Who Tweets?
The latest data suggests that Twitter has stalled out at 17 million users. Here’s a good analysis.
Personally, I take this as a welcome sign that there is still some semblance of substance and sanity on the planet.
If someone in your nonprofit is trumpeting the urgency of getting on board the Twitter phenom, fire them. Hire instead a really good copywriter.
Ooops, am I revealing a bias here?
Tom
15 responses to “Who Tweets?”
Behavioral Science Q & A
Thanks so much for raising this. Yes, capturing donor information can be helpful for stewardship like newsletters, thank-you letters, impact updates. But how you ask matters. Forcing full data capture introduces friction that can significantly depress conversion, many donors may simply abandon the process. Beyond the friction itself, required fields also shift the emotional experience […]
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Unlike holidays that everyone already knows, Giving Tuesday is a created event. Many donors recognize the name but not the exact timing, so referencing it becomes a helpful cue. It serves as a reminder and taps into social norm activation (“everyone’s giving today”), which boosts response. However, we still want it paired with the mission, […]
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When a subject line leads with the match (“Your gift matched!”), it risks triggering market-norm thinking: the sense that giving is a financial transaction rather than an act rooted in values, identity, and care. This shift reduces intrinsic motivation and, over time, can weaken donor satisfaction and long-term engagement. It also makes the email indistinguishable […]
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There’s no evidence that QR codes suppress mid-value giving; all available research suggests they either help or have no negative effect. In fact, behavioral and usability research consistently shows the opposite: reducing friction at any point in the donation process increases completion rates and total response. And that has nothing to do with capacity and […]
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What you’re experiencing is very common. Resistance often isn’t about capability, but about motivation quality. If board members feel pushed into fundraising, that triggers controlled motivation (low quality motivation) i.e. obligation, guilt, or fear of judgment, which often results in avoidance. Instead, we need to create conditions for volitional motivation (high quality motivation) by satisfying […]
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That’s a really thoughtful question, and you’re not the first to raise it. Many of our clients have been cautious about placing the ask at the very end. To address their concern, we’ve tested both approaches, and the results are clear: when the ask comes last, even if that means it appears on the second […]
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Tom, first of all, can I just say we are HUGE Agitator fans? Your info is a constant source of goodness we share with many nonprofits here in Sarasota. Secondly, here’s the thing about Twitter: it’s not just a place to get your message out, it’s a great tool for research. By following other similar organizations across the nation, the stream of good ideas, comparative practices and resource sharing is phenomenal. It’s been very effective for us & has helped me do my job better.
Unless they were screaming about twitter when there were 500,000 users. All nonprofits need someone who is looking over the horizon. Your perspective is fair but kind of like betting on a game after you know the result. Way to keep posting good stuff!
You’re absolutely right. Twitter isn’t quite like hula-hoops (it’s probably here to stay, but who in the world has time for it? I wonder if there’s any data on how much Europeans, who have far more leisure time than Americans, waste time using Twitter?
I started using it but i still don’t get it. It is like another facebook or email thing. And it sounds like a truncated foreign language and sends you off to look at something else. I am not at all sure I have the “following” part down at all and I definitely don’t tweet all day long. Who has the time? I hope I will get it more as I practice with it. Can 17 million people be wrong?
I don’t think it has to be one or the other. If you hire a brilliant copywriter, they should be able to tweet well too.
Tom is Absolutely Right!
Let’s just all stick our heads in the sand and go back to communicating with our donors on stone tablets. I mean, there is no way that any of your donors are part of the 17 million people on twitter… And don’t worry, it’s not like they are talking about your brand without you.
I’ll be the first to say that you won’t ever be replacing your DM program revenue with twitter, but you are missing an opportunity to persuade and communicate your message to a new audience. Guess what? I don’t read Direct Mail, and I am sure I am not an anomaly. If you want to connect with me and convince me that I should support your valuable work, you need to connect with me where I am and if you really impress me, I’ll give you my email address.
Not participating in social media is the equivalent to not picking up the phone when it rings. I assume you don’t want to talk to me.
just saying.
Tom,
I’m totally in agreement with your comments about Twitter. The fact is I’ve probably given away my general agreement with you on any bias about this issue in past posts, too.
Maybe it’s simply a matter of the two of us being “older guys” (yes, I’m making a judgment about you based on what I know of your professional background) who typically are more cautious about the “next new thing” and a bit more skeptical about things that might prove to be just fads in the field.
I share nearly all the feelings about Twitter expressed by others here today. With all due respect to Susie Bowie, and trying to be honest and earnest about it, I have to say that I’ve been skeptical about Twitter and the other social-media platforms from the start. Of all of them, Twitter seemed to me the least likely to reinforce constituency relationships.
At the same time, however, I was open to giving Twitter and the other social networks a chance, just as we have with all new and emerging technologies that have come into play in nonprofit advancement. Are we now at the end of that trial for Twitter? I just don’t know for sure, but I doubt it.
It still appears that Twitter and similar media channels can be helpful as integrated components of the overall process of communicating and of creating and cultivating relationships with the constituencies of nonprofits. But, they alone cannot sustain it or, I believe, get to very deep levels of buy-in.
