nfptweetup

I’m delighted to report that the first NFPtweetup, held last night (4.30-8.30pm, GMT), seemed to be enjoyed by those that took part, and provided a useful forum to bring people together and start exploring all things Twitter for nonprofits.

To think that it started out as a casual, off-the-cuff, remark in a conversation between two not-for-profit tweeters…

… but evolved to be so much more – just like so many things do, wherever social media enables like-minded people to come together.  You can see most of this by looking through tweets mentioning NFPtweetup here and checking out the wiki here.

In all, 35-40 tweeters participated – either in person and/ or online – to share ideas, insights and thoughts, and discuss some of the issues and opportunities for charities and nonprofits using, or thinking of using, Twitter.

(I should say that, although Twitter was the focus of the event, one of the main objectives that emerged as the idea for the event evolved was to engage around the topic of social media in general, using Twitter as an entry point for the conversation – since many of the challenges, considerations and opportunities are the same across the many social platforms.)

To get as much value from this gathering of minds, and allow it to be shared as widely as possible, I put a shout out to everyone before the event to submit one slide capturing an idea, a thought, an observation, a question or an example related to nonprofits’ use of Twitter.  This was the result:

NFPtweetup Collaborative Slideshow

Brilliantly, this collaborative effort was even featured as Top Presentation of the Day on Slideshare which took it to an even wider audience than that for the event itself.

As you might expect of a gathering of nonprofit geeks, there was also plenty of content generated during the event that we’ve shared across the web.  Here are some links for those interested:

You can access much of the content via this search of hashtags.org.

Tweets including NFPtweetup can all be seen here, too (this would usually be the case at hashtags.org, but the service was down for development when the tweets for NFPtweetup started, and the team at hashtags.org say they are not intending to backdate to aggregate what they missed during this time, because it would take them too long!).

Blog posts (known at time of writing):

• Post by Damien Austin-Walker, from Timebank

• Post by Amy Sample Ward, from NetSquared

• Post by Howard Lake, at UK Fundraising
  (Howard says this was the UK’s first NFPtweetup. I think that’s true…)

• Post by Ed Walker, from UCLAN

Photos:

• Photos on Twitter tagged NFPtweetup.

Videos and more are being listed here on the wiki as they are created and shared.

With content still being posted, and conversations – having been started on Twitter – moving to other social sites, including The Charity Place, I hope that this event has acted as a catalyst to open up the area of social media a bit more, make it more accessible and unleash its potential for charities and nonprofits.

Thanks again to Just Giving for supporting this event, and to everyone that attended, contributed and participated.

So, should we have another one in a couple of months? Perhaps to explore the burning issues that came up this time that we only had chance to scratch the surface of? Any feedback greatly appreciated…

Originally posted:

November 25, 2008 on The Charity Place blog

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This is primarily a heads up for anyone reading this blog who may not have heard about NFPtweetup yet.

This event is taking place between 4.30-8.30pm (GMT) on Monday, 24 November and is open to anyone working in the not-for-profit space who either uses Twitter or has an interest in the applications of Twitter, and other social media, for charities and nonprofit organisations.

There are more details here on the wiki, and you can participate in the event either by attending it physically at the Coach & Horses, Greek Street, Soho, London, or by participating online (if you attend in person, you’ll be able to enjoy a drink or two with the compliments of those nice people at Just Giving, who are kindly supporting this event).

All details and information are on the wiki so, if you are interested, please have a look.

You don’t need to register for the event, although it would be nice if we knew to expect you – either in person or online – so we can do our best to include everyone in the conversation; and signing up to the wiki is probably the best way to make sure that happens.

If you’re reading this, don’t be a lurker – join the flock!

A disclaimer

I’ve been trying to turn more charities onto the possibilities of social media for a while, because of the enormous power they have to enable organisations to meet their objectives – if used strategically.

I’m saying that again, because it’s key and it concerns me that it’s a point that many people keep missing.

I’m not advocating using Twitter, or any other social media, for the sake of it (or because it is cutting edge, ‘cool’, new or exciting).  I am keen to develop a deeper understanding that social media are a powerful set of tools that can help charities and nonprofits achieve important objectives that contribute towards their corporate/ organisational plans, and their missions.  This means activities like building awareness of their work, raising funds, delivering support, scoping and understanding need, communicating important messages to supporters and stakeholders, recruiting donors, campaigners, volunteers, staff, advocates, growing a greater voice to influence policy and provision of local and national services, developing better solutions and so on.

I’m also very aware that there are some very practical barriers for a lot of organisations – whether they are rooted in resources (time, money, people power, structure), knowledge, understanding, experience or a combination of these – factors can make it very difficult to put together a business case, or create a culture, for testing these tools.

So, where was I? Oh yes, that’s right:

NFPtweetup is all about coming together with others to explore these (and any other) burning issues, share thoughts and ideas, meet new people and maybe even collaborate.  I hope that it turns out to be a great forum for people not using Twitter or any other social media yet in their organisations to consider what might work for them.

Originally posted:

November 21, 2008 on The Charity Place blog

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