Experiment with the approaches below to see which works best for you

Target audience:Nonprofits, NGOs, cause organizations, social enterprises, brands, bloggers, social media managers.

This is the first in our new series of articles on how nonprofits can get the most out of Twitter.

By Kyria Abrahams
Socialbrite staff

We’re kicking off our new series on how nonprofits can make the best use of Twitter with a roundup of organizations that showcase a strong voice in the community. Below are eight popular nonprofits on Twitter today as well as an overview of their varying styles and strategies.

These organizations are successfully using the following approaches. They:

• Support other nonprofit Twitter users with Follow Friday.
• Retweet others.
• Quote well-known and well-respected voices.
• Write concise “teaser-style” tweets that link back to their main website.
• Make ample use of hashtags or create their own.
• Ask questions that engage their followers.
• Use human interest stories.
• Respond to tweets that mention their organization.

charity: water

1With 1.3 million followers, charity: water is the first Twitter result when using the search term “nonprofit.” The organization’s focus is clear and so are their tweets, many of which focus on celebrating individual supporters, small donors and partners. Tweets feature a compelling teaser, which links back to their website.

The Gates Foundation

2The Gates Foundation makes ample use of hashtags and actively participates in “Follow Friday” (hashtag: #FF), a practice which builds a sense of community around their cause and can be seen as a type of online partnering. They utilize a “Photo of the Day” that links back to their site, a tactic which is also used by Charity Water. If anyone has ideas on properly using Twitter, it’s probably Bill Gates.

The Humane Society

3The Humane Society originated the popular hashtag #FelineFriday, which encourages people to post photos of their cats. The tag is so popular that I sent them a tweet asking if they had come up with the concept. They replied to me within two days, which means that they’ve also got a crack team checking on all their @replies — another big plus!

Free Arts

4With chapters in Minnesota and New York, Free Arts uses Twitter to share inspirational quotes and links to interesting articles related to their cause. Quotes work well on Twitter because people are more apt to retweet inspirational quotes than another link to your blog. Plus, you’ll never have to worry about having writer’s block.

Free Arts

5St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital gracefully retweeted Cindy Crawford after she wrote about spending the day at their facility. Understated and natural retweeting — sometimes pre-scheduled — is preferable to having a page littered with unanswered posts begging to be retweeted by celebrities who will probably just ignore you anyway.

Direct Relief

6Direct Reliefmakes good use of newsworthy hashtags like #healthcare and does a fair amount of retweeting others.

Room to Read

7We like Room to Read for asking interactive questions on hot topics people might be searching for. Asking simple, personalized questions offers an opportunity for users to @reply to you when they otherwise may be disinclined to.

Operation Smile

8Operation Smile updates readers with human interest stories of specific children they’ve helped, and links to well-produced videos highlighting their mission. Like many others, they also use a “Pic of the Day.”

You may wish to experiment with each of these different approaches and see which works best for you. Eventually, you’ll find your own unique Twitter style. Remember that you want to be seen as an educational, entertaining destination and not as a marketing tool. Don’t be afraid to keep the reigns a little lose, have some fun and build community. Then get tweeting!

Stay tuned for more best practices for nonprofits on Twitter in this ongoing series!

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Benchmarks study: How does your nonprofit stack up?

At the Nonprofit Technology Conference in Washington D.C. the other day, I was one of 50 attendees who got a sneak preview of the fascinating 2011 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, the big annual study that shows how nonprofits are using social media, email and much more.

You can download the free 36-page report from M+R Strategic Services and NTEN. The study — the fifth Benchmarks report — collected data about email messaging, email list size, fundraising, online advocacy, Facebook, Twitter and text messaging from 40 U.S.-based national nonprofit organizations for the calendar year of 2010. The study’s authors analyzed the results of 672 million email messages sent to over 17 million list subscribers; more than $114 million in online donations and 2.9 million advocacy actions.

Key fIndIngs of the report

• Online fundraising showed steady growth for participating groups in 2010 despite the current economic climate. Most groups saw a 10% increase in dollars raised online from 2009 to 2010.
• The 2010 advocacy response rate was 3.3%. From 2009 to 2010, advocacy response rates declined 7% on average.
• Not surprisingly, advocacy emails had the highest open, click-through and response rates while fundraising emails had the lowest click-through rate.
• Annual email list churn was 18%.
• Online fundraising revenue grew overall by 14% between 2009 and 2010. This rebound was led by an enormous 163% increase in the International sector due to emergencies like the earthquake in Haiti and flooding in Pakistan. However, all sectors saw an increase of some size in overall revenue from 2009, driven by an increase in the number of online gifts.
• On average, nonprofit Facebook Pages had 15,053 users, defined as people who “Like” a Page (but this includes large nonprofits).
• Facebook users were much more engaged with nonprofits in the Wildlife / Animal Welfare sector than in any other sector.
• On average, an organization’s text messaging list size was 1.9% of its email list size.
• Annual mobile list churn was 14% in 2010.

The graphic at the top of this article conveys, at a glance, why no one is suggesting that nonprofits abandon email marketing in favor of social media or mobile. For every 1,000 email subscribers for your nonprofit, you’ll have, on average, 110 Facebook fans, 19 Twitter followers and 19 mobile text subscribers. What those numbers don’t show, however, is that engaged fans on social networks, and connected fans on mobile devices, tend to be more loyal, to respond at higher rates to advocacy campaigns and to donate at higher rates than the average user.

