We’ve all seen how Twitter can be used to raise funds, connect people, and drive engagement with causes. Just in case you’re wondering what else Twitter can be used for, though, have a look at these three unusual ways of using the microblog and see if they can inspire you to be inventive with your charity’s Twitter account.
GAVCA’s volunteer managers’ network
GAVCA’s volunteer managers’ network is a group of committed individuals from the voluntary sector in Gloucestershire. Organised by my tireless colleague, Gabi Gogan, they meet to exchange ideas and share experiences of helping local voluntary organisations recruit, support and benefit from volunteers.
Last week I was invited to speak at one of their meetings about how and why they should use Twitter. At the end of the meeting, and as an example of how charities can use the microblogging network to tell people about what they’re doing and invite more contact, my colleague Gabi arranged this photo:
@GAVCAglos @GAVCAvmg Together these #volmgrs have managed over 42,000 #volunteering hours this year http://t.co/KEEgCe7l—
Honey Lucas (@theverytiger) November 14, 2012
The photo provides stats about how many volunteering hours the group had managed in the last year, and puts friendly faces to the different organisations they represent. I thought this was an excellent use of Twitter to inform and engage and I was delighted to take part in the tweeting just before leaving GAVCA (I am going to Oxfordshire Mind next week). Bravo, Gabi! (follow her on Twitter: @GAVCAvmg)
Tweeter Street is a project which aims to take photos of 140 Twitter users from 10 countries all over the world, to demonstrate the boundary-less nature of the network and put human faces on its users.
Although the project doesn’t have an immediate tie-in to the voluntary sector, it does suggest that revealing the human stories behind our supporters’ tweets could be a great way to increase understanding of many organisations’ work. Read more about the project on The Wall Blog.
Awareness-raising with Justcoz.org
Justcoz.org is a service which aims to help you leverage your Twitter followers to spread the word about your charity’s campaigns or services. Unlike Thunderclap, which sends out multiple tweets at the same moment, Just.coz allows Twitter users donate one of their tweets every day – a tweet which is then used to relay a pre-written message from their chosen cause or campaign.
Perfect for building awareness of a campaign, counting down to an event or target, or just getting your cause more widely discussed, the service is already being used by a number of large charities such as Greenpeace and The Prince’s Trust.
And if that’s not enough Twitterishness for you, check out these other resources:
- All Twitter gets their sliderule out to calculate how many times you should tweet each day.
- The Wall Blog gives us some detail to a number of changes to Twitter’s search, apps and ranking.
- Another good resource from All Twitter, this time trumpeting the free Twitter analysis tool, @Twtrland
- And finally… All Twitter has its own round-up of 10 further resources about Twitter.
How is your organisation using Twitter? Can you share your inspirational uses with us?
