Maximizing Nonprofit Fundraising Efforts Through Facebook

I’ve witnessed quite a bit of change working within the nonprofit professional fundraising sector for over 15 years. Indeed, incorporating online resources into nonprofit fundraising and other campaigns has increased the potential reach of the cause exponentially.

There are many online solutions available to nonprofits that serve to even the playing field so now the smallest charity with the most limited budget can benefit from the same technologies as the larger organizations. I have previously written about some of these online solutions such as CovergeUS, Razoo, Give2gether, Kiva City, Givmo, Startsomegood, Donorschoose, Kopernik, SmallChangeFund and DonationMatch. All of these platforms are simple to launch and manage but nonprofit organizations still need to maintain a solid presence on key social media channels to optimize its overall efforts and improve its cause identity. Today I’m going to share some information to hopefully help with this that I have learned through research, seminars and my own experience launching and maintaining a presence using various social technologies.

Facebook, dubbed as the king of all social media networks by the 3rd Annual Nonprofit Social Network Benchmark Report 2011, has a global reach of over 773 million users, with over 50% logging in on a daily basis.  The report, compiled by the very competent combination of NTEN, Common Knowledge and Blackbaud, also identified that 89% of nonprofits report having a presence on Facebook.

Facebook has dominated the social networking landscape in this revolutionary era that keeps people informed, engaged and ultimately “social”.  The U.S. alone accounts for 155 million of those users and Facebook is growing in popularity across the globe every day.  As a social channel that is available free to both for-profit and non profit organizations, it would be wise for nonprofits to take advantage of all that Facebook has to offer as it’s easily accessible by many across all generations and creates a presence for their cause’s mission and brand by engaging existing and new supporters.

According to The Nonprofit Research Collaborative Report, there has been hesitation on the part of smaller nonprofits to jump on board. The report, which was released earlier this year, indicated smaller nonprofits may not see the value of a presence on social media platforms or may not have access to the necessary resources to dedicate.  However, it’s important that they do not discount this engagement channel completely.

DIOSA Communications, a social networking consultant for nonprofits, lists five key reasons why nonprofits must keep a presence on Facebook and these include:

• Builds a brand within Facebook
• Give ‘Fans’ a forum to interact with your organization and builds a community
• Provides an additional fundraising channel
• Drives traffic to your website, promotes campaigns and builds other social networking communities such as Twitter and LinkedIn
• Improves SEO (search engine optimization) results

Nonprofits are well advised to launch and maintain a presence in social media.  When other online platforms and applications are integrating Facebook into their infrastructure, such as ClickYourSupport, FirstGiving, Network for Good, Broadcause, Just Giving and Common Ground Social, it’s important now more than ever to not be left behind.

Nonprofits must keep a step ahead of the game and remain competitive by establishing and maintaining a strong presence, particularly on the social networks biggest platform that is Facebook. I will continue to explore the many benefits of Facebook tomorrow with my top 10 tips for maximizing your cause identity and nonprofit fundraising efforts on Facebook.

Check out the Non-profits on Facebook resource page.
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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.