And there are decidedly a set of advantages. just take this narrative of how barren the Children used Facebook likes to raise $ 2.4 million for their charity. Or how patty Foley, the Membership Chairperson of Newington Community Television uses Facebook to find fresh volunteers .
Plus, careless of whether or not you think you have time for it, some well-intentioned circuit board penis is surely to come ask you about it if you don ’ t have one .
But don ’ metric ton worry.
I know you don ’ t have clock to deal with that — careless of what Janet thinks .
( If she has so much time, why doesn ’ t she just run it herself ? Sigh. )
indeed, I ’ meter here to show you how to set up your profile, make a mail scheme, and more .
even better, it ’ ll take you less than half a day, so you can promptly stop worrying about likes and get back to more important market questions — like which colour you should use for the screen of your annual report .
In this post, I will cover :
1. Set up Your Nonprofit’s Facebook Page
Time: 1 hour
First things first, let ‘s set up your Facebook page .
here is everything you need to know about setting up a page with everything your fans need to know about you – and everything that will encourage them to support you !
1. Go to Facebook for Business .
Unlike many other platforms, you will create and manage your page through your personal visibility. After you log on, go to Facebook for Business. Hover over the “ Create Ad ” button on the upper right corner and then click on “ Create a page. ”
2. Choose your business classification .
As a nonprofit or arrangement, you will click “ Get Started ” under “ Business or Brand. ”
Your page identify should just be the name of your organization. Next, select the category that most close fits your organization. To select the Nonprofit Organization class for your page, start typing into the Category box and blue-ribbon Nonprofit organization when it appears .
3. Upload a profile picture and cover photo.
many organizations use their logo as its profile movie. You can do so, or use an visualize that depicts the kind of work you do .
For exercise, if you work with animals, you can use a video of an animal, or if you work with mothers, you can use an persona of a mother and child. Using an picture rather of a logo gives your page a more personal feel, and will help your foliate blend in seamlessly with your fan ‘s friend and kin posts on their feed .
When creating a cover photograph, be sure to use optimum dimensions : 315 pixels tall by 851 pixels across-the-board. Keep this image childlike ; do n’t feel like you need to use a lot ( or any text at all ). There are plenty of places in your profile to use writing to share your work and mission .
here are three great ways you can create/use a Facebook streamer to help grow your constitution :
1. Event Promotion
The American Counseling Association changed their cover photograph to include information about an approaching event. immediately everyone who comes to their Facebook Page will know about their conference and the ACA will probably see a boost in event registrants .
2. Membership or Cause Promotion
In this example, canadian Blood Services added a CTA ( call to action ) on their cover photograph, challenging all their Facebook visitors to become a donor. They ’ ve besides included a web site yoke in the effigy, making it easy for person to find out more data .
In a exchangeable way, you can use your breed photograph to ask people to join your constitution and tell them where they can become a member .
3. Member Engagement
QUT Tennis Club used a video of their members for their cover photograph. Besides being a big photograph, this does two more things to help the club :
- The people in the photo will likely share QUT’s Page with their Facebook friends, since photos have a super high interaction rate on Facebook. In turn, this will help boost member engagement with your current followers, especially those in the photo.
- A photo of real members lets potential members know your organization is personable, inviting, and most importantly, that your organization cares about its members.
4. Fill out the About section.
This can be found on the leave side of the page. This is where you can provide all the data your hearing should know about your organization. Be surely to complete the “ Our narrative ” section, which will give your audience insight into your mission and how it all got started .
5. Get Your First Followers
now you have a basic Facebook page set up for your nonprofit organization ! How does that feel ?
But do n’t rest on your laurels just however. It ’ sulfur time to start getting followers who will like your Page ( don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate forget to like the Page yourself ! ) .
Followers who like your Facebook Page will see your photos and posts in their Facebook run whenever you have a new update .
here are four simple things you can do to get more followers :
- Use Facebook search to invite your Facebook friends to like the Page. This is located on the bottom right of your Page. Simply type a friend’s name and click “Invite”. These friends will receive a notification inviting them to like your Page.
- Email your current subscribers and members with a link to your Facebook Page and ask them to like it. You can find the link to your Facebook Page in the URL as shown below. Simple copy and paste this text into an email.
- Add a Facebook link to your website. It’s a good idea to place this link where your contact information is located. The most visually engaging way to do this is to make the link an image of Facebook’s logo, like how it’s shown below.
- Include a Facebook feed on your website’s homepage. That way, all your website visitors can see your updates and like your Facebook Page right from your website. Here’s an example from The Webb Mountain Discover Zone. Simply scroll down their homepage to see their Facebook feed.
If you want to add a Facebook feed onto your website, visit Facebook for Developers, which shows you the steps. However, you may need a little technical expertise to do this.
