Facebook: Part 1: Why and How to Set Up an Account
Why use Facebook at all?
There are 845 million active users on Facebook, giving it the most traffic out of any social media site in the world. So, other than its huge reach, what can Facebook do for your nonprofit?
- Build your brand: create your own unique voice, develop a personality, strategy, and story for your nonprofit, and then be able to share that with current and potential supporters.
- Save money: 58% of businesses see a decrease in marketing costs when they use social marketing.
- Increase search engine optimization: Once you have established a following and others begin to share your content, your website will be more likely to appear in search engine results on sites like Google and Bing.
- Connect directly with supporters: You can reach out to specific supporters, recognize them individually by thanking them for their support, responding to Facebook comments, etc. This builds stronger relationships.
- Fundraise: After you’ve familiarized yourself with social media, you can start to fundraise using Facebook applications. You’ll have the opportunity to reach a new audience and turn social activity into positive change for your mission, enabling your supporters as donors.
Before You Set Up an Account:
Before you actually begin using Facebook, establish some clear goals and create a strategy.
- What is your mission?
- What can your Facebook community do to help with that mission?
- What are you trying to accomplish with Facebook: inform people? find donors? find people to serve?
Be sure to align your Facebook efforts with your goals, and communicate that strategy and goal to everyone in your organization.
How to Set Up an Account:
- Go to the Facebook homepage. Click “Create a Page” under the Sign Up box.
- Choose the page type: either “Company, Organization or Institution” if you are a registered nonprofit, or “Cause or Community”
- Type in the name of your organization. (If you picked “Company, Organization or Institution,” choose a category within that page type: either “Cause” or “Non-Profit Organization,” depending on your preference.)
YAY! Now you’re ready for Part 2: How to Set Up a Page for your next steps!
Other Useful Resources:
Small Act: Facebook 101 for Nonprofits
July 18th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
[...] you already read Part 1: Why and How to Set Up an Account and Part 2: How to Set Up a Page? For must-know Facebook lingo, read Part 4: Important Terms to [...]
July 18th, 2012 at 12:44 pm
[...] Part 1: Why and How to Set Up an Account [...]