subject: Nonprofit Fundraising Using Facebook [print this page] The digital age presents an exciting new range of nonprofit resources. With practically the whole world at our fingertips, non-profits can now solicit more volunteers and donations than ever before.
Facebook is a social networking tool accessed by more than 400 million users worldwide. Primarily targeted to the individual, the site is home to more and more businesses and organizations seeking to promote their brand or message, including non-profits targeting causes ranging from the conflict in Darfur to the fights against Breast Cancer and global warming. According to the site, over 30 thousand nonprofits use Facebook.
The process is in some ways simpler than knocking on doors or cold calling. One need only create an account and a description page for the cause, then convince friends, family and acquaintances to "like" the page and support the charity. Once they link the page to their own nonprofit and networking sites, their whole network is tuned in, and with any luck and a noble cause, the many branches of friends of friends, relatives, etc. will reach out and draw in donors.
While social media can provide a relatively unobtrusive means to gather funds with little legwork, some effort is still required to bring results. Facebook is abuzz with innumerable messages and applications vying for the user's attention, so the savvy fundraiser must keep people interested with regular updates and a running donation total.
With reminders, it is important to pick appropriate time intervals to be effective without drowning people in messages. It may be helpful to tailor frequency to the length of the campaign. If a particular quantity of cash is needed within a week, a daily reminder may not be a bad idea as it will only be for a limited time, but if it's closer to six months or a year, daily reminders will fade into the background at best, and at worst irritate and drive away potential donors.
While Facebook users may set up their own page and rely on their extended network to spread word of the cause, there are also third-party applications set up to help with nonprofit marketing, for a fee. Using Causes, fundraisers with a registered U.S. or Canadian charity have access to promotional tools as well as secure online payment options. According to the Causes blog, the application has helped Canadian and American non-profits raise more than $12 million. Similar services are offered by ChipIn, who provide a widget supporters can copy and paste. As a bonus, they provide pages for organizations that wish to use the widget but don't have their own space.
Facebook can be an effective means of raising money for a cause and there are plenty of tools to help with the effort, but regardless of what nonprofit internet strategy you choose, it is important to have a clear message and follow through on any promises, and as with any kind of advertisin
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