At some point, the process of nonprofit relationship management and productive fund raising must become a face-to-face, hand-to-hand, personal interaction, or it will fail in terms of solicitation, as least for major gifts.
Like you, I’d rather be, or partner with, a skilled writer who can compose “killer” copy for a case or brochure, or for a direct-mail appeal letter — or even a compelling thank-you letter that helps enhance relationship and pave the way for the next “ask!” Maybe it should be a writer who can also compose Tweets!
I will join Erik in agreement. As much as I love the agitator – i am feeling slightly agitated at the moment. I think it slightly irresponsible to disregard a channel or medium of communication because you don’t know how to use it or can’t be bothered to understand why people would want to use it. Do you know why I use it? I use it because I can connect with people who share my interests in: fundraising, graphic design, cooking and generally share my interests – oh – and don’t let me forget – it also allows me to THANK and INTERACT with the people who are talking about Agents of Good, or wanting more information about us, or wanting to work with us.
I am disappointed that with one magical wave of Tom’s hand, he dismisses a whole avenue of communication that some charities, individuals, businesses and communities are using to build stronger ties with the people that care about them. As people of influence and voices that are heard around the world, you need to think more carefully before you dismiss something that is working very well for a lot.
I would expect this post from Jeff Brooks – not you guys. Give your head a shake.
Marjorie: Are you using Tweetdeck or Hootsuite to build lists? Are you getting out and personally meeting with the people you speak to on Twitter? Have you segmented lists to better organize the flow of communcations? Do you prospect research people who are following you to see how they are connected or who they might be connected to?
Tom – I reiterate the first comment, You guys post some excellent stuf. However your attitude towards new forms of communiction comes across as fearful… and ignorant.
Have you sat down with someone to learn how to use it? Better yet, have you sat down with many people to learn how each of them uses it? Do you understand the ways in which these tools enhance major gifts, events, sponsorship and cause marketing?
I would be more than thrilled to connect with you gents personally to share how we use Twitter and why. How we organize our time, lists, track relationships, enhance existing fundraising, advocacy and awareness.
That goes for anyone… There are lots of great benefits to using Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Slideshare and many other online communities… they’re useless if you’re unwilling to learn them and invest in them. But if you are – they have much to offer.
I worked in educational publishing for a decade. Nine years ago, I was advocating for more digital content and even a (gasp) ebook. Henry Hirschberg said “Nobody is ever going to read entire books on computer screens or hand devices… This is a fad and an abysmal waste of money”.
He couldn’t fathom a time when people would not want paper books. Well it’s less than a decade since that conversation…. I guess someone managed to convince old Henry otherwise. Here’s hoping you gents will be a little more openminded to the potential that these tools offer.
Why not hire a copywriter who loves to Tweet? #justsaying (that’s twitter talk)
I’m with Erik, John, and Laurie on this one. Twitter is a great cultivation, stewardship, learning and research tool. It’s not for everyone, nor does it try to be. There are people who will never get it and never use it, but that’s true of any communications medium.
And Laurie, I’m happy to help out with the show and tell. Let’s invite Tom to our next #frtweetup 🙂
@FLA_Leah
Let’s try leaving the word and company ‘Twitter’ out of the conversation, since it still breeds such reactions.
Let’s substitute it for ‘live search’. Is live search, the ability to find (and instantly connect with!) people who have talked about your nonprofit or the issues it faces in the past few minutes, useful for your organisation?
I see it as remarkably significant and useful, if used well. It doesn’t matter if Twitter the company thrives or dies – live search is here to stay and worth getting to grips with now.
Incidentally, although I should subscribe to your email updates, it is Twitter messages linking to specific posts on The Agitator that drive me back here frequently.
I’m still finding my feet with a twitter, but as someone who is trying to engage with a community of interest I am finding it incredibly useful, esp when combined with bitly. Its fascinating to be able to easily, for free, pinpint exactly how many people are clicking on my links or passing on my message.
And can I strongly echo Howard’s point: I’ve tried to keep up with many blogs using RSS feeds, which is good, but the twitterfeed is increasingly what makes me (or takes me?) go to a website like this.
One final point – Brian Solis has been writing some interesting stuff on twitter, from the point of being a sceptic at first – and he points out that the ‘stalling’ in new twitter traffic might actually reflect the fact that the availability of the API means people are using tweetdeck, linkedin, etc – and that this traffic isnt recorded in the numbers. Like Howard says, live search is here to stay, particularly in view of the shift from fixed to mobile access to the web.
Cheers
Karl (follow me @karlwilding on twitter)
I am fully on the side of Leah – that Twitter, or any soclal media platform offering a live search is an amazing cultivation and stewardship opportunity.
I do believe that this should only be undertaken with donors giving small to medium sized gifts, and whom you know are actively using social media. 140 characters could not possibly thank a major gift donor in a meaningful way (unless that donor is John Lepp perhaps).
(@brockwarner on twitter, FYI.)
I’m with Sara and John. A good copywriter is a good communicator – and why can’t a good copywriter tweet as well?
As I recently read Ken Burnett’s classic, Relationship Fundraising, it occurred to me how timeless it is … and that the strategies of donor centered fundraising can and should be applied to new media as well. The trick is the time management and using a vehicle such as Twitter to engage, rather than spew out an organization’s latest press release.