
9. Limit your Tweets to 5 per day, and no more than 6!
I have been polling on Twitter and the Twitterverse has revealed that less is more when it comes to Tweeting. See poll results.
10. Twitter is what you make of it. You get out of Twitter what you put into it. This is the same of all Web 2.0 social networking sites.
Twitter is a fun, valuable tool that can drive significant traffic to your Web site (start watching your Web site referral logs!) and help build and strengthen your brand in the online world of Web 2.0, but just like Facebook and MySpace, Twitter requires time and energy to produce results. You get out of it what you put into it. If you do one Tweet a week, you will get the results of one Tweet. But if you Tweet 4 times daily Monday through Friday… you will get the results of 20 Tweets weekly.
Again, it’s about community building around your mission and programs. Just having profile on Twitter (or MySpace, or Facebook) does not magically produce any results. You have to work these profiles. Find the person on your staff who loves Web 2.0 and enjoys working the sites and/or find a marketing/pr intern from your local university that needs to do a senior project! If they are getting college credit, then you know they have to stay around for at least a semester. :)
Change.org is on Twitter @changedotorg
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Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.
Author
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Heather is the Nonprofit Community Manager for Change.org. She also created and maintains the Nonprofit Organizations MySpace, Nonprofit Organizations Facebook Page, Nonprofit Organizations YouTube Channel, and the Nonprofit Organizations Twitter profile. Fueled by a strong passion for the Internet, Heather spends her days helping nonprofit organizations utilize the Internet as a tool for social change.
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I don't agree that you need to follow everyone that follows you. The idea behind twitter is that it is an ongoing conversation and having an ongoing coversation with 300+ people is impossible. If each one only tweeted once a day that is 300 tweets you would have to read at 2 seconds each is 10 hours a day just reading tweets. Instead as a nonprofit it is most important to follow your donors, supporters and volunteers and get to know them and they you. See http://oceangrand.org/tweet-tweet-nonprofit/ for more twitter for nonprofits.
Posted by Scott Ringo on 03/11/2009 @ 08:15AM PT
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I totally aggree... Following everyone who follows you is fake and social media should be about honest dialogue. Only follow people, you're also interested in otherwise there's no point.
Posted by Florian Engel on 03/24/2009 @ 06:26AM PT
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Your math is a little fuzzy Scott
300 tweets at 2 seconds each is 10 minutes - not 10 hours
Posted by David Bledsoe on 06/26/2009 @ 09:51AM PT
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Nice idea about using Favorites to filter, except you can't Favorite people, you can only Favorite tweets, so there's no way it can be used to filter out the interesting followers from the crowd. We simply don't have time to read thru all our followers' tweets, many of whom never tweet anything of relevance to us, so I think this is very impractical advice.
Posted by Chris Ward on 07/24/2009 @ 12:47AM PT
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Posted by Anorway Anorway on 10/20/2009 @ 04:24PM PT
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As I said... this is the one that nonprofits have the hardest time with. Your followers are your (potential) donors, supporters, and volunteers. How can you have a conversation with them on Twitter if you aren't following their Tweets? Remember... they can't message you if you are not following them.
Very true that it is impossible to have one-on-one conversations with 300 or more folks... that's why you use Reply and RT to have public conversations on Twitter. But you can't Reply or RT - or even start the conversation - if your aren't following them. And remember... even if it is a business or brand... there is a human being behind every avatar... a potential donor, supporter, or volunteer.
If you just want to have conversations with a small number of people on Twitter... which is an important point... then only follow those folks... but if you want many followers, then you have to return the favor and follow in return.
So, nonprofits need to ask themselves what is their goal on Twitter? To converse with a small group of followers... or to try and get thousands of followers knowing that you can't possibly engage them one-on-one inside of Twitter? If it is the later, then when you start browsing around Twitter... you'll see the nonprofits that have the most followers (thousands) follow at least 90% of their followers... and those that are really good at Twitter use "Favorites" to maintain the one-on-one conversations/relationships.
Scott's point did highlight something I hadn't though of... different motives for using Twitter... thanks Scott.
Posted by Heather Mansfield on 03/11/2009 @ 08:45AM PT
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Heather, this is an awesome and needed post on a hot issue. And I so respect your experience on this.
But I'm still on the fence about this issue of following everyone back. I have found you can easily have conversations with people you're not following. The only limit is the inability to receive direct messages if you're not following them, but they can still reach you.
On the other hand, it doesn't hurt to follow lots of people if you use a Twitter client to filter and manage the influx of messages. Twitter clients include Tweetdeck for single accounts, and CoTweet for large orgs.
