Kevin Lee Random Research & Musings

The We-Care.com 0K #MillionDimes promotion isn’t just about getting Twitter votes (at a dime a piece) to get you the largest possible donation from We-Care.com (which is $1000 per US-based nonprofit).  It’s also about using the excitement about a dime a tweet to activate your current twitter followers, gain more followers, and get the word out about your cause.

You only have 140 characters and your supporters (or you if you are tweeting to get a retweet) have to include your handle (which is automatically added in a retweet), the #MillionDimes hashtag and the @WeCare handle and a link to the rules.  The tweeters must also be following @WeCare for the vote to count, so it’s good to note that.  A link to the We-Care.com/MillionDimes site is also good because the user can see the results and rules there.  With your leftover characters you may be able to reinforce your cause message or include a link to your own blog where you talk about the #MillionDimes and your cause.

Example Tweet: Plz RT Support @Causename. Tweets & Retweets = $.10 from @WeCare #MillionDimes $100K Challenge. http://www.we-care.com/MillionDimes 4 details.

There”s room in the above tweet for another tidbit or a link (automatically shortened URL) to your site. Of course as long as your tweet includes your handle, the @WeCare handle and the #MillionDimes hashtag then your readers can easily retweet and earn votes.

Here are ten ways to maximize the value for your cause:

1)      Find your most influential or largest followers and @Mention them in a tweet or consider DMing them asking for a ReTweet (in case they missed the @Mention if you tweeted at them)

2)      Celebrities: Find Real Celebrities who tweet and try to get their attention with a @Mention or if you are lucky enough to have them following you, then consider using a DM (Direct Message)

For example: @ladygaga Plz RT Support @BTWFoundation. Tweets & Retweets = $.10 from @WeCare #MillionDimes $100K Challenge. http://www.we-care.com/MillionDimes 4 details

3)      Power-Tweeters: Reach out to Celebrities and Power-Tweeters by finding someone who they might have a close relationship with and appeal to that third person influencer.

4)      Help Other Causes too: Use the pay-it-forward feature of the promotion.  If you tweet at another nonprofit cause and they retweet that vote counts for both and of course their followers are likely to continue retweeting both of your handles.  Isn’t that cool?  Those retweets with two causes in them count double, so you end up leveraging the supporters of other causes.  Even though your tweet/vote only counts five times per day, you can activate other nonprofit causes and their supporters by @mentioning with a valid #MillionDimes tweet to get their attention.

5)      Call in a favor from a corporate sponsor with a good Twitter following. As long as it fits with the corporation’s culture they mighte be open to tweeting on your behalf or re-tweeting.

6)      Use your email list:  The #MillionDimes promotion is a good excuse to send out an email but don’t exclusively focus on the promo, also include other marketing messages and perhaps a donation or volunteerism call to action.

7)      Create an “event” on Facebook and promote it so your FB users who also tweet can activate easily.

8)      Use Google+ (Google Plus) page to promote the event.  Obviously if you haven’t built up a Google Plus following then that might not help.

9)      Use the phone:  WHAT?

1. Yep, that’s right.  A phone call is often a more successful way to reach one of the influential Celebrity or Power-Tweeters.
2. Use the phone (part 2): Send a text message to a VIP if you have an existing relationship.

10)   Reach out to bloggers and press.

Best of luck maxing out both your We-Care.com donation but also the added visibility that a fun promotion like #MillionDimes can have.