How Many Retweets Is San Francisco's Tax Break Worth?

When "giving back" means encouraging people to use your product, everybody wins.

BuzzFeed Staff

Posted on July 26, 2013, 2:59 pm

The seven San Francisco tech companies that received the so-called "Twitter Tax Breaks," promised in exchange for giving back to the local community, have submitted their first progress reports to the city. All eyes are on Twitter, which is getting the largest break, estimated to be around $22 million over the course of a multi-year agreement.

So far Twitter has come through on its promises, particularly with its extensive volunteering and $75,000 in donations to nonprofits last year. But in its initial quarterly progress report to the city, it highlighted Twitter-specific initiatives — Twitter training and promoted tweets — as "one of our most powerful resources in our community outreach toolbox."

"This has been a great way for us to reach out to a broad list of organizations and have employees get to know them on a personal level," Twitter wrote to the city in a follow-up report covering the same quarter. "It's also been a great way for the community to get to know what we do and how our product can help them raise awareness of their cause."

Twitter admits it's in the company's best interest to encourage groups to use their product, saying, "This program has become a career development tool for our sales team."

Forty-seven Twitter employees have provided Twitter training to 27 organizations, which include the city library and several national organizations. Those groups were then invited to submit an application detailing three proposals for campaigns and examples of their tweets, in hopes of getting some of their tweets promoted.

There were seven lucky winners, whose promoted tweet campaigns will equal a grand total of $45,000. The seven groups include a Silicon Valley-based nonprofit, a city youth writing program, and a National Public Radio education program, indicating a loose definition of "neighborhood" organizations. Four of the seven have had their tweets promoted so far. The rest are slated for the upcoming months.

So, what exactly does all that look like? The promoted tweets provide a unique look into Twitter's ad product, where a non-profit can expect to spend a few thousand dollars to promote its tweets and receive a handful of extra retweets and tens of new followers in return. For those already well versed in the social media game, that may feel like a raw deal, but for smaller, underexposed organizations these modest returns could prove to be valuable.

Here are the tweets, the promotion of which Twitter says equates to $45,000

"As a small program with limited avenues for marketing and advertisement, we found [it] pretty useful to get tips and techniques for building better tweets and Twitter strategies in general," says WritersCorps. These two tweets resulted in 30 new followers, 1,670 clicks, and 26 retweets.

WritersCorps
@WritersCorps
Celebrate #NationalPoetryMonth with us at our Poetry Projection Project #filmfest based on youth writing, 4/13 @ybca! http://t.co/TjIszLoxfw

WritersCorps
@WritersCorps
Attn Bay Area #writers who #teach! Applications are now open for @WritersCorps teachers. Apply now! http://t.co/jBHkoZyDdr #artsed #artsjob

Raphael House
@RaphaelHouseSF
These kids share some touching experiences of living at Raphael House in our new video: Through the Eyes of a Child http://t.co/hfWSZun3WL

Raphael House
@RaphaelHouseSF
Join us on 5/17 at the exciting One Home Many Hearts Gala. Proceeds directly benefit our families! Tickets & info at: http://t.co/o7n1Puu7cc

Raphael House
@RaphaelHouseSF
This heartfelt note came with a donation last month from a mom who stayed with us years ago along with her children.
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"Without a doubt, the Twitter ads were incredibly valuable," says Great NonProfits, a sort of Zagat guide to nonprofits that is based in Silicon Valley. "Without the grant, we would have not had the budget nor staff resources to undertake a campaign of this scale on our own." They gained 319 followers, 132 retweets, 27 replies, and 7,109 clicks.

Walk SF, a nonprofit that promotes urban walking and hosts Walk to Work Day, says, "The tweets did help increase awareness for Walk to Work Day and boosted Walk SF's followers significantly."