Note: Webb Mountain Discovery Zone added their Facebook feed using WildApricot’s drag-and-drop website builder made for nonprofits.
now that you have your Facebook page set up and you have some followers, you ‘re fix to post .
( And when you ’ re quick to create a Facebook Group for your nonprofit, check out this post to get prompt ! )
2. Create a Facebook Posting Strategy
Time: 2 hours
As you may already know, haphazard post is not only time-consuming, it won ’ thymine assistant you reach your goals .
If you post regularly, your posts are much more probably to show up on your supporters ’ feeds. They ’ re besides more likely to feel personally invested in your organization if they can follow along with your successes and struggles .
That ’ south why before you start posting, you should create a bare post strategy that includes a design tailored to succeed on Facebook angstrom well as content that supports your efforts .
( This besides gives you a justification NOT to post when other staff members come to you with last-minute requests. You ’ rhenium welcome ! )
If your nonprofit organization is active on other social platforms, such as Instagram, your Facebook strategy should align with your overall social media scheme. Check out these 5 examples of successful nonprofit social media strategies for some inspiration .
What Your Platform Plan Should Include
Start creating your platform plan by understanding what kind of message does well on Facebook. To figure that out, click around and see which posts from other organizations in your niche are getting the most shares and likes, ampere well as seeing what other pages your supporters are probably to follow and what kind of message they ’ re stake .
From there, determine the purpose of your Facebook foliate, the sum of posts you plan to post a week, and your budget, ampere well as the kinds of content you will focus on. Asking these questions can help you create a pass roadmap to a successful Facebook page. finally, Facebook is a social network, therefore indicate how you plan to engage with your fans .
For example, possibly you can manage to post three times a week. Through a bit of inquiry and by looking at your former analytics, you learned that it ’ sulfur challenging to reach people through organic posts, that images with little text do better than those that are text-heavy, and that you are more probably to reach your audiences between the ages of 40 to 64 years previous .
Your platform scheme may look something like this :
Purpose: To communicate with current and likely supporters over the age of 40
Cadence : 3x/week
Paid Spend: $ 25/week
Content: Focus on videos and images. Share node stories, impact, arrangement activities and victories, and behind-the-scene staff features .
Engagement: Tag applicable partners, invite those who like posts to like or follow foliate, respond to all comments and messages within 24 hours
As you can see, this plan doesn ’ t have to be complicated, specially if you don ’ t have much clock time to spend on it .
How to Create a Content Plan
following, you should create contented buckets to guide the kinds of posts you will create. There are a range of media you can use for each bucket, including images, text overlay ( text over pictures ), bare animation/gifs, and television .
here are eight message buckets for you to consider .
- Inspire: Highlight your clients and show affect. Thank your donors frequently .
- Introduce: Feature your staff, circuit board, volunteers, and partners. Show the human side of your organization .
- Inform: Educate your audience on your offspring. Be a go-to informant for news in your sector .
- E ntertain: Post fun and blithe posts, like memes or GIFs, that relate back to your constitution ’ randomness struggles .
- Interact: Ask questions, share surveys, or hold contests .
- Update: Share your administration ’ randomness news, approaching events and activities, and what ’ s going on behind the scenes .
- Call-to-Action: Make a direct ask to donate, volunteer, join your electronic mail list, sign a prayer, or apply for a job opening .
- User-Generated Content: If your donors, volunteers, or the population you serve is creating content about you, all you have to do is reshare it ! Keep an eye out for mentions of your name on social media so that you can capture these great opportunities, or just ask your supporters to share why they love your organization. many people will be felicitous to do so .
We suggest planning out your contentedness anywhere from a workweek or a month in advance. Set a day apart to focus on content plan, universe, and scheduling — which will allow you to then focus on early tasks. You can besides check out some of these great sociable media scheduling tools to help you save clock time throughout the week .
Five Inspiring Posts from Nonprofits on Facebook
Do you need a morsel of inspiration before choosing content buckets ? Check out these posts. many of these will take you five minutes or less to create .
- Host a recurring Facebook Live video. Principal Belinda George of Homer Drive Elementary School reads a bedtime report to her students ( and hundreds of others across the earth ! ) every Tuesday evening for its hebdomadally Tucked In Tuesdays .
- post about a swerve subject, whether on the news program, a vacation, or a national honoring. For exercise, LiveOnNY tied in harmonium contribution into this Halloween post .
- Use inspirational quotes. UNICEF, one of the most popular nonprofit Facebook pages, often posts inspirational quotes from youth across the ball .
