Using Twitter Ads to Boost Your Nonprofit

For nonprofits and charitable organizations, spreading your mission and mobilizing support often comes down to reaching the right audiences through targeted outreach. Twitter Ads present a valuable opportunity for nonprofits to expand their visibility and engage with existing and potential supporters.

This comprehensive guide will explore how to use Twitter Ads to boost Your nonprofit awareness, increase engagement, drive donations, recruit volunteers, and more.

Benefits of Twitter Ads for Nonprofit Marketing

With over 300 million monthly active users, Twitter offers an immense opportunity for nonprofits to connect with target audiences and build their community.

Here are some of the key benefits Twitter Ads provide:

Get Your Message Out

Promoted Tweets allow amplifying your cause and content to a wider audience beyond existing followers.

Engage With Supporters

Connect and interact with followers and potential volunteers through Twitter chats, Q&As, live videos, and other engaging content.

Recruit Donors and Volunteers

Target ads to find new donors and volunteers interested in your cause based on interests, behaviors, demographics, etc.

Promote Events and Fundraisers

Create awareness for your upcoming events, fundraisers, and other time-sensitive initiatives.

Crowdfund Your Programs

Leverage Twitter Ads to drive traffic and exposure for your nonprofit crowdfunding campaigns.

Measure Your Impact

Utilize robust campaign analytics to see how effectively your ads drive website traffic, engagement, sign-ups, donations and other KPIs.

Expand Brand Awareness

Get your nonprofit’s name and brand in front of wider audiences beyond just existing supporters and followers.

Counter Misinformation

If false narratives exist about your nonprofit, use Promoted Tweets to share the real facts and set the record straight.

Support Advocacy Campaigns

For policy/advocacy nonprofits, ads can mobilize supporters around legislative issues and activate grassroots advocacy.

Recognize Donors and Volunteers

Thank top supporters and volunteers with promoted shout-outs showing your appreciation.

When planned strategically, Twitter Ads offer nonprofits immense opportunities to spread their mission and engage current and prospective supporters. Later in this guide, we’ll walk through executing successful nonprofit campaigns on Twitter. But first, let’s cover how Twitter Ads are funded.

Funding Considerations for Nonprofit Twitter Ads

For commercial brands, Twitter Ads are funded through paying with a credit card associated with a normal advertising account. However, Twitter offers special accommodations for nonprofit organizations to make advertising more accessible.

Here are the main funding options available for nonprofit Twitter Ads:

Apply for Nonprofit Twitter Ads Grant

Twitter provides a Nonprofit Ads Grant program where eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofits in good standing can receive up to $10,000 per month in in-kind advertising credit.

This credit can be used to run promoted campaigns, spread your mission and engage supporters. The application process involves providing details on your organization and intended ad strategy.

Use a Fiscal Sponsorship

You can use a fiscal sponsorship model if your nonprofit is not a registered 501(c)(3) or needs additional funding beyond the $10K monthly credit.

This involves partnering with a nonprofit fiscal sponsor who provides the administrative services to purchase ads on your behalf using their accounts. You would pay your sponsor directly.

Accept Donated Ads

Another option is to find third-party donors willing to contribute funding specifically for your Twitter advertising.

For example, a corporation might donate ad spending to support your nonprofit as part of their CSR initiative. Their monetary contribution allows you to amplify your messaging.

Crowdfund Your Campaigns

You may be able to crowdfund donations from your supporters to fund ad campaigns for specific initiatives. Be transparent on how the funds will be allocated.

Be creative and persistent in securing resources to invest in Twitter Ads to spread your nonprofit’s essential work.

Best Practices for Nonprofit Twitter Ad Campaigns

To maximize the impact of Twitter ads for your nonprofit, be sure to follow these proven best practices:

Highlight Your Mission and Impact

Focus ads on communicating your nonprofit’s vision, services, and impact on the community. Inspire support for your cause.

Share Compelling Visuals

Tweets with video or images driving emotion perform best. Capture supporters participating in your programs.

Leverage Influencers

Recruit influencer advocates to support your mission and reinforce your messaging to their followers.

