5 Ways Nonprofits Can Use Twitter for Fundraising, Brand Awareness and Public Relations

I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for nonprofits my whole life. At an early age I tagged along, helping my parents volunteer at a JDRF camp for kids. I continued involvement in volunteering as an adult, serving on boards, raising funds and contributing to dozens of nonprofit organizations over the years.

I’m honored, today, to be available to people representing nonprofits at a national conference focusing on social media in Washington, D.C. Today is the Social Media Summit of the Center for Nonprofit Success. I’ll be talking specifically about Twitter and nonprofits in an intermediate session of the day-long conference; then for three hours I’ll be available for one-on-one mentoring sessions for conference attendees to learn more. It promises to be both an exhilarating and exhausting day!

So while I’m busy conducting some in-person time, I’m sharing here five ways nonprofits can use Twitter — and some of what I’ll be discussing in the session tomorrow.

1. Establish a consistent, responsive presence for the organization, monitoring and interacting with followers interested in what the nonprofit has to share in tweets.
2. Following other nonprofits to learn about what is trending, happening and being shared via Twitter.
3. Find interesting content to read via links being shared (and pass them on by re-tweeting).
4. Share links to information about your organization, to interest funders and future donors in the real stories behind your nonprofit.
5. Provide regular tweets with timely news about your nonprofit and the community it serves.

We’ll also be talking about some of our favorite Twitter tools at today’s workshop. Come visit our Facebook page to find out what they are!