[Cinci-nfb] Facebook 101 for Nonprofits: Basic Tips and Guidelines

Tue Nov 3 23:32:33 UTC 2015

Alan. Excellent overview of the issues we're facing and setting up Facebook
groups for nonprofits. A meeting to hash out these details is going to be
essential, and I realize I'm not the expert on promoting an organization on
FFacebook, just because I have an account.

Thanks Much,

Chris

From: Cinci-nfb [mailto:cinci-nfb-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Alan
Lemly via Cinci-nfb
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2015 6:00 PM
To: 'NFB of Ohio Cincinnati Chapter List'
Cc: Alan Lemly
Subject: [Cinci-nfb] Facebook 101 for Nonprofits: Basic Tips and Guidelines

Hi Cincinnati Chapter,

For those who are interested, this page had a good overview of Facebook for
nonprofits who are wishing to establish a presence there:

http://www.connectingup.org/learn/articles/facebook-101-nonprofits-basic-tip
s-and-guidelines

I'll paste the text of the page following my signature for those who are
interested. It sounds like Chris has the ball well under control but I'm
sure he'd appreciate others understanding the issues involved as y'all make
this happen.

Alan Lemly

Facebook can be an integral part of a nonprofit organisation's social
strategy. Find out how you can utilise this very popular social network. 

With approximately 11 million users in Australia in alone
<http://www.connectingup.org/blog/social-media-australia-infographic> ,
Facebook is definitely one of the biggest and most active social networks on
this side of the globe. And, with a commitment to supporting nonprofits,
it's a platform that's worthy of any nonprofit or charity organisation's
time and attention.

So, if your nonprofit is still waiting to maximise Facebook for your
organisation, here are some tips and resources to help you along.     

Facebook for Nonprofits

So, should we start a Facebook Profile, a Facebook Page, or a Facebook
Group?

Facebook Profiles are designed to be an individual's presence on Facebook.
Here, people connect with others by adding them as Friends. At the time of
writing this, you can only add up to 5,000 friends on your profile.  Some
people may opt to have a business profile
<http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=167124440013852>  instead of a personal
profile, if they simply wish to manage Facebook Pages and ads. However,
Facebook's Terms of Service (ToS) says that you can only manage a business
profile if you don't have a personal profile. It's also important to note
that as per Facebook ToS, you shouldn't have more than one personal and/or
business acount, as you run the risk of having all your accounts terminated
by Facebook. 

Facebook Pages are designed to be the official way to have a presence on
Facebook, especially for organisations, charities, and community groups.
They are ideal for reaching out to a number of individuals and
organisations. One advantage of Facebook Pages is the ability to get a
"vanity URL", similar to your profile (eg, facebook.com/YOURNONPROFIT), so
it's easier for branding. Pages also have the advantage of getting access to
some useful statistics about your Facebook usage (called "Insights").

Facebook Groups are designed for smaller group communications. They are an
ideal option if you have a very specific purpose in mind for communicating
with a selected number of people. They are also good if you need a way to
send mass messages to a small number of members. Some possible uses include:
organising a small group of volunteers for your organisation or a small
social group for your staff members. Groups may be private or public. At
this time, there's also a limit of up to 5,000 members in a group. 

So, which one should your organisation use? Each one would have different
pros and cons, so it would all depend on what your strategy is for Facebook
use. We shared our initial Facebook Page strategy
<http://www.connectingup.org/blog/whats-your-facebook-page-strategy>  here,
if you're interested. 

You can also read Facebook's Tips to learn more about the difference between
Facebook Pages and Facebook Groups
<http://www.facebook.com/blog.php?post=324706977130> . Or, you can also read
The Definitive Guide to Facebook Groups vs Pages
<http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-groups-pages-2010-02> .

For the rest of this resource, we will talk about setting up and managing
Facebook Pages for nonprofits and charities.

Why start a Facebook Page for your nonprofit or charity organisation?

*	Facebook is a great platform to reach a mass of people. Starting
from your immediate networks, you can promote your organisation or cause,
with the hope that they are able to pass it along to their own networks, and
so on.
*	Facebook has a number of applications that work well with nonprofits
and charities. For example, the Causes app <http://www.causes.com/>  enables
organisations to promote and raise funds for causes or organisations. And,
it easily plugs in to Facebook. Organisations can also set up public or
private groups, and even organise and promote events.
*	Facebook is a good way to connect and communicate with your
stakeholders. Depending on your strategy, this platform is an opportunity to
share a variety of content - from text and links to videos and photos. It's
a great place to interact with your community who are already engaged in
Facebook through their personal networks. It even has the added benefit of
gauging your community's sentiments through "Likes", shares, and comments.

*	To find out more, you can also read: How Facebook Updates Can Boost
Your Cause
<http://www.connectingup.org/blog/how-facebooks-updates-can-boost-your-cause
> .

