What is your charities name and Mission?
The National Canine Cancer Foundation @wearethecure is a nationwide, contribution funded, 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation dedicated to eliminating Cancer as a major health issue in dogs by funding grants directly to Cancer researchers who are working to save lives, find cures, better treatments and accurate, cost effective diagnostic methods in dealing with canine Cancer.
The purpose of the Foundation’s Research Grant Program is to encourage and provide grant support for basic, pre-clinical and clinical research in high impact and innovative cancer research, which is intended to develop innovative approaches to a cure, treatment, diagnosis or prevention of cancers in dogs. The program fosters collaboration between basic and clinical scientists with the intent of enhancing the transfer of basic research findings to clinical usefulness.
How long have you been using Twitter and who's idea was it?
I have been using Twitter since February of 2009 and it was my idea to use it.
What have you enjoyed so far whilst using Twitter?
I have enjoyed the many connections and interactions I have had with other Twitters. In fact I have made some strong friendships and strong support for certain Twitters.
Has their been an incidents of followers doing something wonderful for you?
We are constantly have many Twitterers RT our news information that we supply via Twitter about dogs, pets and canine cancer research.
What has been your biggest challenge to date?
I spent most nights till 4 am personally responding to every one who followed me. I did this until I was getting about 200 followers a day. But during this time I developed some very strong relationships. After that I made sure I at least found a connection with every dog and pet related person or company on Twitter that followed me. I started in Feb 09 and reach 10,000 followers in about July. And I did not use any of the methods taunted to get large amounts of follower.
And I was confident because of my hard work that 70% of those followers where dog and pet related people and companies. And I was also constantly posting updates about information and links relating to dogs, pets and canine cancer research. And I was seeing 100's of RT per week. So I felt it was time to try a fund raiser using the method of contacting larger numbers and asking for smaller donations. So I started a campaign called "The Perfect Tweet" For a donation of $5 you would post what you thought would be a perfect tweet for certain subject such as "How to write the perfect tweet to tell your kids there is no Santa". And there were great prizes for the top 10 winners. So I figured that I had over 10,000 followers who had alot of followers so if I just asked for a donation of $5 I felt 1000's maybe event 10's of 1000 would enter this fun event. So I launched it. And I started seeing people RT the information like crazy. One day I counted 500 RT's. But not one entered or donated the $5.00. I was wondering why everyone who RT'd was not also entering the writing contest and donating the $5.00. I even extended it for another month and I got a total of 15 people who donated and entered the contest. I thank those people for their support but needless to say I was questioning what I did wrong. Was it too complicated.
Then I tried another simpler method. I put out a simple tweet that said "How much can ONE Tweet raise for cancer research. Please just donate $2 at http://www.tweetagainstcancer.com and then please RT" So I hoped everyone would at least donate $2.00 after all I had over 10,000 followers and 70% were dog and pet lovers. I did receive about 25 donations of various sizes and for those who donated over $25 I even sent them a T-Shirt that said "I have #TwitterPower". And I thank everyone of those who did donate for their generosity. They all helped but it was only about 25 people. And I serious thought I would give 10's of 1000's of people donating $2. And again 100's of people RT'd the message and I thought if they could RT why can't they also donated $2. So I have now come to the conclusion that I do not know how to effectively use Twitter to raise money to fund canine cancer research. And wonder if Twitter is still effective. After all Twestival raised $250,000 in 6 days. But that was back awhile ago. And perhaps Twitter has changed.
Do you have a Twitter tip for other charities?
Perhaps my best advice would be not to worry about how many followers you have but to develop a personal relationship with the Twitter that you think you can help and that they can help you. Make it a win win situation. That is what I tried to do but I think perhaps my numbers got too big.
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