Segment Your Audiences

Tailor campaign messaging and offers to appeal specifically to donors versus volunteers versus advocates, etc.

Retarget Engaged Visitors

If someone engages with or visits your content, continue nurturing them via retargeting.

Make Specific Calls-to-Action

Every ad should include a strong CTA, not just general brand-building. Push them to donate, volunteer, share, etc.

Promote Events and Initiatives

Maximize visibility for your upcoming fundraising events, advocacy days, programs, etc., through dedicated campaigns.

Partner With Other Nonprofits

Team up on collaborative campaigns, amplifying your collective message and impact.

Thank Supporters

Show donor and volunteer appreciation by recognizing top supporters through promoted Tweets.

Test Creative Variations

Continually A/B test ad variations—be willing to try new ideas. Let data guide optimization.

Following nonprofit ad best practices will maximize your reach and ability to mobilize support for your vital mission. Next, let’s walk through a full campaign execution process.

How to Execute a Nonprofit Twitter Ads Campaign

Here is a step-by-step guide to planning and executing a successful nonprofit Twitter Ads campaign:

Step 1. Set Goals and KPIs

Identify your campaign goals and quantifiable KPIs to measure performance against. Common examples:

• Get 1,000 website clicks
• Acquire 500 new email sign-ups
• Recruit 100 new volunteers
• Raise $25,000 for a cause

Step 2. Define Your Target Audiences

Be specific about who you want to reach and influence based on demographics, interests, behaviours and other attributes. Leverage Twitter’s detailed targeting capabilities.

Step 3. Craft Ad Creative and Messaging

Create compelling ad copy, images, hashtags and videos tailored to your goals and audience. Test different tones, from emotional to informational.

Step 4. Set Campaign Budget and Schedule

Determine budget based on daily/overall reach and frequency goals. Schedule campaign dates accounting for urgency or deadlines.

Step 5. Fund Through Available Resources

Allocate the budget per your nonprofit funding source – whether Twitter Ads grants, donations, sponsorships or crowdfunding.

Step 6. Monitor and Optimize Based on Data

Analyze real-time performance data and iterate. Pause underperforming ads and increase investment in top content.

Step 7. Evaluate Against KPIs

At the campaign conclusion, evaluate overall performance vs. goals. Identify what strategies worked well to improve future efforts.

This structured process will lead to impactful campaigns that spread your mission and mobilize support.

Creative Best Practices for Nonprofit Ads

Strong creativity is key to breakthrough nonprofit ad performance. Here are some top creative tips:

Lead With Your Mission

Frontload the ad copy with your organization’s purpose and community impact. Draw them in emotionally.

Use Real Stories

Share real testimonials of those you serve describing your nonprofit’s tangible impact on their lives.

Make it Visual

Tweets with images/video get much higher engagement. Capture your work in action.

Show Personable Staff/Volunteers

Highlight the passionate people behind your nonprofit through photos and videos.

Leverage UGC (User-Generated Content)

Repurpose authentic social content from supporters showing how they engage with your cause.

Communicate urgency

Urgently convey the need for immediate support and action for time-sensitive fundraising campaigns.

Recognize Major Donors

Thank top supporters by name when possible to validate their contribution.

Include Strong CTAs

Every ad should include calls to action to donate, volunteer, attend an event, sign a petition, etc.

Promote Initiatives

Create dedicated campaigns for major events, advocacy efforts, programs, partnerships or announcements.

Make it Inspiring

Share the vision of the change you are working towards in an inspirational light.

Back to the table of contents

Applying these nonprofit Twitter Ads’ creative best practices will captivate your audiences and drive greater support for your mission.

Twitter Ad Targeting Options for Nonprofits

One of Twitter Ads’ greatest strengths is its robust targeting capabilities. Here are some of the valuable nonprofit targeting tactics:

Follower Look-Alikes

Reach new people similar to your existing nonprofit followers to find prospective supporters.

Custom Audiences

Upload email lists, donor names, volunteer rosters, attendees, etc. and target ads directly to those groups.

Interest Targeting

Target users based on causes they engage with, like environment, human rights, education, animals, etc.

