Create a following on Twitter!

In this Article:

• What is Twitter?
• What can Twitter be used for?
• Examples from the sector
• Advantages & Disadvantages
• What do I need and how do I start?
• Dos & Don'ts
• Recommended resources
  

• Launching a campaign

• Announcing events, projects, initiatives, job opportunities, etc.
  

• Promoting a key newsletter, blog post, or press release
  

• Building online communities and relationships with current and new supporters
  

• Keeping up with breaking news
  

• Learning by asking questions of your supporters (e.g. advice, recommendations, contacts, opinions)
  

• Brainstorming with colleagues
  

• Sharing resources and information

• Encouraging action by telling your story
  

• Listening to others and learning about people, trends, and markets
  

• Getting real-time reports and updates from events you were unable to attend. People who attend events “tweet” about what’s happening, so follow their tweets and know what’s going on.
  

• Expanding your network
  

• Twitter is fast. You can very easily publish information more than once per minute. Use Twitter to update everyone if distribution speed is critical.

• Twitter is a platform for community publishing. Once you post a tweet about something, this can easily be disseminated through the tweets of those who are following you. For example, your followers may be checking out the fundraising campaign you just twittered about, and post a tweet about their act of checking it out, quickly disseminating information.
  

• Twitter is not tethered to a website. This means you can receive alerts through other means, such as instant messaging, SMS/text messages on cell phones, RSS feeds, email alerts, badges/widgets on other sites, and so on.
  

• Some argue that Twitter has too many voices and not enough responses. It can get confusing trying to follow a conversation. If your charity wants to use Twitter, it’s important for you to remember to invest time and attention to making connections.

• The message space is limiting. It’s sometimes difficult to explain everything you want in 140 characters. It may not be enough for your charity to campaign, educate, and advocate.

• Twitter does not thread conversations. Conversations on Twitter happen in real-time, which limit their depth and longevity.
  

1. Go to the Twitter homepage.
   

2. Click the “Get Started—Join!” button.
   

3. Choose a username that makes sense for your charity, preferably the whole name of your charity, or its acronym.
   

4. Type in a password.
   

5. Enter your e-mail address.
   

6. Fill in the slightly distorted words in the provided text box. This is to make sure you are a human and not a computer. These colourful images with distorted text at the bottom of Web registration forms prevent abuse from "bots," or automated programs usually written to generate spam.
   

7. Check the box if you want to receive email updates from Twitter.
   

8. Now click the “I accept. Create my account.” button.
   

9. The next page asks you if you want Twitter to check if anyone in your email contacts has a Twitter account. If you want to do this, enter your email password. You can skip this step by clicking the “skip »” link at the bottom of the page.
   

10. Now you can start twittering about whatever you'd like!— the project you’re working on, what you think of the latest trend, a link to a great resource, your opinion on a big news item, etc. 
    

11. To see what your profile looks like to others, click the “Profile” link at the top of the page.
    

12. To add friends to your Twitter account, click the “Find People” link at the top of the page. There are a few ways you can find friends: 1) have Twitter look through your email contacts to see if any of them are on Twitter; 2) invite people to join Twitter through email; 3) search for people using keywords; 4) follow those your followers are following.

13. To change your account settings and update your profile, click the “Settings” link at the top of the page. Here you can add a short bio about yourself or charity, enable notifications to be sent to your mobile phone, tell Twitter how you prefer to be notified about things, add a small profile picture, and change the design of your Twitter page.

14. Whenever you need help, click the “Help” link at the top of the page.
    

• DO try Twitter out for yourself first to see if it makes sense for your charity.

• DO embrace the feedback and conversation your tweet sparks.
  

• DO make the time to chat with your followers.
  

• DO occasionally promote your blog and e-newsletter.
  

• DO share your accomplishments.
  

• DO ask questions.
  

• DO point people toward useful and interesting links: other tweets, web sites, blog posts, etc.
  

• DO tell people something surprising and interesting about yourself/charity.
  

• DO NOT encourage your staff to Twitter if you don't want them to share information quickly, connect to one another more deeply, and discuss your charity’s work with the broader public.
  

• DON’T approach Twitter with the aim of accumulating and controlling an audience.
  

• DON’T use Twitter if you insist on being very formal in your organization's public communications.
  

• DON’T use Twitter only as an advertising tool. Find that balance between conversation and promotion.
  

• DON’T be boring!