National Wildlife Federation – tips for energy conservation, interesting animal facts, links to opportunities to participate in advocacy etc…

AIDG – a lot of links to interesting videos that showcase the work that they do

Adler Planetarium – some great quick facts about things to look for in the sky as well as info about upcoming special events at the planetarium

Chicago Public Radio and other public media sites – links to news reports and interesting features

American Public Health Association - links to public health news and to interesting facts and polls. There’s a link to a pop quiz to name the top 10 public health achievements, a survey asking if you got a flu shot, and more…

Anyway this is just a small sample of how some nonprofits are starting to use Twitter. I imagine it will take some experimenting to determine the right amount of tweets to their followers and the best tone for those tweets. I think there is certainly a place for some fundraising tweets too but nonprofits will have to resist the temptation to go overboard on that or they will likely lose followers pretty quickly. It will be fun to watch how the use of Twitter evolves in the nonprofit sector.

Today NTEN had a webinar about twitter and I have a better understanding of how it is best used. More than 1 million people use twitter. I’m really looking forward to using it at the upcoming NTEN conference because that way I can read tweets from people who are in the same sessions I’m in or in sessions I’m missing at the moment or I can hear about where everyone is meeting after sessions for some great New Orleans food and drinks. For me one of the best ways to learn about technology tools is just to try them out so here it is late on a Friday night and I’m having fun updating my blog and scrolling through some strange and interesting tweets from everywhere in the world – of course I can’t understand some of them since they are in foreign languages.

Anyway, If you haven’t ever heard of twitter, check out this great video that explains it in plain English and shares one simple way to use it to stay connected with friends and colleagues and people with similar interests. Also check out my twitter page and this great radio discussion about “why twitter” that aired on On Point about a year ago.