- Quiz your followers. World Wildlife Fund engaged with its followers by quizzing them on their wildlife cognition. Do you know the difference between a dolphinfish and a porpoise ? ( I didn ’ thymine before looking at this quiz ! ) You can create posts like this either in Facebook itself using the poll function, or create a web log mail on the subject to which you can then direct your audience .
- Thank your followers. You can thank them for attending an event the follow day, donating, or merely for showing up and interacting with your Facebook page. SHOFCO made a adorable thank you post following # GivingTuesday .
3. Make Facebook Live Videos
Time: no extra time if streaming during events
Videos continue to be one of the most popular and eminent performing media to use on Facebook. While the average date rate for Facebook posts is 3.6 %, video recording posts have a double average engagement rate of 6.13 %. In fact, 60 % of users who watch digital videos do therefore on Facebook, second only to YouTube .
The easiest way to incorporate videos into your posts is to post be video, since they don ’ triiodothyronine want as much script or any edit. You can live current events, plan live-streamed Q & As, or demonstrations.
Hosting a Facebook Live is childlike. here is how you can go live square from your smartphone :
- Go to the ‘create stake ‘ segment of your foliate and click the Live button. If you haven ’ metric ton done so already, give Facebook access to your camera and microphone when prompted .
- Write an interesting description of what will take place in the Live video .
- Click the amobarbital sodium “ Start Live Video ” button to start broadcast .
- Click “ Finish ” when your populate stream is complete .
How to Host a Successful Live Video
Make the most of your live video. Facebook gives these five tips for hosting successful live video .
1. Go live with a strong connection. Ensure your circulate is as clear, high-resolution, and american samoa stable as possible .
2. Engage with your hearing. Facebook prioritizes message that sparks conversations and includes meaningful interactions between real number people. Try these battle methods :
- Say hello to commenters by diagnose and reply to their comments .
- Answer questions on-air .
- Pin big comments to the peak of the chew the fat .
- Encourage event participants to engage with the consultation via the survive comments .
3. Broadcast for more cover periods to reach more people. Facebook prioritizes longer videos ( over three minutes ) that cheer people to continue watching. For bouncy broadcasts, the longer you are alive, the more likely people will discover the video .
4. Tell people ahead of time when you ‘re going to broadcast. Build anticipation by letting people know when you ‘ll be broadcasting alive .
5. Be creative and go Live often. Try different types of broadcasts, and go survive frequently to keep your consultation engaged. You can besides use insights available in the Creator Studio to see what kind of content performs best and optimize your videos to focus on those topics. You can besides switch up your poster clock to see if your audience prefers one time over another .
4. Create Facebook Events
Time: 15 minutes
When planning an consequence for your organization, do n’t forget to include a Facebook event. flush if you ’ ve already sent out an electronic mail blast, the more reminders to your hearing the better ! Plus, since potential attendees ’ friends can see that they ’ ve clicked “ concerned ” or “ Attending ”, you have the chance to reach a larger audience who may not already be following your page .
here are the steps :
- Go to the Facebook Events page, and click the Create Event button at the bottom-left of your screen. Select “ Create Public Event ” from the drop-down menu to make a public, not-invite-only event .
- Select your brand ‘s Facebook page. This will make certain the event is linked to your page so it can be promoted appropriately .
- Complete all of the information on the screen. You can include all of the critical information about your event, including event images and details. When choosing an image, be certain to use a bright and compelling prototype with little to no text .
- Use keywords that will help people discover your consequence, like “ panel, ” “ auction, ” or “ health fairly. ”
- If you have one, add a connect to your adjustment or tag purchase page .
- Add cohosts, like other organizations, committee chairs, or the event space. This ensures they ’ ll get a presentment when the event is created, and will then be prompted to share your event ampere well ( and who doesn ’ thymine love extra promotion ? ) .
- publish and promote your event !
Four Ways to Promote Your Event
- plowshare the event frequently from your Facebook foliate, and pin the post to the circus tent of your page .
- Use other channels, like e-mail and other social media sites, to drive potential attendees there .
- Use the “ Invite ” yellow journalism on your event to invite your arrangement ‘s network and expected guests .
- Consider running an ad to promote your event. Read more about how to do that in this post .
5. Create Facebook Nonprofit Ads
Time: 1 hour
Facebook prioritizes friends and family posts over brands, making it harder and harder for nonprofit Facebook posts to be seen organically .
so, if you have a little budget to spare or experiment with, include boosting posts or running Facebook ads in your Facebook scheme to get more eyes on your capacity ( and thus more likely donors, members, or event attendees ) .
Learning how to create Facebook nonprofit organization ads is an incredible marketing skill to have. For a exhaustive usher on Facebook Ads, check out our free, on-demand webinar “ How to Start Using Facebook Ads to Reach a boastful hearing with a Small Budget “ and visit Hubspot ‘s Facebook Paid Ad Checklist .