Keyword Targeting

Target ads to those who tweet about relevant terms like nonprofit, volunteer, community service, charity, etc.

Retarget Website Visitors

Keep nurturing people who visited your website or signed up for an event with additional ads.

Location Targeting

Geo-target local areas you serve or where your events will be held.

Partner Followers

Reach the followers of corporate, foundation or influencer partners who support your work.

Platform and Device Targeting

Identify the top devices and platforms your audiences use and focus ad spending accordingly.

Leverage these targeting tactics to reach the right people with the right message at the right time.

Real Nonprofit Twitter Ads Campaign Examples

Let’s look at some real-world examples of effective nonprofit Twitter ad campaigns:

Charity: Water

This clean water nonprofit ran an emotional video ad campaign that drove $60k in donations with just a $5k ad spend. The video storytelling connected powerfully.

NRDC

The Natural Resources Defense Council promoted environmental advocacy petitions broadly, driving rapid mobilization through targeted ads.

St. Jude Children’s Hospital

For their #ThisShirtSavesLives campaign, St. Jude leveraged Twitter Ads to engage supporters and raise over $3 million.

American Red Cross

When Hurricane Florence hit, The Red Cross used ads to quickly spread information on donating, finding shelters, locating loved ones and more.

Goodwill

Goodwill promoted their online auction site using Twitter Ads, driving increased bidding and revenue for their community programs.

UNICEF

UNICEF has run numerous Twitter campaigns driving awareness of issues impacting children globally and encouraging donations/sharing.

Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikipedia nonprofit promoted their end-of-year fundraising drive using Twitter Ads, motivating contributions from their informational audience.

As you can see, many causes have succeeded with Twitter Ads by creatively leveraging the platform’s unique benefits.

Key Twitter Ad Features for Nonprofits

Beyond standard ad units, Twitter offers some unique features that can benefit nonprofit campaigns:

Twitter Event Targeting

Allows promoting your nonprofit event to people interested in attending events nearby.

Lead Generation Cards

Encourage sign-ups by collecting contact info within the ad unit through lead gen cards.

Twitter Live

Broadcast live streams to engage supporters in real-time, like hosting virtual fundraising events.

Polls

Run nonprofit polls or surveys to gain supporters’ feedback and feel engaged.

Audio Tweets

Share podcast interviews discussing your cause or mission.

Nonprofit Exemptions

Get certain content restrictions waived where appropriate based on exemptions.

Explore these unique formats within your nonprofit marketing campaigns.

Measuring Performance of Nonprofit Campaigns

To optimize efforts, closely monitor Twitter Ads performance against your KPIs:

• Website clicks/traffic – How well are ads driving people to take action on your site
• Registrations/sign-ups – assess conversions for email, events, petitions etc.
• Engagement rate – likes, retweets, replies, etc., show content resonance
• Link clicks – monitor clicks to any call-to-action links
• Follower growth – Are you gaining new ongoing supporters
• Donations – for fundraising campaigns, track $ raised
• Video views – for video content, monitor view rates and completion

Continuously evaluate metrics and make data-driven decisions on where to invest your budget and effort. Are certain audience segments or creatives delivering better results? Double down on what works.

Key Takeaways

Let’s wrap up with some top high-level takeaways:

• Twitter Ads provide immense opportunities for nonprofits to spread their mission and engage supporters.
• Nonprofits have access to free promoted ad credit, fiscal sponsorships and donated funds to invest in Twitter advertising.
• Focus ads on your mission, events, advocacy and fundraising initiatives using compelling creative.
• Set specific campaign goals and closely monitor performance against KPIs to optimize efforts.
• Ensure you leverage all the detailed targeting options to reach your distinct audiences.
• Properly fund campaigns through Twitter grants, fiscal sponsors or donated credits.
• Follow best practices around creative content, tailoring messaging to your objectives and audiences.
• Continually refine efforts based on real-time insights to improve future campaign success.

When approached strategically, Twitter Ads can become a game-changing channel for any nonprofit to tell its story, rally support, and increase impact. We invite you to use this guide to maximize value for your vital mission.

Frequently Asked Questions