Who’s reading your Tweet?

I reckon almost every non-profit in the UK has a Twitter feed now.

But is one enough?

Because one Twitter feed for the whole organisation often means one-size-fits all. It means, at root, that the feed has no idea who it’s talking to. And that’s a worry. It’s not true of any other medium we communicate in. Direct mail, press, PR, advertising – they’re all targeted to specific groups, with specific messages.

Except on Twitter, where everything is shared with everyone – relevant and appropriate or not. It’s at best boring, at worst damaging.

We all want to be more transparent. But putting job ads in front of your supporters? One major charity recently posted a job spec for a high-value fundraiser on their Twitter feed. How would a high-value donor feel reading that? What is the potential collateral damage?

I think we need to accept that we’re now in charity Twitter phase two. A phase where Twitter feeds need to be focused on specific audiences and messages.

There are some great examples of this out there. The British Red Cross’ Twitter is totally donor focused – passing on messages, thanking donors and answering queries. MSF UK’s too. Meanwhile @BarnardosLink is entirely focused on inspiring supporters about ways to support Barnados. And of course, there’s a separate @barnados feed for policy announcements and more general PR.

We also need to smarten up about the roles of organisations and individuals. This is not the Breakfast Show – only rarely are your organisation’s personalities ready to represent you. My view is that you need targeted organisational feeds – even campaign feeds – while encouraging your best people to have their own feeds to engage with industry types, agencies and the media, and stay abreast of the latest thinking.

In other words, have one Twitter feed for real people, and one for the Twitterati. And do it before you say something really daft.

Charity | Children and young people | Digital and social media | Engagement | PR