For a quick glance at the process, here is an overview of how to create a Facebook Ad .
- Start creating an ad through Facebook ‘s Ads Manager. To create a new campaign, ad located, or ad through the Facebook Ad Manager, choose the type of ad you want to create and click the green “ Create ” button .
-
Select an objective. There are many to choose from, including post awareness, reach, web site traffic, lead generation, and conversions.
For example, if you want your ad to be seen by as many people as possible, you will want to choose reach as an objective. If you ‘re going to direct people to your web site or a blog post, you will indicate web site traffic as your objective .
-
Choose your audience. You will be able to create a especial aim audience for your ad. Facebook provides several targeting options, including localization, old age, gender, languages, relationship, department of education, fiscal, interests, and more.
Creating the right custom hearing will take lots of testing, trial, and error. The longer you create ads, the more successful your target will be .
- Set your budget. You will have the option to set a daily budget or a life budget .
-
Create your ad ! now for the playfulness partially. You will create an ad based on the objective you set. Facebook shared these tips to get the most employment from your ads :
- Use vertical videos, which is how most people use their phones .
- Avoid textbook on images. rather, use the text/headline/link description boxes .
- Keep your text shortstop, clear, and concise to get your message across .
- Add multiple images using the carousel format .
- Ads with movement stand out in the News Feed. Use videos or simple animations. When you make a Stories ad, you can use free templates that automatically animate your ad .
- Use calls to action ( CTA ). CTA buttons draw attention and encourage people to engage with your ad and will help you reach your ad ‘s protest .
- Track your ad ‘s operation. You ‘re not quite done when you publish your ad. Keep an eye on it during the duration of the political campaign indeed that you can make changes on underperforming ads and replicate well-performing ones .
6. Facebook Fundraisers: Are They For Your Nonprofit?
Time: Once approved, 3 minutes
Facebook Fundraisers allow people to create a fundraiser for their darling organizations through Facebook .
The fund-raise platform has been quite the controversy over the past few years. Millions of dollars were raised through Facebook — $ 120 million on 2019 # GivingTuesday alone — but fundraisers struggle with the lack of control and donor data when going this path .
Before you jump into enabling Facebook Fundraisers for your organization, you can check out our full moon usher on the subject hera .
additionally, here are a few pros and cons to consider .
Pros
- It ’ s an excellent crowdfunding opportunity. Your champions will fundraise for you, and your organization will be exposed to their family, friends, and network .
- Facebook charges no fees for donations made to nonprofits .
- It ‘s a great way to engage with new and current fans on Facebook .
Cons
- You wo n’t be able to cultivate an ongoing relationship with donors since you will not receive any donor data. This is the most significant criticism of the chopine fundraising instrument .
- You wo n’t be able to control the images and messaging used in the fundraisers .
- It can take a few weeks to get approval to allow people to create Facebook fundraisers for your constitution .
Facebook Fundraisers are a fantastic way to raise money, but not the best way to build fresh donor relationships. Nonprofit Social Media Strategist Julia Campbell gives solid advice to help you decide if Facebook Fundraisers will work for your arrangement :
“ To determine if nonprofit fund-raise on Facebook will work for your nonprofit organization, always return to your goals. What would you like to achieve by setting up fundraisers on Facebook ? If you want some flying cash for a specific project, then Facebook fund-raise may be the way to go. If you want to build your donor file, and build relationships with your donors, fundraising on Facebook is not the best avenue for long-run donor retentiveness. ”
Enabling Facebook Fundraising
The fund-raise Facebook rules to apply as an organization may take clock, but after that, it ’ mho simpleton .
- Sign up to accept donations on Facebook. To complete this lotion, you will need to provide a bank argument, data on your chief executive officer or Executive Director, and your constitution ‘s tax ID act ( EIN or VAT count ). This work could take two to three weeks .
- once your foliate is approved to accept donations, logarithm in to Facebook, and click “ publish Tools ” in the top menu of your Facebook page .
- Find the Donation Settings under Fundraisers .
- Check the box next to “ allow people to create fundraisers ” and to “ allow people to add donate buttons next to their posts. ”
- Be certain to click Save .
We hope this military post encouraged you to jump on the bandwagon to create and manage a Facebook page for your nonprofit organization.
Within merely a few hours a week, this platform will help you check off many market goals, and will help you reach new audiences that would love to know about the incredible work your organization does .
And best of all ? once you ’ ve done these things, you won ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate have to spend identical much clock managing it going forward — and Janet will stop asking you when it ’ s ultimately going to happen. ( You ’ ra welcome. )
Do you have any other Facebook tips to make nonprofit marketers ’ lives easier ? Let me know in the comments !
