April 20, 2009
A lot of people ask me how they should be using Twitter. The micro blogging service has had an explosion of popularity recently and nonprofits want to get in on the action. But should they Twitter like a teenager, with messages like, “Should I eat pizza tonight?”
Use Twitter to boost interest in your organization.
Think of Twitter as a way to pass on headlines to your supporters. With the 140 character limit, there’s not a lot you can say. Really, it’s about teasing things, like you see anchors on the news do before a commercial. You want to capture people’s interest. There’s no room for longwinded sentences. Get to the point and let me know why I should care. Here are a few suggestions for your tweets:
If a new story appears about your area of expertise, post a link to it. In this case you are showing that you are the go-to group for your topic.
You can post requests for things like volunteers. Make sure you don’t just ask for help but give people the contact info they need to get involved.
If you take pictures of an event and post them on your website or blog, send out a tweet, telling people to see if they’re featured in one of the snapshots.
Always respect those who follow you on Twitter. Never post just to post. If you bore people, they won’t continue to follow you.
A key to making the most of Twitter is the use of tiny urls. We’ll talk about that next time.
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Uncategorized | Tagged: communication, ken okel, marketing, nonprofit, Social Media for nonprofits, twitter | 
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