In the following Q&A from PR News, Tammy Tibbetts, founder and president of nonprofit organization She’s the First, shares how leveraging Twitter has helped generate almost 6,000 followers and more than $20,000 to sponsor girls’ education in developing countries. We like following PR News not only because it helps us keep on top of news and trends, but because it publishes articles on topics that we as marketers (and you as retailers and digital marketers) find highly useful.

She’s the First is a young organization. What role did Twitter play in helping to build your organization?

Tibbetts: Twitter is a vital organ to our organization; it’s like our heartbeat. Twitter is how we’re transparent and interactive with donors; how we find miraculous in-kind donations; how I have met two of the most profound creative influences, @cynthiahellen & @azureantoinette, behind two of our largest campaigns, Girls Who Rock and Voice Your Verse; and how we have grown student involvement in the U.S., especially with our national grassroots tie-dye cupcake campaign.

How has Twitter helped with fundraising campaigns?

Tibbetts: I am most proud of our Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off, when students across the U.S. sold these colorful cupcakes in tandem, Nov. 1-8, 2011, and raised more than $22,000 to sponsor girls’ education in eight developing countries.