1. Store Your Tweets: Hootsuite

It is useful to look back and be able to see what the organization was doing in prior tweets and how well those tweets were responded to by their followers. Furthermore, if an ethical situation were to arise at any point over Twitter, the organization can quickly and efficiently look at what was happening on their Twitter page at the time of said situation. You can save the organization’s tweets, forever! The social media tool hoot suit can do this. It will create a database that is easy to access for any current or future social media specialist within the organization. This is important to consider for a number of reasons.

2. Fundraise Through Links: Bitly

Although twitter does not offer a direct fundraising component to their site, the organization can post about various ways to give. The most resourceful way to do this is by tweeting something such as this: #GlobalWarming is on the rise. Help save the arctic polar bears now! (Insert link here). If the link is longer than the character amount will allow, then consider using the source bitly.com to shorten the link. This tool will also enable the organization to view how many clicks the link has received and from where. Create a fundraising campaign that is developed around twitter!

3. Petition Using Twitter: Act.Ly

Going back to our previous example of #GlobalWarming, if there is a development somewhere in the world that is effecting the situation in a negative way, the environmental organization may wish to address the issue on a much larger scale. For example, if a company is producing a chemical that could potentially worsen the global warming crisis, the organization can start a petition on Twitter using act.ly. This tool is simple to use and can create a massive impact in a short amount of time.

4. Be Creative and Active: Twibbon

Be creative and engaging with ways that the organization’s followers can show support of the mission/brand. Using Ttwitter avatars is a great way to generate exposure and boost the organization’s presence. Enabling users to add your logo/brand to their avatar (profile picture) is very useful. To view various example of this use, visit twibbon.com. The example below is a twibbon used by LIVESTRONG which has been used on over 22,000 avatars!

5. Meet Followers: Tweet-Up

A tweet-up is an opportunity for people on Twitter to come together. In cases for an organization, it is a chance to cultivate the followers with a goal of creating donors in the process. A tweet-up can be as simple as a day in the park to bring together family and friends. The organization can request that the followers who come wear something specific such as a plain blue shirt. Additionally, it may excite people even more if you invite them to wear their twitter handles on their shirts so they can make some twitter friends while spending the day with the organization. Based on the location of the organization it may be a good idea to organize a tweet-up.

6. Upload Photos: Twitpic

A twitpic is a a photo uploaded onto Twitter. This will allow followers to see the organization at work fulfilling the mission that is support by the public. The organization’s followers will also be able to re-tweet the picture so that others who may not be aware of the organization can develop their own aesthetic for the mission. Whenever possible, share pictures from events, programs, activities etc. using twitpic.

7. Track Your Growth: SocialBro and Twitalyzer

By using tools such as socialbro or twitalyzer, the organization will be able to visually track who, where and to what extent their tweets are impacting the Twitter universe. Furthermore this tool will provide specific insight to the organizational follower base, including verified (celebrity/famous) followers. It will give detail as to when the best time to tweet is based on location of the most active followers. Socialbro also includes real-time charts that help determine a number of other statistics. These tools will enable the organization to create benchmarks and track the Twitter growth through various statistics.

Travis Flores is an NYU Graduate candidate, studying for his MS in fundraising. Travis joined the Red Rooster Group to assist in the enhancement of the social media and technological experiences for both the company as well as their clients.

If you’re feeling like your organization cannot ignore the calls of Twitter, you’re not alone! According to a 2011 article by Kyle Lacy, author of two acclaimed books, Twitter Marketing for Dummies and Branding Yourself, 90% of Nonprofits have a Twitter share button on their website. We believe that using social media tools such as Twitter can be simple and efficient when following the basic strategy we’ve created to help get you started.

It’s important to note that social media is a great way to listen to the people who support your organization. It gives an opportunity for the organization to address feedback, both positive and negative, on a very large scale.

So your organization is ready to expand its reach into the universe that is twitter? Great! Let’s get started!

1. Sign Up

To begin, go to twitter.com to sign up for your new account.

2. Create A Twitter Handle

A Twitter handle is the username that will identify you to other users on Twitter @yourname. This handle should reflect your organization, its mission and its brand. Having a good handle can be the difference between having a large follower base that is interactive with the organization versus having a small follower base that will not find it necessary to reach out to the organization via social media. If you are unsure about what the organization’s Twitter handle should be, try finding similar organizations that are already on twitter to see what they have used to represent their brand.

3. Be Consistent With Your Page

Consistency is truly key factor toward the success of a Twitter presence. Your brand should be consistent across the board, from your web site to your Facebook to your Twitter to any other social media platform the organization is represented on. Consistency will make it easy for anyone to find your organization and subsequently  connect with you.

The next few paragraphs will detail the set-up of the actual page. Please note that at any point you can go back into your Twitter account settings to make any necessary changes to the page design. 

Select Your Avatar

Once the initial registration process has been completed, the organization will need to choose their avatar, or profile picture, that will be associated with their Twitter handle. The profile picture should fit in the dimensions as provided by Twitter. If it is to large consider resizing it so that the organization’s logo will not be cut off.

