‘Tis the season to tweet: Tips for nonprofits and faith-based organizations

The holiday season is a time for family, friends and celebration. It’s also a time for giving. According to Network for Good, over 30% of all contributions to nonprofits and charities in the United States occur in the month of December. 

Already, 99% of the top 200 nonprofits are active on Twitter. Religious leaders from Pope Benedict XVI (@Pontifex) to well-known organizations (@ONECampaign) to local churches and synagogues (@SixthandI) are finding Twitter to be a dynamic platform to reach and engage their target audiences. 

In fact, we see dramatic spikes in conversations on Twitter around holiday-themed keywords. Last year, there were 173K Tweets about Hanukkah, 24.3 million Tweets about Christmas and 14.8 million conversations about New Year’s Eve. 

Last week, Giving Tuesday (@GivingTues), a movement to create a national day of giving that kicks off the holiday season, celebrated and encouraged charitable support of nonprofit organizations. Conversations around #GivingTuesday in the U.S. spiked throughout the day on Twitter and so did donations. 

Twitter Ads can help you amplify your organizations organic Twitter strategy and ensure your message breaks through all the holiday conversations. With Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts, you can reach people at the moment that they are considering end of year charitable contributions. Here are four Twitter advertising best practices to keep in mind:

• Build loyalty and increase exposure: Launch a Promoted Accounts campaign to grow your follower base during the time of year when the holidays and annual giving are top of mind.
• Leverage real-time intent: Run Promoted Tweets in search to target relevant holiday and religious terms that have trended in the past on Twitter and are likely to once again spark high levels of discussion.

  

• Amplify conversations to drive engagement: Engage Twitter users directly with Promoted Tweets in timelines to make sure your message stands out.
• Target users based on their passions: Reach the people most likely to be interested in your issue or religious organization by utilizing our interest targeting capabilities.

For more tips and best practices, check out our hope140 for nonprofit case studies. Whether your goal is to grow your followers, raise awareness for your organization or drive traffic and end-of-year contributions, Twitter can be a key part of your 2012 holiday season marketing plan. 

Please reach out to our team at [email protected] to get started today! 

Posted by
Peter Greenberger - @pgreenberger 
Director, Political and Nonprofit Advertising