'About That First Tweet' is published by Unity Trust Bank and Social Misfits Media, sister company to philanthropy and fundraising consultancy I.G. Advisors.

The guide, which is free to download here www.unity.co.uk/guide is the most authoritative and practical manual published specifically for the charity and social enterprise audience.

'About that First Tweet' shows such organisations how best to engage with social media platforms, how to develop audiences and deliver online goals, supported by the best advice from some of the world's leading social media experts including:

Claire Diaz-Ortiz - Head of Social Innovation at Twitter
Meg Garlinghouse - Head of Social Impact at LinkedIn
Libby Leffler - Strategic Partner Manager at Facebook

'About That First Tweet' includes four insightful case studies - Save the Children, The Girl Effect, Child I Foundation, and the New York Public Library - showing how these organisations found their voice in social media and achieved their social impact aims.

Unity Trust Bank and Social Misfits surveyed 180 small to medium charities and social enterprises. The survey found that while over 70 per cent retained a presence on Facebook and Twitter, over half of respondents (54 per cent) said their social media strategy was not very or not all at all integrated in the communications or fundraising strategy.

The survey found many charities and social enterprises found challenges in knowing what and when to communicate, establishing a following and measuring impact.

Adrian Oldman, head of marketing at Unity Trust Bank, said: "Unity Trust Bank commissioned 'About that First Tweet' and made it free to download because we recognise the importance of social media in delivering social change. A new set of indispensable, free online tools have now been created by companies such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to specifically help charities and social enterprises to use them to broaden their audiences, spread their ad their messages and fundraise. We have pulled this together and created a guide that we believe will help small and medium-sized social impact organisations better harness the power of social media to achieve lasting and sustainable change."

Carlos Miranda, Founder of Social Misfits Media and CEO of I.G. Advisors, said: "Social media can be an incredible tool for charities and social enterprises to use for fundraising, business development, networking, and building their brand - but many are not using the platforms available to their full potential. We hear from clients all the time that they find it difficult to figure out how to fit social media into their fundraising and marketing strategies, but it's not as hard as it looks. In 'About that First Tweet', we've provided both insights from experts and inspiration from other organisations who have run successful campaigns so small and medium-sized organisations can learn to use these online tools to reach their offline goals."