October 05, 2009
Should Twitter Recommend More Charities?
Sean Stannard-Stockton, the philanthropy adviser and author of the blog Tactical Philanthropy, notes that Twitter has added several social entrepreneurs to its list of suggested users.
In turn, it has probably created a new class of Twitter superstars from the world of philanthropy.
The list, which is filled largely with celebrities and big brands, is a starter kit of sorts for many Twitter newcomers. And those who are fortunate enough to become suggested users can expect a huge spike in followers.
“In separating the wheat from the chaff, Twitter has become a kingmaker of sorts, conferring online stardom to a mix of writers, gadget geeks, political commentators, and entrepreneurs,” The New York Times said in a recent story about the Twitter suggested user list. “After being named to the ‘suggested user’ list, Twitterers can gain more than 500,000 followers who get their brief updates via a cellphone or the Internet.”
So who made the list?
Mr. Stannard-Stockton, who is also a Chronicle columnist, points to Social Edge, the Skoll Foundation, Charity:Water, Kiva, Good magazine, and the charity Room to Read.
Who’s missing? That’s where you come in. We’d like to hear your suggestions of other Twitter users in the nonprofit world who deserve mention on the suggested-users list.
We’d like suggestions of people who are using Twitter in creative and interesting ways — or who are using the medium to call special attention to important causes.
You can contribute your ideas by posting a comment below — or by talking with us more on Twitter. Use the hashtag #charitytwits to offer your suggestions.
You can follow The Chronicle on Twitter under the name @philanthropy.
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@Idealist would be a nice addition to the suggested list.
— Scott Oct 5, 01:03 PM #
@ManaNutrition, hoping to end malnutrition in Africa by 2040 would be a good candidate.
— Alex Cone Oct 5, 02:18 PM #
@FredKrupp from EDF and @brettjenks from Rare – both visionary CEOs in the environmental space
— Lark Dunham Oct 5, 02:32 PM #
@samasource also just made the list on the 1st, most likely replacing Room to Read. I think it is a great idea to always have a slot for nonprofits. That being said, note that out of the 80k new users R2R got 0 to 80k followers in a month, but a majority will stop using Twitter the first month (stat 50+%), are bots and don’t really have an interest in the feed over time. It is not because of the nonprofit post, but the user learning how to follow another nonprofit closer to their heart.
If you can nurture 20k followers out of the orginal 80k, that will be a huge success in my book.
— Ryan Quiel Oct 5, 02:38 PM #
I would suggest @Philanthropy @philanthropic @casefoundation @philanthropy411 @ntenhross @nonprofitorgs @ucpnational @ecoordinator @NAFund @smartnonprofits @rosettathurman @kanter @pamelagrow
Sorry if I missed anyone; there are tons of interesting, informative nonprofit tweeps to choose from!
— Kevin Gilnack Oct 5, 02:42 PM #
I’d love to see any of the United Way’s out there such as @live_united, @LIVEUNITEDOmaha, @Bay_Area_UW, or @UnitedWayNWA to name a few.
— Denise Oct 5, 03:09 PM #
I would like to suggest @freefromhunger (Freedom from Hunger).
— Brent Oct 5, 03:29 PM #
Globalgiving is a pioneer in this space and should be considered for addition
— Margaret Coughlin Oct 5, 03:34 PM #
I would like to suggest adding @FriendsofWFP and @fighthunger. They both use the power of Twitter to raise awareness about the billion hungry people around the world.
— Jess Oct 5, 03:45 PM #
The Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League (www.magdrl.org) tweets as @magdrl. We have 2000+ followers, gotten totally organically, and have raised awareness of our work, received donations, and increased attendance at our events. Mashable listed us as one of 26 non-profits to follow.
— Joan Schramm Oct 5, 04:20 PM #
@ABAGrantmakers should be followed for being a role model having a strategy and vision for using Twitter as a tool to promote philanthropy and for having their finger on the pulse of local, regional and national philanthropy
— Mary Glagola Oct 5, 04:41 PM #
@WGCHowardCounty should be followed for being one of the first Giving Circles to develop a strategy to use Twitter to engage current and prospective donors, as well as being a voice for women’s issues and information on Giving Circles regionally and around the country
— Mary Glagola Oct 5, 04:42 PM #
@thebirthmom
is for birth mom missions charity
http://birthmommissions.com
and @AdoptionSupport
— brooke Oct 5, 05:29 PM #
I’d strongly suggest @SharedInterest &
@SocialEarth
Shared Interest are an amazing, pioneering organisation.
I’d also suggest our good selves lol (@craftvillage) We are improving African lives via ‘The Simpsons’ cartoon… however we have a long way to go yet before we get anywhere near the achievements of many of the great organisations listed… but we’re trying hard…
— @craftvillage Oct 5, 06:12 PM #
I think Twitter should consider a location aware list of nonprofits – so that you could find npos with active twitter feeds in your area. it might be more relevant
— Olu Johnson Oct 5, 06:25 PM #
@White_Box help Charities, Churches, Communities, Non-Profits, Sports Orgs, Social Enterprise and Schools – Universities – Raise funds simply by searching the web
— Mark Oct 5, 07:15 PM #
@all_ages aka All-Ages Movement Project aka me! A small-scrappy nonprofit creating all-ages music spaces with a mission that’s especially well-suited to twitter’s demographic.
— Kevin Erickson Oct 5, 07:29 PM #
Curious to know what the effect will be as twits recommend more non-profit organizations to watch – social media for social good can’t be bad. But as with anything, be sure any organizations in which you become involved are “doing the right thing.” e.g. @CharityNav + @guidestarusa
— @susaw Oct 5, 07:39 PM #
It looks like I’m already on the list! I don’t really obsess about the number of followers as that is a totally meaningless indicator as the discussion we had with Seth Godin illustrated — however, I did noticed a huge jump and was thinking that it was spamming. Then I saw your tweet pointing to your article – and followed the ant trails.
It gets back to one of the questions we had about having 5000 followers are passionate and would spread your message far and wide and ask their friends to donate versus 5 million followers who well, just follow you …
I’m going to track the impact of this … but in the mean time it makes more willing to retweet pointers to nonprofits that I know do great work!
— Beth Kanter Oct 5, 09:13 PM #
Peter. I would recommend @kidsareheroes, @socialactions and @12for12k
— John Haydon Oct 6, 11:37 AM #
@GlobalGiving
— Alison Oct 6, 12:33 PM #
@Camfed (14k+ followers)
Women tweeting from cell phones in rural Africa!
Camfed works to break the cycle of poverty and disease in rural Africa by educating girls.
— Ryan Oct 6, 06:48 PM #
Sorry but there isn’t enough space in a tweet to discuss the merits of any charity group. This is simply a bad idea. It takes space and time to investigate before giving to a charity.
— Steve Oct 7, 11:36 AM #
@Ashokau
— Beeta Oct 20, 03:30 PM #