May 5, 2015  GiveChoose.Org

A Day of Giving Benefitting Community Charities

 Twitter Tip Sheet

Twitter is an amazing way to quickly engage and transmit information, and can be a great tool for your online fundraising and building community around your charity. Here are some quick tips.

  1. First, follow the Community Foundation Twitter. Our “handle” is @LoudounFauquier. We’ll be reposting tips and ideas for the #GiveChoose event.
  2. “Follow” people and organizations that are important to your cause, community and your organization’s mission. You can search for them by name and organization and choose to “follow” them.
  3. “Listen” to conversations going on, just like at a party, and then begin talking as you would face-to-face.
  4. “Retweet” conversations of those you’re following. In fact, one suggested rule of thumb is to “retweet” 80% of the time, and post fresh tweets 20% of the time. This is how you build community around your organization.
  5. Include pictures. Pictures and videos are the most popularly retweeted posts out there.
  6. Include “hashtags”—that quintessential element of Twitter. Using a hashtag symbol #before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in a Tweet helps to categorize those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search. Hashtags help to create or identify trending topics. Don’t use more than two hashtags per Tweet, and some experts suggest the hashtag should appear toward the end of your message. When you click on a hashtag, you see all other Tweets marked with that keyword. On May 5th, 2015, create a hashtag unique to you, like #ChooseArtSqure during #GiveChoose!
  7. Track and research. You can do searches on hashtags to identify conversations you’re in and that helped to start. Save those searches to help build your awareness and track what folks are saying about you. Do the search, and then click the little spoke/wheel and choose save search. You can also do searches without the hashtag, and save those searches, too. Hoostsuite and TweetDeck are free apps to help track Twitter data.
  8. Link your Twitter account to your organization’s Facebook page. Once linked, you’ll be able to automatically post to both venues.
  9. Don’t be shy to poke around on Twitter’s help page, or google a question like, “the best way to use a hashtag.” You’ll find good resources out there.
  10. On May 5th, 2015, repeat steps 1-6 ALL DAY. Frequent posts about your progress, incentive prizes your striving to win, or have won, helps your followers visualize your progress.

Also, check out this tutorial created by a sister community foundation for their giving day: http://www.slideshare.net/jeffachen/gtmd12-maximizing-twitter

Some suggested Twitter Postings for your May 5th, 2015 event . . .whenever you can, link, include someone else, post a picture, too.

Only 7 days away from our Community’s #GiveChoose 24-hour giving event! Your gift will make the difference for #LoudounCares!

We’re 40 gifts away from Loudoun Interfaith Relief’s hourly goal! Help us make it to 100 gifts GiveChoose.org

Do you know [how many kids live in poverty][artists live in Loudoun][acres of land conserved in Loudoun][how many people call our help line]? Be a changemaker and make a gift today at GiveChoose.org

Your $10 gift helps us raise $1,000 when you help us win this hour’s Powerhour prize with #GiveChoose!

One Click and One Gift and Feed Someone! Choose Loudoun Interfaith Relief at GiveChoose.org right now!

How much difference does $10 make? In our world, a lot! Make your gift to benefit Blue Ridge Hospice during #GiveChoose at GiveChoose.org.

It’s the perfect time to TWEET for Loudoun Literacy! Let your friends and family know about our amazing community #GiveChoose event at GiveChoose.org

Help us crack the cure for childhood cancer by making your gift to our work through GiveChoose.org.

Five more gifts and Waterford Foundation can meet our goal for this hour! Join in our success with your gift at GiveChoose.org