Posted by Val Nelson on 05/29/2009 @ 10:32AM PT
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Excellent article. I have been networking with twitter for a couple of weeks now and I have met a bunch of interesting people. It is a great place to network with like minded people.
http://twitter.com/spryka
Posted by Khurram Zaveri on 03/12/2009 @ 05:23AM PT
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Hi Heather, these are great tips: thanks. I've been on Twitter for awhile now, and I agree that nonprofits (like companies) should follow everyone who follows them. Why? Because as you stated, it's a way for nonprofits to reach as many people as possible.
I do agree with Scott though regarding the challenge in having conversations/building relationships with so many followers.
One thing that is very helpful as a way to better manage conversations on Twitter is Tweetdeck: a free downloadable application that allows you to filter people by groups and topics. In addition, Tweetdeck alerts you when others are talking to you or referring to you in Twitter. I highly recommend it. Here's the link: http://www.tweetdeck.com
Hope that helps. Thanks again!http://www.twitter.com/katrinah
Posted by katrinah * on 03/12/2009 @ 11:36PM PT
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Great article, Heather - lots of specific, useful tips that are great for beginners venturing into Twitter.
The only one I slightly disagree with is #9 about limiting the amount of tweets you post a day to 5 or 6. If you are engaging with your followers, not just pushing content or asking for donations, you'll easily post more than 5 or 6 a day.
A recent TwitterGrader report from HubSpot showed that: "Users who tweet between 10 and 50 times per day have more followers on average than those that tweet more or less frequently." - http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4594/Is-22-Tweets-Per-Day-the-Optimum.aspx
They suggested a sweet spot of 22 tweets per day, spread out over the course of a day.
Also, as Katrinah mentioned, using a tool like TweetDeck (http://www.tweetdeck.com) can make it easier to have conversations and really engage with your followers - building up the relationships nonprofits need to succeed with social media.
Posted by Cheri Hegi on 03/13/2009 @ 06:56AM PT
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I agree with Cheri - I tweet for @thewomensmuseum and I do try to limit my wide-broadcast tweets (where I share program information, museum facts, links from other users, etc.), but I think that this point should be clarified - 5 to 6 tweets a day *not including* replies and other conversational messages.
That point aside, great article! It's a great resource for non-profits just starting out on Twitter. I especially love the advice to follow all followers back. Using a program like Tweetdeck allows me to make groups from our followers while still show that I am open to conversation with everyone that wants to work with us.
Posted by Alyssa Gardina on 03/13/2009 @ 09:29AM PT
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This is awesome, adding it to our "Twitter for Professions" guides list. Would love to see a follow-up about NP fundraising on Twitter. I get lots and lots of how-to questions on that and need a good place to send folks :-)
Posted by Laura @Pistachio Fitton on 03/13/2009 @ 09:35AM PT
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We just put together a presentation on social media for non profits that has some great examples of successful fundraising using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.
You can see it here: http://www.primalmedia.com/blog/social-media-non-profits
Posted by Cheri Hegi on 03/13/2009 @ 12:34PM PT
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Thanks a lot, Cheryl, for making that presentation available! It makes an unrefutable case for engaging through social media, as well as realistic and educational information about how to get started.
(additionally, compliments on what is a rarely-seen clear, compelling and informational PPT!)
Posted by TOMORROWS YOUTH ORGANIZATION on 03/18/2009 @ 01:44AM PT
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Ay Yi Yi! Some of the advice on here just doesn't make sense.
For example "The more you ReTweet (RT) others, the more they will RT your Tweets in return." That's just flat out not true. People RT, because you posted something interesting that's worth sharing, not because you RT'd one of their earlier tweets.
"Follow everyone that follows you" well you can, but it's not required by any means. In fact, it's probably best to only follow those whom you have an interest in. Check out their site or previous tweets. Remember, anyone who follows you is going to get your tweets, you can choose who you want tweets from so why not do it and form relationships with those you have common ground with instead of sifting through a river of noise.
"Don't Tweet about your coffee..." OK, this is silly. What makes Twitter interesting are tweets like this. Sometimes, these mundane, personal anecdotes about your life's trials and tribulations allow you to forge real connections. Why? because it proves that there is a real human being on the other end who is not just spewing forth promotional organizational updates. In fact, Twitter was founded on this principle. Why do you think the site asks "What are you doing?"
The advice about limiting your Tweets is also silly. Twitter is not one way, would you limit your self to five sentences of conversation a day in real life? You can actually have some engaging conversations through Twitter that will have you posting 5-6 tweets in as many minutes. The key is to do what seems natural, not to over do it.
Best piece of advice in this post is to not use auto-responders. Otherwise, I wouldn't follow any of this as gospel.
You can follow or unfollow me at @csuspect :)
Posted by Chris Suspect on 03/13/2009 @ 12:36PM PT
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Hi Chris,
Those rules don't apply for individuals... these are Twitter Tips for nonprofits... you are Tweeting as Chris Suspect. That's totally different.
