Tap Into the Power of Twitter for Grassroots Campaigns

Tammy Tibbetts

We know that social media can level the playing field for nonprofit organizations and small businesses and help them reach prospective donors, customers and stakeholders, but some organizations are more savvy about using it than others. In the following Q&A, Tammy Tibbetts, founder and president of nonprofit organization She’s the First, shares how leveraging Twitter has helped generate almost 6,000 followers and more than $20,000 to sponsor girls’ education in developing countries. Tibbetts will elaborate on building a community and fundraising on Twitter at PR News' Social Media Summit/Taste of Tech event on June 21-22 in New York City.
 
PR News: She’s the First is a young organization. What role did Twitter play in helping to build your organization?
 
Tammy Tibbetts: Twitter is a vital organ to our organization; it's like our heartbeat. Twitter is how we’re transparent and interactive with donors; how we find miraculous in-kind donations; how I have met two of the most profound creative influences, @cynthiahellen & @azureantoinette, behind two of our largest campaigns, Girls Who Rock and Voice Your Verse; and how we have grown student involvement in the U.S., especially with our national grassroots tie-dye cupcake campaign.
 
PR News: How has Twitter helped with fundraising campaigns?
 
Tibbetts: I am most proud of our Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off, when students across the U.S. sold these colorful cupcakes in tandem, Nov. 1-8, 2011, and raised more than $22,000 to sponsor girls' education in eight developing countries.
 
PR News: What’s one key tip you’ll share with the Social Media Summit attendees on June 22?
 
Tibbetts: I'm looking forward to sharing insights on connecting with Millennials on Twitter, taken from my blended experience in magazines (I was most recently social media editor of Seventeen) and a start-up nonprofit.
 
Attend PR News’ Social Media Summit/Taste of Tech event on June 21-22 in New York City and learn more from social media leaders like Tammy Tibbetts.
 
Follow Regina D’Alesio: @reginadalesio