Five Steps to Turn Your Tweets into #Donations
Your Twitter is a necessary part of your public profile but can you use Twitter to actually generate revenue?
Yes, you definitely can!
Last year's major campaigns showed us that people want to help, but you need to make it easy! Not every supporter is going to see your billboard poster or newspaper ad - but your dedicated supporters will be following your Twitter. You have a free, ready made, direct advertising channel at your disposal - make the most of it!
Understanding Twitter and how it works could create a whole new revenue stream for your charity’s fundraising.
How can you turn your Twitter followers into donors?
1. Plan Ahead
Have a structured social media plan and include your fundraising team in this - don’t just promote ways to give during major fundraising campaigns. Your followers are already engaged with your cause - let them help!
If you don’t have a designated social media or communications team, spending one day a month mapping things out is worthwhile. Twitter can help you to schedule your Tweets - so it won’t take up your evenings or weekends either!
2. Know your medium
If I follow your Twitter - I’m viewing your content almost every day - maybe even several times a day depending how often you post. While yes, I do want to help, if every single Tweet is an ask this will become counter productive.
Keep a healthy balance between your fundraising needs and the positive impact your organisation is making. Show me the problem - show me how your organisation is tackling this problem - then ask me to be a part of the solution!
Your followers need to enjoy and engage with your content - images and pictures are great for this, while links to relevant news articles or your blog are a great way to share more information.
The below is information released by Twitter Dublin during their #TwitterforGood week:
3. Get to Know Your Audience
Check who’s following you. Is it men or women tweeting you most? What age group are liking or retweeting your Tweets?
Once you know your audience you can concentrate your fundraising efforts on the strongest supporter base. If you find out that (for example) men aged 25-35 donate to your cause more frequently than any other demographic, think about how they use Twitter. They’re on Twitter on their lunch break, on their morning and evening commutes - work yourself into that schedule. Post during commuter hours to make sure your Tweets are at the top of their feed.
What brands do 25-35 year old men like? Of those brands which have a high number of Twitter followers? Getting a company or brand's Twitter account, aimed at your target audience, to endorse your charity will appeal to a fresh new audience in an already engaged demographic!
4. Don’t talk at your followers, talk to them
Twitter gives you the ability to share information directly with your supporters, but all of your communication channels need to be two-way streets. Listen and take notice when your supporters Tweet at you or about you. Retweet, respond and interact with your followers - let them know that you appreciate their support.
When someone donates to your cause they get the satisfaction of having done a good deed - boost that! Interacting with your followers makes them feel valued and what could be more important than that?
5. Don’t underestimate the FUNDRAISING benefits
Twitter’s internal research team, Bird Signals, released figures during #TwitterForGood, showing that 50% of all Twitter users follow a charity Twitter account.
What’s more - 96% of Twitter users have made a charity donation within the last year. That’s 46% of users who aren’t even actively following a cause! If these users are ready to give, but are not supporting a single charity, it’s an ideal time to reach out and promote your cause.
It’s clear that Twitter users want to help but to make the most of this you need to have compatible payment methods. You aren’t going to Tweet your direct debit form hoping followers will print it off and post it back to you. Twitter is quick, easy and adaptable - so your payment options have to be too.
Twitter Payments
In their 2013 "Next Generation of American Giving" report, nonprofit software developer Blackbaud found that 62% of millennials chose mobile payments as their preferred method of donating to charity. Twitter is a mobile company first and foremostly - I’m not checking my personal Twitter on the desktop at work (I’m not, honest, I’m not), I’m checking it during the TV ads or while waiting for the bus - on my mobile.
Your Website
Your own donation page should be your first port of call. Make sure it’s spic and span, easy to navigate and mobile optimised! Econsultancy.com states that sites not optimised for mobile commerce have a conversion rate that’s 4% lower than that of their optimised competitors.
Text to Donate
SMS donations go hand-in-hand with social media. It’s simple, it’s commonplace now and my phone’s already in my hand - what could be easier!
#Donate
#Donate is the next big thing. #Donate allows charities to raise funds when donors Tweet or retweet designated hash-tags. So your organisation chooses a hash-tag (eg #PuppyAppeal) and when a donor tweets this hash-tag the payment processing company #Pay link up the donor’s Twitter and PayPal - resulting in a swift and seamless donation.
So no matter the size or man-power behind your organisation you can expand your reach by understanding Twitter, and your Twitter followers, better. Twitters users are ready and willing to help your cause - you just need to ask!