Future Fundraising Now

How to get rid of your unrealistic Twitter-pusher

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by

Jeff Brooks
in

Noting that only 7% of Americans use Twitter at least once a month (and linking to a very useful article about Twitter use, Guess Who Doesn’t Tweet: Almost Everyone), The Agitator asks, Who Tweets?

And, in inimitable Agitator fashion, they recommend:

If someone in your nonprofit is trumpeting the urgency of getting on board the Twitter phenom, fire them. Hire instead a really good copywriter.

I have to recommend a far more measured and moderate approach, the Future Fundraising Now strategy for your Twitter fanatic:


  • Ask them how many donors or realistic prospects are using Twitter.
  • Ask what value you intend to offer donors in 140-character bursts.
  • Ask how you’ll measure the quality of tweets.
  • Ask the cost of having someone tweeting.
  • Ask the expected ROI of tweeting.
  • And, when you don’t get answers to those questions, then fire them.

Replacing the Twitter guy with a really good copywriter is an excellent suggestion. One who understands email marketing would be an especially good hire.

    Comments

    8 responses to “How to get rid of your unrealistic Twitter-pusher”

    1. Cherita Smith Avatar
      Cherita Smith

      How about hiring someone who understands all three – Twitter (and social media in general), great copywriting and email marketing? Not sure why it has to be one or the other…
      Oh, and great session at the #FSVCE! Thanks.

    2. Cherita Smith Avatar
      Cherita Smith

      How about hiring someone who understands all three – Twitter (and social media in general), great copywriting and email marketing? Not sure why it has to be one or the other…
      Oh, and great session at the #FSVCE! Thanks.

    3. Jos Myers Avatar
      Jos Myers

      Agree with Cherita on all points (including the conference!) It is possible to find someone who can be all three- my husband is largely that person for his company as am I for my nonprofit group. I think it takes a good writer to be successful with social media- and not just know how to use it, but KNOW HOW to use it.

    4. Jos Myers Avatar
      Jos Myers

      Agree with Cherita on all points (including the conference!) It is possible to find someone who can be all three- my husband is largely that person for his company as am I for my nonprofit group. I think it takes a good writer to be successful with social media- and not just know how to use it, but KNOW HOW to use it.

    5. Howard Lake Avatar
      Howard Lake

      Twitter and social media certainly deserve questioning in terms of the genuine value they bring. However, I’m not convinced of your approach, simply because it is very familiar.
      Your bullet point list reminds me of the objections to the introduction of the telephone as a fundraising tool to the UK in the early 1990s. It was a widely-held belief that UK donors simply would not accept being telephoned and asked for money or support by fundraisers.
      That view of what was in effect a new channel for UK donors was wrong. Indeed I remember being told similarly in the mid 1990s that email could not possibly work as a mass fundraising tool.
      I suspect that predictions of the limits of Twitter and similar instant messaging-type (mobile) tools for fundraising will also turn out to be mistaken.
      At the very least, as others have said, I’d cover my back and make sure the copywriter could handle email *and* Twitter and the like.

    6. Howard Lake Avatar
      Howard Lake

      Twitter and social media certainly deserve questioning in terms of the genuine value they bring. However, I’m not convinced of your approach, simply because it is very familiar.
      Your bullet point list reminds me of the objections to the introduction of the telephone as a fundraising tool to the UK in the early 1990s. It was a widely-held belief that UK donors simply would not accept being telephoned and asked for money or support by fundraisers.
      That view of what was in effect a new channel for UK donors was wrong. Indeed I remember being told similarly in the mid 1990s that email could not possibly work as a mass fundraising tool.
      I suspect that predictions of the limits of Twitter and similar instant messaging-type (mobile) tools for fundraising will also turn out to be mistaken.
      At the very least, as others have said, I’d cover my back and make sure the copywriter could handle email *and* Twitter and the like.

    7. Blase Ciabaton Avatar
      Blase Ciabaton

      I agree with the other comments. While Twitter can be overrated and at risk of being a “flavor of the month,” the real value is when it is integrated with a blog, Facebook and other social marketing. I don’t think it’s a big fundraiser tool for nonprofits yet, but I do think it’s an effective way to generate awareness for events and causes, and a legitimate way to attract new “fans” to an organization. Twitter in a vacuum isn’t very powerful, but integrated with other marketing efforts it can be very powerful.

    8. Blase Ciabaton Avatar
      Blase Ciabaton

      I agree with the other comments. While Twitter can be overrated and at risk of being a “flavor of the month,” the real value is when it is integrated with a blog, Facebook and other social marketing. I don’t think it’s a big fundraiser tool for nonprofits yet, but I do think it’s an effective way to generate awareness for events and causes, and a legitimate way to attract new “fans” to an organization. Twitter in a vacuum isn’t very powerful, but integrated with other marketing efforts it can be very powerful.

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    The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It’s not about any technology, medium, or technique. It’s about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It’s already here. More.

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    Jeff BrooksJeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 35 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com. More.

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    The future of fundraising is not about social media, online video, or SEM. It’s not about any technology, medium, or technique. It’s about donors. If you need to raise funds from donors, you need to study them, respect them, and build everything you do around them. And the future? It’s already here. More.

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    About the blogger

    Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 30 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com.