twitter for nonprofits

Twitter for Nonprofits:

July 21, 2009

Kevin Martone and Joe RuotoloTechnology Program TeamGrinspoon Institute for Jewish Philanthropy

Reconnecting 140 Characters at a Time

Twitter for Nonprofits 2July 21, 2009

Agenda: Welcome 1:00 – 1:05 Twitter Basics 1:05 – 1:25 Twitter as an Organization 1:25 – 1:35 Other Twitter Tools 1:35 – 1:40 Camp Examples 1:40 – 1:55 Fundraising on Twitter 1:55 – 2:00 Issues 2:00 – 2:05 Tweeting our Conference 2:05 – 2:10 Feedback/Questions 2:10 – 2:20


Notes on Today’s Session Today’s Topic

Twitter is a fast-growing social media service that can be used to reach out to constituents

More and more camps are utilizing the service to reach out to parents and alumni

Each camp needs to better understand if/how Twitter fits into their overall outreach and communications strategy…and how they can best implement it

This presentation will give an overview for beginners and some more in-depth tips for more advanced users

The Presentation and Recorded Session will be available for download on http://webinar.gijptech.org within 24 hours


What is Twitter? 140 Character “Tweets” to the World

“What are you doing?” “Followers” receive messages directly

Combination of Instant Messaging (IM) and Blogging Micro-blogging

Discuss anything! Status updates, links to articles, requests for info, etc.

Tweet via text message, smartphone, web Many tools to manage and search the flow of

information on Twitter


Why Should We Tweet?

Your Outreach/Communication Goals? If Twitter helps reach those goals…

Engage and Learn Fun! Post Updates for Parents Can Drive Traffic to Website, FB Page, … Demographics

35-49 is largest demo group on Twitter1,000+% growth from Feb. 2008 to Feb. 2009


Photo by cogdogblog on Flickr


Getting Started

Go to www.twitter.com Register yourself or your Organization 160 Character Bio Upload a Photo Upload/Choose a Design (Background)

Send Tweets!

http://www.twitter.com/


Getting Started (cont’d)

SettingsCan “protect” updatesBioDevices (text updates)Notices (email)PictureDesign (background)



Twitter is also a great Listening tool Real-time Find people

Twitter Search (http://search.twitter.com) Click “Advanced Search”

“Find People” link Follow/be followed

http://search.twitter.com/



Example Search: Camp Harlam


Twitter LingoTweet An update on Twitter

Follow/ Unfollow

Determines which tweets will show up on your personal homepage

Followers People subscribed to receive your tweets

Hashtags (#) Allows easy searching; global “conversation”

Retweet (RT) Forward other people’s tweets

@ Replies Send (public) msg directly to user on Twitter

DM (Direct Messages)

Send (private) msg directly to user

Favorites “Save” specific tweets as favorites

Block Block a User from Following your Tweets

Short URL Shortened URL of a webpage (bit.ly, tinyurl, etc.) – Be wary of these from unknown people


Twitter Profile


Twitter as an Organization

Be Authentic! Conversations:

2-way


Twitter as an Organization (cont’d)

Follow us! @gijp Tools to allow multiple people to post to

same Organizational Twitter AccountCoTweetHootsuiteAlso offer integrated URL shortener/statsCan schedule/assign future Tweets

Widgets can show Twitter feed on website or blog


Other Twitter Tools Desktop Twitter Apps

TweetDeck Twitterrific (Mac only)

TwitterBerry (Blackberry) TweetDeck or Twitterfon (iPhone) TweetBeep – email alerts on Twitter search Twtvite – Create “tweetup” event on Twitter TwitterAnalyzer – review stats of your followers,

conversations, links, etc.

Other suggestions from seasoned Twitterers?


Camp Example: URJ Henry S. Jacobs Camp

http://jacobs.urjcamps.org/microblog/


Camp Example: Camp JORI


Camp Example: Camp Judaea


Camp Twitter Accounts

Camp @ Followers* Post Freq Content

Camp Judaea CampJudaea 65 Every 1-2 days Updates, some dialog/RT, fun

Camp JORI JORITweet 25 2-3 per day Updates, fun

URJ Greene Family Camp

URJGFC 220 5-7 per day Updates, fun

Surprise Lake SurpriseLake 82 Every 1-2 days Updates, fun, links to website

Herzl Camp HerzlCamp 39 Every 1-2 days Updates, links to website, focus on Alumni

URJ Camp Harlam

URJCampHarlam

133 5-10 per day Updates, fun

*Some view Tweets on Camp Website or Blog instead


Fundraising on Twitter

Twitter fundraising works best for a specific event or challenge Link to online giving page or ChipIn/Causes Widget TipJoy (Fundraising via PayPal directly on Twitter)

Otherwise, used for finding and engaging constituents; cultivate via other channels

Examples Tweetsgiving 140 Smiles


Issues Short URLs Spam

Block Followers Report Spam

Follow @spam DM offending Twitter username

Legitimate email address not needed to register Easy to follow (without updates “Protected”) Watch what you say!

Anyone can see it (unless “Protected”) Can delete tweets, but will be available via search on Twitter and

Google for days Don’t tell the world you will be away for a week (or summer!)


Tweeting our Conference

#gijp Pre-planning

Tweet plans – Attending? Sessions? etc.

During conference Tweet questions Post comments Tweetups?

Post-conference Continue discussion of learnings, sharing info


Questions?

Photo by Xurble


Grinspoon Institute Webinars – Feedback/Questions

How did we do? How was the level of detail? What topics would you like to learn about in this format? Is there a topic you’d like to share in a future Webinar? Any other suggestions?


Next Webinar… Will be back in September In the meantime:

Check out our Webinar archives Join the discussion on our Discussion Boards Help us make these Webinars as helpful as possible to you:

If there is a specific topic you would like us to present via our Webinars, let us know!

If you would like to present in a Webinar on a specific topic, let us know!


For More Information

This presentation and recorded session will be available in our Webinar archives by the end of the week: http://webinar.gijptech.org

Recent GIJP Blog Post re: Twitter Twitter in Plain English Video by CommonCraft Follow us @gijp (www.twitter.com/gijp) Become our Facebook Page Fan

http://webinar.gijptech.org/

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