Six Advanced Facebook Page Strategies for Nonprofit Organizations

Six Advanced Facebook Page Strategies for Nonprofit Organizations: "

Nonprofits that have been using Facebook for a year or more consistently comment “OK… Facebook is great, but how can we take our Facebook Page strategy to the next level?” Below are six advanced Facebook Page strategies in response to that question:

1) Create Customized Tabs.

Advanced strategies requires advanced tech skills. If you know html and have a good graphic designer, then you can use the Static FBML App to create and completely customize Tabs on Facebook Pages. For example, the “Get Involved!” Tab on the Special Olympics of Northern California Facebook Page and the numerous customized Tabs on the Facebook Page of The Humane Society of the United States were created using the Static FBML App.

If you don’t know html and want customized Tabs for your Facebook Page, then you have two options: 1) Pay for a service like Sprout.com or Involver.com. Neither publish their fees online for customized Tabs which usually means they are too expensive for most nonprofits. It doesn’t hurt to ask for a nonprofit discount though. Many of these new services want exposure and buzz. 2) Hire someone who knows html and Facebook, like myself. My fees start at $300 for a Facebook Page with one cusomized Tab using graphics and content from your website.

2) Create a customized Tab for your default Landing Tab.

When you click on Central Michigan University inside of Facebook it goes to a a customized Tab called Unleash the Power. First impressions are important on social media sites, and this page sends a clear message that CMU gets Facebook and is taking it seriously. Compared to other pages by universities of their size, they are definitely doing much better in terms of number of fans. My guess is that this strong first impression is making a significant difference in building their fan base.

Greenpeace International has also set their default Landing Tab to a customized Tab called Take Action. Definitely a best practice, though the Tab could be improved by adding some images and possibly a video. It’s a good start.

Once you have created a customized Tab for your default Landing Tab, simply go into “Settings” on your Facebook Page and under “Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else” select the Tab you want for your default Landing Tab in the pop-down menu.

3) Integrate Facebook “Share” buttons and/or Fan Box Widgets into your “Donate Now” Page(s) and online petitions.

After someone makes a donation on your website or signs an online petition, how about asking them to “Share” with their friends on Facebook that they donated to your organization or signed your petition? At the very least, prompt donors and signatores to become fans. For example, after someone signs the online petition at Forest Ethics’ Do Not Mail campaign, they are then prompted to become a fan of the campaign on Facebook:

The campaign has almost 7,000 fans… a good indicator that this simple strategy works.I would also suggest that nonprofits add a fan box widget to the Web page that thanks online donors for their contribution.

Another possible strategy is adding “Share” buttons to your “Thanks for Signing/Donating” pages. Ideally, the Share post should say something like “I just donated to [Organization Name]!” and then links to your organization’s Facebook Page. The donor gets thumbs up from friends, and your organization hopefully gets some new fans!



4) Incorporate your Facebook Page into your Thank You emails.

Most nonprofits send immediate thank you emails to online donors and signatores of petitions. Make sure to add a simple “Become a fan of [Organization Name] on Facebook!” into your email.

5) Incorporate your Facebook Page into your mobile campaigns.

Ask your text alert subscribers to fan your Facebook Page, but make sure you link to the mobile version of your Facebook Page, such as: m.facebook.com/nonprofitorgs. Also, on your mobile website, make sure you link to the mobile version of your Facebook Page. See www.nonprofitorgs.mobi as an example. Most nonprofits haven’t even begun to think about mobile tech, but mobile Web usage is on track to hit 1 billion+ users in 2010.

6) Incorporate Facebook Connect into your organization’s blog.

If your organization blogs via WordPress.org, there is a Facebook Connect Plugin for WordPress.org Blogs. Facebook Connect allows individuals to post blog comments via their Facebook login. For those with super duper tech skills, you can customize Facebook Connect in order to add it to your website or blog, where useful. I do not know of any nonprofit currently using Facebook Connect, but Mashable has compiled a list of 10 Great Implementations of Facebook Connect. Ironcially, in 2010 your going to see MySpace on that list. They are fully integrating Facebook Connect into their website which is great news for those nonprofits utilizing MySpace.

For a complete audio and visual demonstration of beginner, intermediate and advanced Facebook strategies for nonprofits, please take the How Nonprofit Organizations Can Successfully Use Facebook Pages and YouTube webinar offered by DIOSA Communications (which is me!).

