8 Best Practices for Tweeting Volunteer Opportunities
Nonprofits, schools and community groups on social media are totally in tune to the 21st century tactics of getting the word out and recruiting help online. Few things are more cringe-worthy, however, then a group tweeting asking for volunteers and getting it all wrong! Rembember these 8 tips when tweeting for help:
1. Start with the perks: If there is free food, swag, drink tickets and the like available to volunteers, bring it up! "All volunteers get a free t-shirt" or "Volunteer on Saturday for free admission to the show" will grab attention quickly and encourage folks to volunteer.
2. Include your signup link: Send volunteers from twitter to your signup sheets, volunteer calendar or pertinent webpage so they can commit on the spot. Don't ask for help and not give them a way to sign up and be reminded.
3. Mention date/time: If you're coordinating a one day event, put the shortened date time, i.e. 2/14 at 2p - not only will volunteers know right away whether they can or can't help then, but it's good publicity for folks who might want to attend your event as patrons or participants.
4. Attach a picture: Whether it's an image of your event flyer or a picture of volunteers helping at last year's activity, a quick pic your followers can open gives them a visual cue to sign up to help your organization and not just a mental one.
5. Drop how many spots are left: Let volunteers know spots are limited or there isn't much time left to sign up. A sense of urgency helps potential volunteers commit faster and sign up right away.
6. Tell volunteers what you need: What positions are open for volunteer work or what skillsets does your group need for your activity? Tweet it out so potential candidates know exactly what your group is looking for and whether they can help.
7. Be funny: Twitter is largely a venue for people's comedic thoughts. Apply some humor to your tweets asking for help!
8. Remember to stick to 140 characters: Don't make a classic mistake and go over Twitter's standard 140 characters - you'll lose interestested parties when your message is truncated or your signup link is left off. Plus, it's just awkward.
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