Walk San Francisco
@walksf
In SF, over 800 people/year are hit by cars (3 a day) - together, we can end these injuries & deaths; join now https://t.co/PXB2wmbFGG

Walk San Francisco
@walksf
Win $10 @sportsbasement gift certificate if you can tell us how many #parklets there are in #SF - tweet today with #walk2work to win

Walk San Francisco
@walksf
How much carbon does walking for short trips save #SF yearly; tweet using #walk2work to win $10 @sportsbasement gift certificates today

Walk San Francisco
@walksf
Follow us & post "Best Shoe Bling" pic w/ #Walk2Work tag by Fri 4/12 to win #W2WD @newbalance @fitbit @rickshawbags @sportsbasement prizes

Walk San Francisco
@walksf
How many miles/yr of #SF streets to fix to cut 90% of ped injuries? Tweet w/ #walk2work today; win $10 @sportsbasement gift certificate

Walk San Francisco
@walksf
10% off Bryant @SportsBasement when u show your "I Walked to Work" sticker, plus RT this post today and enter to win $10 gift certificate

"It is hard to gauge what it is worth, but for our Mother's Day campaign we raised $2,000," says Compass, a family homeless shelter. "Since we are a nonprofit, I don't know if we would be able to purchase that on a monthly basis." They estimate that they gained about 50 followers over the month.

Compass Family
@compasssf
Donate your old car to Compass - we'll get up to $4000 even if it's broken! That will help house two needy families. http://t.co/QAsgBeDzsp

Compass Family
@compasssf
You want to end Family Homelessness in San Francisco. The next step? Sign up for our newsletter and RT this post! https://t.co/I5waa11cn5

Compass Family
@compasssf
What should you do if you see a homeless family on the street? Sign up for our newsletter and we'll tell you! https://t.co/I5waa11cn5

Compass Family
@compasssf
Homelessness won't disappear unless everyone's on board. Sign up for our newsletter - be part of the solution! https://t.co/I5waa11cn5

Compass Family
@compasssf
Want to really end homelessness? Sign up for our newsletter and get 4 emails a year which tell you how! https://t.co/I5waa11cn5

Compass Family
@compasssf
You already follow us on Twitter, why not take the next step and sign up for our newsletter as well! https://t.co/I5waa11cn5

Compass Family
@compasssf
Do you have an old car gathering dust? Donate it to Compass SF and help break the cycle of homelessness! http://t.co/za0CJJKcUe

Compass Family
@compasssf
Have a car that's gathering rust? Even if it's broken you can help end homeless by donating it to Compass! http://t.co/9R9zB3dS1E

Compass Family
@compasssf
When you donate your old car to Compass Family Services, we help another Bay Area Homeless Family off the streets! http://t.co/9R9zB3dS1E

Compass Family
@compasssf
Donate Your Car to Charity, Help Homeless Families, and Receive a Vehicle Tax Deduction = Win-Win-Win! http://t.co/9R9zB3dS1E

Compass Family
@compasssf
Need a last-minute Mother's Day present? Help a homeless mother - we'll tell your mom it was on her behalf! http://t.co/ktmvocGTck

Compass Family
@compasssf
This Mother's Day support a homeless mom in honor of your mother! She'll get an email informing her of your donation! http://t.co/ktmvocGTck

Compass Family
@compasssf
Donate Your Car to Charity and Receive a Vehicle Tax Deduction and Help Homeless Families! http://t.co/9R9zB3dS1E #charities #donate

Compass Family
@compasssf
Our #donateyourcar drive takes unwanted cars off your hands to help #homeless #families! http://t.co/9R9zB3dS1E We'd love a RT!

Compass Family
@compasssf
Thinking of selling your old car? Donate it instead and help homeless families on their way to self sufficiency. http://t.co/za0CJJKcUe

Update, 5:49 EST: This article has been update to reflect the multi-year nature of Twitter's agreement with the city, as well as to clarify the nature of how Twitter's promoted tweet product works.

Justine Sharrock
BuzzFeed Staff

How Many Retweets Is San Francisco's Tax Break Worth?

WritersCorps got two tweets, worth $1,250 each.

Raphael House, a family shelter, received these promoted tweets equaling $2,500.

Great NonProfits got 16 tweets over three weeks, equalling $5,000

Walk SF got 12 tweets, equalling $2,500.

Compass Family Services received 17 tweets, worth $4,000.