Hmm... why did you black yourself out? I have never seen that on Twitter?
http://twitter.com/csuspect
Posted by Heather Mansfield on 03/13/2009 @ 03:00PM PT
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To be effective as a nonprofit on Twitter you need to Tweet as an individual. Even under an organizational banner. The reason is because people want to know someone who works there, they want to be able to talk with them, not an automaton that serves as an RSS feed re-purposed for Twitter.
Why do you think Zappos is so successful on Twitter? Is it because the CEO tweets his company newletters (which he doesn't) or is it because he talks about getting his haircut or waiting in line at the airport on the way to SXSW?
The key is you have to serve as a real connection. ComcastCares is great at this. Complain about your Comcast service and Frank of @comcastcares is there with a response in 5 minutes. He talks with you as a human and gets things done.
Nonprofits who follow your post's rules of conduct are really just repurposing traditional media.
I used Twitter to help raise 1.4 million for the Kristen Brooks Hope Center. (See http://is.gd/ngEL for a presentation on Slideshare.net) At that time I had about 300-400 followers.
To be effective, you have to be real, willing to converse, follow up, and post about the little things that make you you. Otherwise you're just a data stream I can get from numerous other sites.
Seriously, nonprofits need to lighten up and experiment, now is not the time to follow rules off blogs for services that have barely been around for two years. Be a leader, do something unique and different, what's the worst that can happen? No followers? Aw shucks.
BTW-I love how Change.org is designed. It's really cool.
Posted by Chris Suspect on 03/13/2009 @ 03:27PM PT
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Hmm... well I think this is definitely open to interpretation. I just don't agree with you, but hey! You don't agree with me either. :)
http://twitter.com/nonprofitorgsI am not seeing many nonprofits Tweet as people. I only follow nonprofits... a little over 1,900 here:
Here is a great example of Tweeting as an organization and as staff:
http://blogs.nwf.org/arctic_promise/2009/01/nwfs-staff-on-twitter.html
NWF excels at Web 2.0 in general.
Thanks for the feedback on Change.org... lots of great new tools coming for nonprofits in coming weeks!
Posted by Heather Mansfield on 03/13/2009 @ 03:42PM PT
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Heather,
Thanks for the article. I generally agree with you but think that rule #1 - be authentic - should mean that non-profits should twitter either as the person from the NGO or the organization. It's even all right to do both a la Richard Branson/Virgin Atlantic. Authenticity means we want to know the person behind the organization however the organization decides to do this.
The othe rule might be about finding followers: find your stakeholders on twitter and make sure you are following them. How incredible would you make a donor/volunteer/colleague feel if your organization found them proactively and decided to follow them? it makes good fundraising and activism sense.
Enjoyed the article and look forward to the continued conversation!
Posted by Debra Askanase on 03/15/2009 @ 12:41AM PT
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It's great to find all of this wisdom from folks who have already blazed the trail in using Web 2.0 for non-profit development! We are just slowly getting onboard - formatting our blog now, and thanks to Heather's article, going to sign up for Twitter... It's all very exciting, especially for us here in Nablus (West Bank, Palestine) where connectivity and communication beyond this city is a daily challenge due to military checkpoints.
Thanks to all for your generosity with insights, experience and advice!
Posted by TOMORROWS YOUTH ORGANIZATION on 03/18/2009 @ 01:35AM PT
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Great post Heather. We have noted it on our blog, UCPeople in the annoucements section this week and it has already gotten quite a few clicks.
http://www.ucpeople.org/2009/03/announcements-week-of-march-18-2009.html
Posted by United Cerebral Palsy on 03/19/2009 @ 07:47AM PT
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Twitter has great potential for non-profits, but for very specific fund raising campaigns that appeal to a global audience. It is also powerful for awareness building, but the limitation is in that if you have followers with lots of people they ar following your tweet can get buried pretty quick. So all in all it's still a matter of focus and not having too many people follow you and not following too many yourself...be specific.
Posted by chris holt on 03/29/2009 @ 04:26PM PT
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Thanks for this sharing.
Hope you don't mind I translated part of this article into Chinese to share with NPOs of Taiwan.
You can see it in 【TechSoup-Taiwan非營利組織科技運用交流區】(http://techsoup-taiwan.ning.com/profiles/blogs/10ge-fei-ying-li-zu-zhi-jing)
Posted by shufang Tsai on 06/05/2009 @ 03:49AM PT
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Nice article, definitely worth reading.
Just want to add another service which works great; http://tweetsourcer.com
Happy tweeting!
Posted by James Aguero on 07/07/2009 @ 05:36AM PT
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Hi!!!
Good Day!!!
Thank you, your nice tips makes me happy...Pedro
Posted by Pedro Angco on 08/08/2009 @ 03:01AM PT
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i think i would like more information about your non profit. i want to jv with a non profit to make homes more engery efiecent
Posted by J. Williams/R.... on 09/20/2009 @ 09:30AM PT
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Posted by website for non profits small business website on 09/22/2009 @ 03:54AM PT
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