TweetsGiving successfully breaks in the new model of tweet-raising

Written by Noah Flower on Monday, December 8th, 2008
Filed under Network tradecraft, Networks in action, News

I’m very happy to report that TweetsGiving was a smashing success, proving that “tweet-raising” can be used as a viable model for getting donations. The preliminary case study reports that the campaign raised $11,021 in 48 hours from 364 donors (beyond its $10k goal), prompted over 3,000 gratitude tweets, received 7,563 unique visitors from 101 countries, and got over 100 mentions by bloggers and the press. (UPDATE: There are now additional thoughts and reflections posted, which are worth reading.)

This is a new apex for Twitter being used as a platform for serious communication. If you’re wondering how it happened, Beth Kantor posted a wonderfully detailed history that illustrates its gradual move into the mainstream. (Another timeline is up at onPhilathropy.) She and Lucy Bernholz also provide some very thoughtful and practical tips for organizations who want to carry the tweet-raising model forward:

 

As Lucy Bernholz notes, this might be one more sign that fundraising on Twitter is less marginal and moving to the middle.  Lucy points to some implications for organizations to consider:

• Video, blogging, twitter, online payments, viral marketing, instant thank you’s, etc as the minimal expected organization infrastructure;
  
• Community building (you can identify other donors, everyone blogs about it), instant infrastructure (giving managed by chip-in, Paypal enables the back office);
• Quick commitment – set a goal, reach it, move on;
• Little gifts – and lots of them – are the holy grail;
  
• Creativity matters – next year you’ll need a new twist;
• Anyone at an organization might be the leader of your next campaign;

I would add these points:

• It’s not about the reaching a large number at once, but identifying the right six or seven influencers who can re-tweet your message and have their networks respond
• Small gifts, but incorporate some incentives or recognition for larger gifts
• Have universal human theme or tell stories
• Have a reporting page or widget that shows your real-time results
• Incorporate something visual that can also spread across Twitter
• It isn’t just about Twitter – remember you need multi-channels – blogger outreach, email, organizing a team of people to reach to their networks, private messaging, phone calls, etc
• Use a hash tag and have that be part of the retweet so your campaign can benefit from extra visibility from the twitter trending
• Don’t have your first foray onto Twitter be your campaign ask, build social capital first.

 

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