Select Background

You will be given the choice to change the background of your page. In most cases, a professional or business Twitter accounts background should either be a plain color, or a photo that is owned by the company, organization, corporation etc.

Make the Header 

You will also need to make sure the header is representing the organization properly. Although your Twitter handle may not be the exact name of the organization, the title/header (name) above the handle should be. For example your twitter handle may be @wcftrees, but the name displayed at the top of your page should be “We Care For Trees”.

Create A Bio

Twitter will give you a certain amount of characters to post a small bio to be featured at the top of the page. Make sure that the bio is precise and concise so that people that come to the page by chance will know exactly who and what the page is for.

4. Establish Credibility by Using Twitter Regularly 

One of the biggest mistakes that happens time and time again is a company, organization, entity will sign up for Twitter and be extremely active for the first week, but decline as time goes on. The followers of your organization have expectations. They want to see the organization in its everyday form which is possible through Twitter. Empowering the followers of the organization is truly an element of social media that determines your success, especially with your twitter experience. Even for an individual using twitter, if their tweets cannot be applied to their followers, they may not thrive on the network. It’s important to tweet things that will excite the followers and make them want to come back to your page to see more tweets in the future. Remember that the organization’s credibility is on the line so be present, active and listen to your followers.

Travis Flores is an NYU Graduate candidate, studying for his MS in fundraising. Travis joined the Red Rooster Group to assist in the enhancement of the social media and technological experiences for both the company as well as their clients.

Social media is time consuming. Is it really worth the effort? It depends. If used in the right way, it can be a great tool to recruit volunteers and donors.

If you are a small or medium-sized nonprofit with a limited marketing budget, you know social media is the way to go. However, social media marketing has more to it than just setting up a page and collecting fans. In order to make the most out of social media for your nonprofit, consider these 5 things.

1. Have an official presence for your nonprofit on social media.

Although social media is free and widely used in the industry, you might be focusing on other aspects of marketing and leaving social media out of the picture. As social media is becoming part of everyday activity, understand that it’s important to set up an official page on Facebook at the very least. I put an emphasis on official because anyone is able to create fan pages and groups on Facebook. It is important to delegate someone who understands the organization and its culture as your social media voice. The longer you wait to do this, the higher the chances that somebody who does not know your nonprofit very well is already creating pages and groups for it. Multiple pages and groups may seem like good awareness at first glance. However, too many groups and pages might confuse your donors as to which page to follow or group to join. You are also letting someone else draw an image for your organization, which might not be the same as what your board envisions.

If your donors are more active on Twitter, don’t miss out on the opportunity of reaching them there. If your potential donors are professionals, then setting up a company page or a group on LinkedIn is crucial. If you have videos or pictures, then you know you have YouTube and Flickr to help you organize and share them. There is still a few months’ wait until Google+ sends out organization invitations. Until then, it might be beneficial to create an individual account and familiarize yourself with it.

2. Generate good content and have regular activity.

The sooner you create an official presence, the easier it is to control the type of message that you want to send to your donors. When there are multiple groups and pages already established, it is challenging to get a consistent message out. If you decide to start a brand new page, it is even harder to get everyone to switch to the new page. In any case, provide good content and establish your credibility. Reflect your organization’s culture in your posts. Just setting up a page or an account is not enough; regular activity is a must, and for this reason you should not join every single social media channel without thinking about the amount of time and effort it takes to maintain them.

3. Listen to what your stakeholders have to say.

The image of your brand will determine the success level of your organization. What people are saying about your nonprofit through social media is extremely valuable information. Any organization that ignores these conversations will miss out on possible opportunities for improvement. Whether you are a for-profit or nonprofit organization, you need to listen to your stakeholders.

4. Use social media for market research.

The challenge with social media is sorting out the humongous amount of information and channeling it into the right directions to get the most out of it. If the communication is more organized, you will be able to get usable data. Use hashtags and discussion boards to keep track of different subjects. Ask the right questions and collect the information that you need. Social media is not just a great medium to create the right kind of buzz for your organization, it is also a great tool for feedback and market research. When you come across a wise person or organization, follow them! You might be able to gain valuable insight. Plus, it also shows that you support them and this helps to establish relationships.

5. Integrate social media with your overall marketing.

There are numerous tools and applications that can help you gain measurable results on social media. Use social media to increase traffic to your website by creating welcome pages that are linked to your website. Increase subscribers to your newsletter, generate buzz for your fundraising events and simply collect donations by adding a donate button to your page.

Social media can do a lot for your organization if you let it. Utilize social media to get your message through to general public and to help them understand your organization and what it stands for. Use story-telling to create magic and turn them into activists and donors. Build meaningful relationships and create an online community.

Moheeta Tamrakar, is a social media associate at Red Rooster Group. Red Rooster Group helps nonprofits build better brands. Moheeta helps the clients build communities on social media in order to cultivate donors. You can contact her at moheeta@redroostergroup.com.