resources blog
To twitter, or not?
posted Jun 24, 2009
Paraphrasing heavily from a useful article by Dorie Clark for MassNonprofit.org, nonprofits focused on advocacy can use Twitter to mobilize constituents and educate followers about their work, send them to their site, etc. And nonprofits are using it much more than business and academia. However, 60% of Twitter users give it up within a month—both nonprofits and people who might follow our nonprofits.
Before setting up an account of your own, consider:
Do supporters want to hear from you at least once a day? If your information isn’t time-sensitive or that interesting (“We hired a new bookkeeper!”), then save it for your website or an e-newsletter.
Do your supporters actually use Twitter? If your members are tech-savvy advocates, then keeping your street cred intact may necessitate using Twitter. But if they lack access to the Internet or “smart phones,” or many of your supporters aren’t comfortable online, you may be better off waiting to see if this is a fad or a long-term trend.
Who will tweet? Setting up your account and gaining followers is great, but only if you’ve designated someone to handle the updates. Make sure you identify a responsible staffer at the outset.
What will you say? Tweeting is a commitment. Just as any viable blog should be updated at least two to three times per week, your organization should plan to use Twitter daily. Do you have enough to say?
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