5 BEST TWITTER PRACTICES FOR NONPROFITS

There are almost 300 million active Twitter users worldwide, which makes experts consider the online social

networking service launched in March 2006 a huge potential for both businesses and nonprofits.

Consequently, there are thousands of Twitter how-to’s and guides on the Internet, and in your efforts to

master the secrets of writing the best 140 characters, you may forget the most important point of this social

medium: engaging in a relaxed conversation.

On the other hand, we all know that meaningful conversation is an art, so if you need a little help to start a

great talk, consider our 5 best Twitter practices for nonprofits:

1. Sharing relevant and engaging content

No matter what kind of online marketing strategy you may be trying, chances are content will represent a

critical part of it. Instead of using direct appeals prompting people to donate, we recommend you to opt for

engaging content that provides value to your audiences, inspires supporters, or helps them solve a problem.

This is the kind of content that gets re-tweeted easily and fosters conversation, which is actually the core idea

of Twitter.

2. Time and frequency of tweets

Twitter is the kind of platform that keeps users connected to real-time events, so don’t talk about something

that happened yesterday as if it is happening right now. Other aspects you also need to consider is how often

to tweet and when. Most experts agree with a 3 tweets/day frequency, which is enough to keep you on top

of news feeds and not cause you to get unfollowed for spammy practices either. Furthermore, it is

recommended to tweet in the morning, and late in the afternoon or evening, when your followers are less

busy with work.

3. Becoming the go-to expert

Your audiences may be using Twitter for light-hearted conversation, but this doesn’t mean that all you should

post is “Who’s looking forward to Friday?” or “It’s a lovely sunny day!” Use your wit to write smart, thought-

provoking posts, and also exert your professional expertise to give valuable advice to people you are

engaging with on Twitter. Too many times questions about technical issues remain unanswered, and this is a

gap you could fill in order to be perceived as a top aficionado.

4. Using Twitter to attract donations

Young donors are the future of nonprofit organizations, and many of them use Twitter. There are countless

ways you can use social media, including Twitter, to attract donations: online contests, sharing your online

fundraising event, following up with donors and showing them how resources are being used, posting links to

testimonials written by people who have been helped by your organization, or sharing stats about your

fundraising campaign’s success.

5. Be authentic!

If you want to be successful on Twitter, you must communicate the same way you’d do in real life and tailor

your tone of voice to your audiences. The first rule of thumb is not sending automated direct messages,

which are perceived as spam.

Other bad ideas that are unfortunately seen very often are making emotional and insistent appeals, asking

people to re-tweet, not following back people who have followed you, or forgetting to thank people for RTs

or mentions. Ignoring supporters is rude both offline and on Twitter, so make sure you offer them all the

attention they need.

All in all, the more you put into Twitter, the more you’ll get back!

To learn more about social media for churches and nonprofits, visit our blog at http://fundlio.com/blog