It’s estimated that Twitter now has around 330 million active monthly users, which represent a huge opportunity for your nonprofit to find and connect with both new and existing supporters.  The following tips are a few ideas to help your NFP get started engaging with others on this wildly popular social media channel.

Getting Started

Twitter prompts walk you through the steps of creating your account. Before you begin, you will want to have your name, a password and a username picked out. Most NFPs typically use the name of their organisation, and, ideally, you will use something that relates for your username. Your username will be how others identify you and communicate with you on Twitter, so pick out a name that will generate positive feelings and emotions when others see and hear it.

Bios are Visible

Your Twitter bio is visible to everyone on the platform, so it’s important to stay on brand when you create it. Use your mission statement if it is relatively short and easy to remember, and always Include a link to your NFP’s website.

If your mission statement is rather lengthy, consider using your tagline instead. You could also just shorten and simplify your mission statement if it’s too long.

Use a clear image of your NFP’s logo for your profile picture to help strengthen your brand identity. If you do choose another image for your profile picture, make sure it is one that illustrates just what your nonprofit is all about!

Dealing with the Increase in Character Limit

As you may have recently heard, the character limit for tweets has been doubled from 140 to 280 characters. Just because you have twice as much space to use, be careful to keep tweets clear and concise. Think of using the extra characters to add clarification, and meaning.

The reason why so many millions of social media users turned to Twitter was as a quick means to send and receive information. If all of your tweets take up the full character limit, or you send too many tweets each day, you run the risk of driving off current and potential new supporters.

Do You Tweet too Much, too Little, or at the Wrong Time?

Use analytics, and industry guidelines to discover when are the best times to send tweets, and, to learn what types of tweets your nonprofit’s fans enjoy best.

Keep in mind that you whenever you send a tweet, or respond to messages, you are the face of your NFP, and the emotions that you stir in others will be how others view your nonprofit, for better or for worse.

In addition to tweeting about your organisation’s latest news and events, consider hosting Twitter chats to start conversations with others around specific topics that will be of interest to your supporters. Tweet chats can give supporters a more direct, personal connection to your nonprofit and encourage greater online engagement and direct involvement with your organisation’s activities.