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Non-Profits and Social Media – Twitter Engagement
By Paula Attfield on September 16, 2010
I follow hundreds of charities on twitter and over 100 are Canadian organizations. Out of those I follow, less than half followed me in return. The other half have ignored me.
Fewer still (only 11!) went to the trouble of sending me a message.
By the way, a special kudos to those Canadian NPOs (Non-Profit Organizations) who did take the time to message me!:
- Ontario Non-profit Network
- BCSPCA
- World Wildlife Canada
- Earth Day Canada
- Asthma Society Canada
- Canadian Learning Foundation
- Sierra Club Canada
- Humber River Regional Hospital
- Second Harvest Toronto
- The Scott Mission
- Medecins Sans Frontieres
Note: I have also built some great relationships with individual fundraisers tweeting under their own names
But to all of those NPOs who ignored me…
A new day has dawned in fundraising. It’s no longer enough to throw a message out to your supporters and hope it sticks, and that you’ll get support in return.
Let me point out a recent development in fundraising strategy:
1. Engage
2. Recruit
3. Convert
Engage potential supporters, recruit them to your cause, and finally convert them into donors/volunteers. This applies to most forms of fundraising including face-to-face, special events, direct response, online fundraising (etc.)
Why then doesn’t it seem to apply to social media as well? Why would half of the charities I’m interested in choose to ignore me on Twitter?
Is it because the social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN, etc) are being managed by the program staff? Is it driven only by a goal to disseminate program information? Is it that they’re not concerned with engagement? (OK, it might be that resources are limited, but I’ll address that some other time).
Where are the fundraisers? Why are we not out there engaging with our donors and potential donors?
I know Twitter is not the be-all-and-end-all of the not-for-profit world, but…
If you are a charity tweeter, try to remember that every follower is a potential donor, a potential volunteer and a potential supporter for life. Treat them well. And hopefully they’ll reward you for it!
Glenn Vogelsang wrote, on 19:15 at Sep 17, 2010
Thanks for the post. On behalf of the Terry Fo Foundation I try to reach out to every person who gives us a mention or follow. There are so many 3rd party applications (Hootsuite, Social Oomph etc.) out there that make this a breeze – certainly not like the old days. However, in today’s world of “buy my e-book” or “don’t miss this unbelievable offer”, i understand if people are a little follow/reply shy.
Thanks
Paula wrote, on 13:02 at Sep 21, 2010
Thanks Glenn for your comments! I should add here that I wrote this blog before following your organization. I’m happy to add the Terry Fox Foundation as a orgnization that engages well on Twitter. Keep up the good work in the world of social media!
Paul Nazareth wrote, on 22:32 at Sep 24, 2010
Paula, I’m still very new to Twitter and sometimes marvel and the complete strangers who “follow” me randomly. If they connected with me on LinkedIn I would send them a thank you and welcome message and I NEVER thought of doing this until this post.
I don’t do this for work at all but I certainly value everyone in my network and Twitter is certainly part of my network!
Thanks for the important note!
Please keep in your thoughts peers in non-profit whose organizations ignore social media and go so far as ban it from the office or declare that “only pr or X staff person shall tweet”.
Paula wrote, on 14:06 at Sep 26, 2010
Thank you kindly for your comment Paul! I’m in absolute agreement with you in regard to those non-profits who ban social media. It’s better instead to craft a detailed strategy and offer staff guidelines for participation (which would of course include recommendations for the use of Social Media — for example encouraging staff to promote a campaign, cause or event).
And welcome to Twitter Paul. I know you’ll meet great people there.
Liz wrote, on 18:21 at Sep 27, 2010
I have to admit I”m terrible at sending Thank You’s on Twitter, however, none of those folks have sent me any money so… I completely agree with your post.
As they say, if you’re going to do it, at least get it right.
Paula wrote, on 13:58 at Sep 29, 2010
Thanks Liz, for personal use, I have to admit that I no longer thank my new new followers personally – it was just too many to keep up with.
I’ve seen very effective auto direct messages on Twitter. Although this practice is controversial, I support it when the message is carefully crafted.
However, as you point out, my mission is not to raise money (on my own behalf) as it is for many non-profit organizations.