Katya's Non-Profit Marketing Blog | Twitter 101: A free, easy guide for nonprofits

Twitter 101: A free, easy guide for nonprofits

So should you deal with Twitter or not? This came up while I spoke last week at the NC nonprofit conference alongside smart people like Kivi Leroux Miller and John Kenyon. I was going to post some bullets on this but then along came fellow blogger and prolific commenter John Haydon with a guide that does ALL THE WORK FOR ME AND YOU. It’s easy, short and to the point. If you think bird not technology when you hear the word Tweet, have no fear, this Twitter 101 guide will bring you up to speed.

Here’s a summary John prepared for me to post here:

For many non-profits, Twitter is a new and uncharted social media that is understood and underutilized. For almost six months, John researched hundreds of blogs and social media experts before writing the guide. “I wanted to provide something to help non-profits better use Twitter to increase their fanbase and fundraising.” Additionally, John conducted an on-line survey of over 200 non-profits currently using Twitter (results are included in the guide).

The Twitter Jump Start Guide, which is a living document (those who download the guide will automatically receive updated, more advanced versions every couple of months), includes the following:

• How to create a Twitter Profile that will make folks want to learn more about your non-profit
• How to find Twitter users that already support your cause
• How to find new donors who are already sold on your non-profit
• How to turn those supporters into raving fans
• How to automatically post any news regarding your non-profit
• How to make sure that folks visit your website and stay interested
• 10 Twitter tips that will increase your online donations

The guide can be downloaded for free here! Thanks John - what a great service to the sector.

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/22 at 10:14 AM

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Comments

Katya,

Thanks again for letting people know about this!

John

Posted by John Haydon on 10/22 at 11:52 AM

Great resource, Katya, thanks. Was great to talk to you about and Kivi about this. I still see Twitter as an overwhelming ocean of conversation that is difficult for most nonprofit staff to get their arms around, never mind use effectively for engagement, so I look forward to seeing what John has found.

Great job on your presentations!

Posted by John Kenyon on 10/22 at 01:44 PM

Thanks John and John!

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/22 at 02:15 PM

Thanks for this resource. I recently started playing with Twitter, to see if it is a fit with out foundation’s brand and communications. I am not sure it is. But what it did get me thinking of is where is the Twitter-esque app that lets our supporters talk to us? I feel like so much social marketing is focused on broadcasting, rather than listening. And I wonder if there is something as enticing and simple as Twitter that we could load on our website, for example, so when people think of good ideas for us or don’t like an article in our e-news they could tell us (in 138 words or less).
Ideas?

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/23 at 09:18 AM

@John - Thanks for checking out the guide. I’d love to get your feedback on it.

You said: “I still see Twitter as an overwhelming ocean of conversation that is difficult for most nonprofit staff to get their arms around”.

I’ve seen that as well - but Twitter is overwhelming for most folks. This is exactly why I’ve written this guide. You’ll notice that I’ve broken down Twitter into bite-sized, manageable “chunks”. However, the number one thing non-profits should do to get started with Twitter is to “just do it”. Sounds simple, but it’s hard for folks. But - after they create an account, connect with others, and listen, they’ll find that “it didn’t hurt a bit”.

@Zan - Great question: “And I wonder if there is something as enticing and simple as Twitter that we could load on our website, for example, so when people think of good ideas for us or don’t like an article in our e-news they could tell us (in 138 words or less).”

You could do a few things to achieve this using Twitter-related tools.

However, Twitter users, by nature want to more intimate conversations and connections than e-mails. They might be interested in posting feedback for your on your website, but probably not. The best way for any non-profit to use Twitter is to get an account and start finding people on Twitter who are already talking about your non-profit. Then go from there. It’s a virtual version of leaving your office, walking down the street, shaking hands with those who support you and building relationships.

Let’s keep this going!

John

Posted by John Haydon on 10/23 at 06:18 PM

Zan,

I just set up an automated search for “LGBT” on Twitter using TweetBeep.com It showed over 50 users posting about this topic in the past two days.

Are these folks your non-profit would want to connect with? Would they want to know about Pridefoundation.Org?

John

Posted by John Haydon on 10/23 at 07:26 PM

You always providing someting new to the people. Thanks for that.

Posted by Angelina on 10/24 at 05:23 AM

One of the things I mentioned in the session I held at this same conference is that not all platforms are for everyone and I offered guidelines for choosing the social media platform that work for you. It was well attended and I learned that your industry really wants to get involved with social media but many are hesitant. They have preconceived notions of time commitments and technological prowess that need to be dispelled. I am hopeful that more non profits will run with social media and decrease their dependency on traditional media.

Posted by Angela Connor on 10/27 at 02:44 PM

Angela,

Great comment: “They have preconceived notions of time commitments and technological prowess that need to be dispelled.” Because some non-profits *think* that there are big obstacles, they don’t even start.

Creating a Twitter account takes less than 5 minutes - from account set-up to sending tweets to your friends.

Here’s an offer: I will set up a twitter account to the very first non-profit that e-mails me (including a free background pic). I’ll video tape the entire set-up with no edits and then post it on my blog. This way, other non-profits can get an actual “how-to” video of setting up Twitter - and they’ll see that anyone can do it. (free twitter set-up goes to whoever emails me first - .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))

The fact is if non-profits have donors who are young, they will want to take a closer look at social media. And if their donors are older, who will be the next generation? Most likely people using social media.

John

Posted by John Haydon on 10/27 at 07:48 PM

Thanks John! I’m glad you agree. Let me know if anyone took you up on your offer and if you do indeed have a chance to follow through on that promise. Sounds like an invaluable resource that I could certainly share with others.

Posted by Angela Connor on 10/28 at 02:50 PM

Angela,

Yes. If I don’t get a reply, I might create the video anyways using another email of mine.

I posted a video today about using iTweet, a web-based Twitter application that is super user-friendly:

http://www.corporatedollar.org/2008/10/itweet-video/

Video is a powerful way to communicate and so I’ll be rolling out a whole host of LinkedIn, SStumbleUpon, Twitter and WordPress videos for non-profits.

John

Posted by John Haydon on 10/28 at 03:42 PM

Hi John and Katya!

Thank you so much for providing these resources! Unfortunately, the link to download the Twitter 101 guide does not appear to be working. Any help?

Thanks!

Graciela
CO-Fund

Posted by CO-Fund on 06/13 at 07:26 PM

Hi Graciela - I updated the link!

Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/14 at 06:41 AM

Graciela - Sorry, I moved the Page: http://johnhaydon.com/social-strategy-tips/twitter-jump-start-the-complete-guide-for-small-non-profits/

Posted by John Haydon on 06/14 at 06:48 AM

Hey thanks for this great info, i just started using twitter and this came in handy! Thanks for the great share.
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