Morgan Klaif, the member services administrator at JCC MetroWest, shares how to best leverage Twitter for your nonprofit organization.
Improving the quality of life for others at a community, local, state, national or global level is the general goal of a nonprofit organization. A solution for a need is requested and organizations provide a service to fulfill that solution. An organization might ask “how do we know what those needs are?” Conversations can tell you that need.
Twitter, one of the major social media platforms, is based on conversations. It can help your nonprofit organization engage with your current community, find new audiences, drive awareness to your platforms and raise awareness for the services you offer. If you are not currently using Twitter as a marketing space, here are a few statistics to show you why you need to start:
Twitter is meant to humanize your organization’s brand. With a 280-character limit, your tweets will consist of short, to the point messaging and images which sets the tone to show your community how your organization is making a difference. It strengthens your relationship with your current community and followers, attracts new supporters and generates growth to allow you expand on services offered.
Let’s look at some ways Twitter can support your brand:
While the statistics and benefits show that there’s absolutely a case to market to this massively engaged platform, it also shows there’s a lot of noise on the platform, making it seemingly difficult to get seen. So, the question becomes “how are you supposed to make an impact on Twitter?”
Let’s look at a few ways to best leverage Twitter for your nonprofit organization:
Most of your posts on Twitter should include a form of call to action. You want your community to become engaged with you, so by asking them to do something will promote that engagement. These call to actions should inspire urgency. If your organization is promoting a fundraising event, for example, using a phrase like “click on this link to donate” will result in more support than “we hope you take the time to donate.”
While most conversations are considered verbal, a picture can help tell a story. Tweets that include a strong image are a great way to catch people’s eye and build brand awareness.
What’s a better way to have a conversation with someone than asking them a question? None. Twitter is all about conversation and asking a concise and compelling question will increase engagement.
Your community wants to be informed and know what’s going on. A fact will allow your community to see the urgency and importance of your cause.
A workaround for the 280-character limit is to start a thread. You can post several tweets in a row on the same topic. These can provide updates on your activities.
Many other nonprofit organizations and businesses are open to social media collaborations. It’s a way to nurture corporate social responsibility, and it can benefit you by increasing your reach. Make sure to communicate with your partner and negotiate any terms ahead of time.
Twitter has several tools you can use to boost engagement. Try different features like polls, gifs and emojis to catch the attention of your community.