It’s an exciting era that we’re living in. With every new day comes a new technology that can be used to further interact with people from all around the world. For nonprofits, this is truly a best case scenario. Organizations have the opportunity  to extend their reach far beyond what was ever considered possible because of social media platforms such as Twitter. 

1. Follow People

An organization cannot expect to gain followers automatically without putting some effort into following people first. The reason why we suggest this step is because the people that express the most passion about the organization are the ones that are most likely to follow, tweet and get excited about the presence of the organization on the social network. They will encourage their followers to join the organization on twitter, thus giving the chance to cultivate people who may not be active supporters.

As soon as the organization’s Twitter page is fully set-up, following the next steps will help generate the initial buzz that your organization has officially joined the world of twitter!

• Create a list of twitter handles comprised of the organization’s staff.
• Create a list of twitter handles comprised of the organization’s partners.
• Create a list of twitter handles comprised of the organization’s leading supporters.

2. Discover Who’s Who and Where 

Be sure to follow people that others follow as well. This could be a combination of other organizations, people, causes etc. Finding those who tweet often and are regarded by the twitter community as people to follow in your specific location is crucial. By using the tool twitaholic.com to research the top tweeting/followed individuals within the organization’s current city, spreading the mission and  twitter presence will be much faster because the locals may have a pre existing relationship with the organization.

3. Connect and Interact

By clicking on the connect button, you can view who is reaching out to the organization. Be sure to reply to tweets, re-tweet other tweets that are relevant to the organization and join discussions where it is appropriate. By doing this, the organization will begin to secure their place on the network and with their base of followers. Chances are there will be people that may not know who or what the organization is or does, but have a friend who follows you so they decide to as well. However, as easy as it was to follow the organization, it’s just as easy for those people to unfollow! So if they are connecting with the organization, then the organization must make the connection back. It should be a mutual relationship. Every tweet is a chance to build a relationship with the organization’s followers and also the people the organization is following. Remember that many people follow, just to follow, so give them a reason to continue following!

4. Retweet

A retweet happens when something has been posted to Twitter and other people want it to show up on their page, but with the original handle’s information visible. It’s essentially copying a tweet but simultaneously giving full credit back to the person who initially posted it. So if you see something you like and want others to see it, instead of copying the tweet and posting as your own, give credit back to the person who came up with the tweet.

It is a common mistake to tweet something that may only apply to those who are active within the organization. It is important to consider that your following will be made up of those who work, those who support and those who disagree. Make your tweets re-tweetable.

5. Attract New Volunteers/Supporters

Out of all the features that can be used on or in conjunction with twitter, the tool that will bring in the most benefit to the organization is simply their ability to tweet to the masses. The organization can use Twitter to invite people to join the organization’s efforts. Putting a search out for volunteers for a specific event can do this. Once the organization has a solid base of followers, they will be able to attract new followers simply because of their presence on the network. Those new followers should be considered potential and future supporters of the organization.

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