Yes, there can be a lot of rubble on Twitter, but there are very easy ways to avoid this clutter. By using a system such as Seesmic or Tweetdeck, you can only view Tweets of those talking about your cause by sorting by keywords. By setting these systems up for clients, we have made their experiences more productive and dramatically cut the amount of time spent on these sites.

And though Twitter may not seem like the most efficient way to fundraise for your particular cause, it is definitely efficient at getting people to take a look at it. Anyone who uses Twitter on a regular basis can attest to the huge amount traffic it can bring to your website.

How then will these users be converted to donors? The trick is not treating social media as an afterthought. We’ve all learned to integrate email with our direct marketing efforts. To get the most bang for your buck, social media should also be integrated with these mediums as well.

With this use of analytics and the real-time tracking that is available, these campaigns can be instantly tweaked to get your highest return on investment. And mediums will change. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, etc. won’t be major players forever. But no matter what, you will have the strongest case for support when you deliver a clear, consistent message to supporters on their turf, despite their turf constantly changing.

If you want more information, please download our guide to Twitter for non-profits here: http://direct-intelligence.net/news-blog/.

I hope it helps! Happy Tweeting! @directintel

While I am enthusiastic about Twitter and what we’ve accomplished with it, I would like to point out that I don’t advocate spending vast amounts of time on it for fundraising purposes. Here’s how my day on Twitter looks most days: log on Twitter while eating breakfast 6:30am – 8:30am. If i’m in the office, I’ll check Twitter while I’m eating lunch. Then, if I’m home in the evening, I’ll spend the evening working, watching TV and communicating on Twitter.

Social media is a fun tool that I can use with precious little time and effort. It fits into my “wired life”. It’s not going to fit into everyone’s life the same way, but it’s a good fit for mine and for many, many, others. Why not take advantage of that and connect with all those great people and engage them?

It’s particularly helpful for causes that don’t have large budgets for traditional media. I do find that people aren’t using basic tools that can really help eliminate the rubble and highlight the gems to their fullest potential. Use tweetdeck (or a similar application) and create search terms and groups to ensure that you spend very little time sifting and lots of time savouring dessert!

Much thanks to Ken Burnett for being such a gracious and thought provoking contributor to this discussion.

To reiterate – this isn’t a major source of fundraising. It’s a great way to communicate with new and different people. It’s an easy way to enhance our communications and outreach, that just happens to benefit our fundraising.

I’m getting a bit concerned that people are perceiving me to be a Twitter evangelist. I think it’s a fabulous tool – but it’s just one tool, amidst many, that we should be working with (and testing) to speak to people who might like to get to know our organizations better.

I don’t know if Twitter will last or what it will become. Nobody does. I’m willing to risk a little of my morning blueberry time on it – and I’m having fun doing it.

Happy Friday!