Nonprofit Organizations: Why use Facebook?

If you haven’t seen a use for Facebook for your organization, then you are not alone. Many people view online social networking tools, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Myspace as time-draining distractions.

Facebook also has the potential benefit of having your entire network of friends in the one place, so you can easily announce new activities, campaigns, and events to your constituency without having to email a large group of people – and risking the effects of the spam filter’s black hole.

Facebook can also help you to connect with organizations and people which might not have known about your organization before. As it is an easy venue to plug into an existing audience that has similar interests.

If you have video content, podcasts, interviews, or documents just languishing on your desktop, creating a presence on Facebook provides an easy way to upload these types of media, without spending the time or resources required for updating your own Web site.

The way that Facebook interacts with other social media tools, like Twitter, blogs, and Flickr, can provide a simple interface to consistently and easily update your community of supporters with news of your organization’s activities.

Best of all, using Facebook is free so the cost is only in how much time you and your staff choose to invest. What’s the return on the investment? If not a direct monetary ROI, there will definitely be a marketing return that becomes evident as your network grows.

Creating a fan page on Facebook can also be used to increase your volunteer base and to help your members do the advertising of your organization’s mission for you.

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