How to Set Up a Facebook Page

*	Choose a Facebook administrator from your organisation. You need to
have someone from your organisation who already has a personal account on
Facebook. They will be the one who would set up the Facebook page. Some
people may also opt to start a Facebook account that's specific to their
organisation instead of an individual personal account. This may be
considered a Business Account
<http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=228275060521343#How-do-I-create-a-busines
s-account?> that's only designed to administer Facebook Pages and ads. If
you already have a personal account,  you're meant to use your individual
account to create and manage Pages. If you end up with multiple accounts,
you may be in violation of Facebook terms of service. If you do not wish to
have an individual account, go straight to creating a Facebook page
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php>  section and you will be prompted
to set up a business account from there.  
*	Even if you have an individual account set up the Facebook, the one
who sets up your organisation's Facebook page do not need to be the only one
to manage it. In fact, it's advisable to have at least 1 or 2 other admins
to make sure that there will be more than 1 person who can look after your
organisation's Facebook page. 
*	Go to Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php> 's Create
a Page section. Make sure you choose "Company, Organisation or Institution".
The "Community or Cause" section is only for creating pages that are generic
and not targeted to a specific organisation. 
*	Follow simple steps to create the page. To see a simple five-step
tutorial on how to set up a Facebook page for your nonprofit, check out
Socialbrite
<http://www.socialbrite.org/2010/07/12/facebook-101-for-nonprofits/> 's
Facebook set-up tutorial or you can visit Facebook
<http://http:/www.facebook.com/nonprofits?sk=app_17037175766> 's Get Started
section.

Some Simple Reminders on Setting Up a Facebook Page

*	Fill out your details! Share some information about your
organisation so that people can learn more. Add links to your website, if
you have any. Maybe even photos of staff and other stakeholders. Give your
Facebook page a 'human' feel. And yes, don't forget to post a proper profile
photo that captures your organisation. 
*	Make sure you add some useful and interesting content even before
you start inviting people. You don't want people to find an empty page when
you invite them! So, add some relevant photos and videos if you can. Share
some helpful links and write a few posts. Perhaps, even a section where
people can interact with you immediately - an "introduce yourself" post or
"tell us a story" post often work well. 
*	Adjust your Facebook Page's settings accordingly. When you edit your
page's settings, you can choose how your Facebook supporters can engage with
your organisation on your page. Here, you can choose what types of posts
supporters can share, which pages they will be able to access, and other
settings. For example, some organisations opt to choose to hide other posts
on their Walls (this  tends to be an unpopular choice, as it limits the way
people can engage with your organisation). You can also choose what apps and
plugins to use on your page.  

Now That You've Got a Facebook Page, What's Next?

*	Invite your contacts to 'Like' your page. Write a simple but
effective invitation note that you can use to invite your friends and family
members in your contact list to 'Like' your page. Give them a reason to
'Like' it - a brief background on your organisation and your cause, what
sort of information will you be posting on your Facebook page, etc. 
*	Start 'Liking' other pages and interact with them, especially those
that are similar to your organisation. This way, you can start networking
with similar organisations and entities. Make sure, however, to avoid
"spamming" their walls by inviting people to like your new page. If you
contribute appropriately to the conversations, most people would find their
way to you.  
*	Look at different ways of engaging with your stakeholders. For
example, did you know that you can feature your organisation's image on a
<http://www.connectingup.org/resources/learning-centre/how-feature-your-imag
e-your-facebook-supporters-personal-photostrip>  Facebook supporter's photo
strip? You can also look in to running competitions, polls, and other
discussions. There are different apps or plugins for these approaches. 
*	Consider creating custom tabs - If you create personalised landing
pages for your Facebook Page, you can highlight the different things that
your organisation does. To learn more about custom tabs, read Beth Kanter's
note on Facebook custom tabs for nonprofit organisations
<http://www.facebook.com/notes/beth-kanter/facebook-custom-landing-tabs-meas
urement-best-practice/195815013796113> .
*	Start collecting data from Facebook Insights - One of the great
things about Facebook Pages is that it offers administrators an insight in
to their supporters through a built-in statistical tool. If you start
collecting data from the start, you will have a good baseline of information
that you can use to analyse later on if you wish to understand your
demographics better. 
*	Also see The Ultimate
<http://www.edelmandigital.com/2011/12/08/facebook-pages-checklist/>
Facebook Page Checklist - This is a good checklist that contains other tasks
that you might wish to look in to for your organisation's Facebook page.

Let's talk Facebook some more!

*
<http://www.connectingup.org/discussion/ask-facebook-nonprofits-question>
Ask a question about Facebook use! - If you have a pressing query about
using Facebook for your nonprofit that is not answered in this guide, please
feel free to ask away in our discussions section.
*	Share a Facebook tip!
<http://www.connectingup.org/discussion/share-facebook-tip>  - Do you have a
special tip for other nonprofits about using Facebook? What about a great
case study on how you used Facebook? Please share them with us! 

Learn  more about Facebook for Nonprofits

*	 <http://www.facebook.com/FacebookPages> Facebook Pages - Some tips
and tutorials from Facebook.
*	 <http://www.facebook.com/nonprofits> Facebook for Nonprofits - The
page for nonprofits on Facebook.

There's always plenty to learn about making the most out of Facebook for
nonprofits. So, it's useful to follow blogs and other social media accounts
who share such information. Here at Connecting Up, we often share the latest
and most useful resources and tips on the use of social media especially for
nonprofits and charities on  <http://www.connectingup.org/blog> our blog and
Twitter account ( <http://www.twitter.com/connectingup> @ConnectingUp), so
we hope that you will consider following us and/or subscribing to our free
newsletter.  You might also want to 'Like' our Facebook Page: Connecting Up
on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/connectingup> . 

- See more at:
http://www.connectingup.org/learn/articles/facebook-101-nonprofits-basic-tip
s-and-guidelines#sthash.wR4vjA34.dpuf

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