And, let’s be frank, while most established nonprofits use email effectively, they still have yet to master social media.

You’ll want to also download the accompanying 42-page PDF presentation. I sat in on the webinar Tuesday and it was well worth hearing details of what moved the needle for the League of Conservation Voters and Defenders of Wildlife — and what didn’t.

Convio has also released its Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study, which is worth a read.

So what do you think? How does your nonprofit measure up to these numbers?

The post New report: Nonprofit numbers for social media, advocacy, fundraising appeared first on Socialbrite.

By Brandy Scoggan
Socialbrite staff

Folks in the nonprofit and social good space just starting out on Twitter don’t want to begin with a blank slate. So we poked around and came up with this list of 12 can’t-miss nonprofits & causes to follow on Twitter.

This roundup should get you going, but don’t stop here — you can use Twitter Lists to explore scores or hundreds of other worthy organizations and individuals on Twitter. You’ll want to take note of which their campaigns or causes to follow — say, environmental issues, human rights or education — and then decide if you like the content of their tweets.

A good starting place is Jason Pollock’s list of nonprofit organizations on Listorious or Socialbrite’s list of change-makers, which focuses more on individuals than nonprofits.

Here are 12 social good organizations that caught our eye:

Water.org: Bringing clean water to those who lack it (@water)
Water.org (image above) is a nonprofit concerned with empowering and working with communities to meet their own water and sanitation needs. Their efforts are focused in Asia, Africa and Central America. A lot of big celebrity names are involved in this one — it’s a fantastic campaign and worth following. # of Twitter followers: 339,558

Twestival: One cause at a time (@twestival)

Twestival had its third event Thursday night in about 175 cities, raising more than $310,000 to benefit Concern Worldwide. Amazing event, great cause, fabulous concept and campaign. Click on the link Twestival campaign to see a really cool Twestival video. # of Twitter followers: 247,068

Donors Choose: Supporting public education (@Donorschoose)

DonorsChoose is a nonprofit that connects donors to public classrooms in need. Teachers post materials they need, donors help them out on an individualized basis, and then teachers and students often circle back with notes of thanks. It’s the model for future philanthropy. # of Twitter followers: 4,514.

Kiva: Providing loans to entrepreneurs worldwide (@kiva)

Kiva‘s mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty. They act as a liaison between a global marketplace of philanthropic individuals, lending $25 at a time, and entrepreneurs looking to fund a small business. Their program helps lift people in developing countries out of poverty. # of Twitter followers: 343,216.

Doctors Without Borders: Stepping in to treat the sick (@MSF_USA)

Doctors Without Borders, part of the international organization Médecins Sans Frontière, is an international medical humanitarian organization created by doctors and journalists in France. The organization provides aid in nearly 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect or catastrophe largely because of armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care or natural disasters. They won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. # of Twitter followers: 26,238.

Livestrong: On the front lines against cancer (@livestrong)

Lance Armstrong has done an amazing job with this nonprofit and with getting its message of fighting cancer out into the social mediasphere. Check out this new YouTube video from the Livestrong army. # of Twitter followers: 64,735.

Women Who Tech: Helping talented women break new ground (@womenwhotech)

Allyson Kapin is a one-woman army. She’s the founder of Women Who Tech: A Telesummit for Women in Technology in the nonprofit and political campaign world, and founder of Rad Campaign. Kapin’s goal for Women Who Tech is to “bring together talented and renowned women breaking new ground in technology who use their tech savvy skills to transform the world and inspire change.” # of Twitter followers: 10,676.

Good: Bringing philanthropy to the world (@good)

Good is a collaboration of individuals, businesses and nonprofits pushing the world forward. They produce a website, magazine and videos “for people who give a damn.” Good is essentially an amalgamation of lots of great ideas and campaigns by a variety of other nonprofits and businesses. LA-based Good takes a more visually entertaining approach to philanthropy than others you’ll see. # of Twitter followers: 379,078.

DoSomething: Rallying youths to get involved (@dosomething)

Nancy Lublin is the tweeter behind Dosomething.org, a nonprofit that rallies the younger generation to get involved in causes (or “rock causes,” as Nancy says) that they care about. Nancy was recently featured in a top 10 list of @mobileyouth reaching campaigners. Rock on, Nancy! # of Twitter followers: 344,539.

UNICEF: Humanitarian action on behalf of kids (@unicef)

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was founded in 1946 and remains “the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized.” A long-lasting and important nonprofit, they are definitely worth following. # of Twitter followers: 75,602.

Democracy Now: Covering stories traditional media won’t (@democracy_now)

Amy Goodman is my homegirl. One of my favorite nonprofits, Democracy Now presents quality news reporting since 1996. They make it clear they do not accept advertising, corporate underwriting or government funding. I mean, look at their faces, they mean business. # of Twitter followers: 21,086.

12for12k: Changing the world through social media (@12for12k)

The final entry on our Top 12 Twitter Nonprofits list is 12 for 12k, who are social change agents using social media for good. 100 percent of all donations go to supported charities. They have a fantastic blog and are really putting their money where their tweets are by using the power and outreach of social media to spread the word for every charity they fund. # of Twitter followers: 3,796.

So there you are, go ahead and follow these 12 great nonprofits! They not only provide you with valuable tips for your own social media campaign goals but can help you get started down the path on how to succeed on Twitter.

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