Since publishing my first list of “90 Foundations That Tweet” in July 2009, I’ve been sporadically keeping track of foundations, foundation staff, and funder networks that are joining Twitter. I’ve created the Philanthropy411 List of Foundations and Funder Networks on Twitter (Part 1 and Part 2), which at the time of this post publication has 607 Twitter users. I’ve kept this list private and am now making it public for anyone to follow.
There are other resources for finding foundations on Twitter that you should definitely check out. This includes:
- The Foundation Center’s fabulous Glass Pockets site, which provides links to foundations that seek to be transparent using social media and other tools, such as their Facebook pages, blogs, Twitter accounts, etc. It is continually updated by the foundations themselves.
- @OnlyFoundations, which is a twitter feed from Cindy Bailie, Director of the Foundation Center Cleveland. It is a continuous stream of content from foundations and corporate grantmakers.
- 17 More Foundation Resources on Twitter is another post I authored which provides links to Twitter accounts of some useful philanthropy resources, such as the Foundation Centers, media outlets covering philanthropy, and organizations such as Charity Navigator and Guidestar that help donors find excellent nonprofits to support.
- The Foundation Center’s report “Are Foundation Leaders Using Social Media?” which highlights the social media activities of over 650 foundations.
I will continue to add to this list, and will occasionally update this blog post with the latest number of list members. It includes the “official” twitter feeds of grantmaking foundations; foundation staff who identify themselves as working at a foundation or tweet a lot about their grantmaking, grantees and causes; staff at funder networks (e.g., national and regional associations of grantmakers, funders who come together to address a particular issue); and the occasional foundation board member such as myself. One caveat: since this list was started in 2009, there are likely people who have changed jobs and no longer work for a foundation. Unfortunately, I don’t know of an efficient way to continually review the list and remove those who no longer fit the criteria.
It is my intention that this list only includes foundations and other organizations that give grants (or affinity groups and networks of such organizations). However, this list does not include United Ways. I have much respect for United Way organizations and their contributions to communities, but there are so many of them on Twitter that it makes more sense for someone else to create a separate United Way Twitter list. I have also excluded foundations that raise money for only one particular organization, such as the foundations of hospitals and universities.
If you think you should be on this list, or if you know of a foundation who should be, please contact me with the name and link to the Twitter profile. And if you see an organization that should not be on this list, let me know too!
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Posted by Kris Putnam-Walkerly © Kris Putnam-Walkerly and Philanthropy411, 2011.