"

Psalm 36: 5,6

God's love is meteoric,
      his loyalty astronomic,
   His purpose titanic,
      his verdicts oceanic.
   Yet in his largeness
      nothing gets lost;
   Not a man, not a mouse,
      slips through the cracks.

Reading this made me feel connected.

November 2009 Weather Summary

November 2009 Summary: "A very warm and dry month with the lowest snowfall ever (possibly, maybe?)

November started out with 6 colder than average days, however that changed when the rest of the month (24 days) all came in warmer than average. Overall it was an amazing 3 degrees above average making it the warmest November since 2001. It was also the most above average month since January of 2008.

It was also the driest month since 2001 with only 34.8 mm of precipitation including a dry stretch that lasted 12 days. Almost all of it came in the form of rain as we only recorded a single day with some trace snow (November 27th).

So now the big question: was this the least amount of snow ever in November for the region? Unfortunately, it is not an easy question to answer as it all depends on how you interpret the trace readings of snow you often get at this time of year. A trace amount of snow is when there is less than 0.5 cm but definitely some on the ground. There have been many years with less than 1 cm of snow in November, for instance in 2006 we only had 0.5 cm.

Looking back in the long term records the last time there was 0 cm of snow was back in 1963. However, the daily records show that there were 6 days with trace snow in 1963 and going back further I was never able to find a year with 0 cm of snow and less than 3 days of trace snow. So using that as a criterion we can say that this November had the least amount of snow of November in the recorded history of the region which goes back to 1914.

The total precipitation for the year (819.5 mm) is very close to the average (830.3 mm). So unless we get less than 15 mm or over 350 mm in December, this year will end up in the average range for precipitation.


Summary for November 2009:
Maximum Temperature 18.0 °C
Minimum Temperature -5.0 °C
Average Daily High Temperature 9.3 °C (Long term average 5.9 °C)
Average Daily Low Temperature 0.9 °C (Long term average -1.6 °C)
Total Precipitation 34.8 mm (Long term average 82.3 mm)

(Long term averages based on 1971-2000 data for the Waterloo Wellington Airport)

Genuine Love

I've been reading on Sojourners site a bit and came across this quote ... and I love it!

Genuine Christian love is forged against the anvil of our selfishness and possessiveness. It is important to remember that love is more than a feeling. It is active and transitive. The real test of my loving is not that I feel loving, but that the other person feels loved by me. Love is what I do to create this sense of feeling cared for.

Morton T. Kelsey
From his book, "Companions on the Inner Way"

Media Hype

About this Video

During 13 days, up to May 6, WHO has confirmed that 25 countries are affected by the Swine flu and 31 persons have died from Swine flu. WHO data indicates that about 60 000 persons died from TB during the same period. By a rough comparison with the number of news reports found by Google news search, Hans Rosling calculates a News/Death ratio and issue an alert for a media hype on Swine flu and a neglect of tuberculosis.

Choose your customers, choose your future

Choose your customers, choose your future: "

Marketers rarely think about choosing customers... like a sailor on shore leave, we're not so picky. Huge mistake.

Your customers define what you make, how you make it, where you sell it, what you charge, who you hire and even how you fund your business. If your customer base changes over time but you fail to make changes in the rest of your organization, stress and failure will follow.

Sell to angry cheapskates and your business will reflect that. On the other hand, when you find great customers, they will eagerly co-create with you. They will engage and invent and spread the word.

It takes vision and guts to turn someone down and focus on a different segment, on people who might be more difficult to sell at first, but will lead you where you want to go over time.

"

I'm here - Jared Redekop

I'm here: "well i made it here safe and sound. funny story though, John, the guy i flew over here with and am living and working with, made friends with an air traffic man for Air Canada. So on our 13 hour flight on Air Canada from Toronto to Japan John and I got to fly first class because John's friend was able to bump us up. it was incredible, such a blessing from God.

I'm living in an apartment that has an amazing view of the city's skyline. I am living with John, Brett and a filipino named Toph. we've split the room into two, the bed room and a multi-purpose room. i would show you some pictures but im having some problems with my camera so when i figure that out i'll put some pictures up. the part of the city i am in doesn't really have any lingering affects from the floods that happened but i heard we might be helping some of those affected soon.

some of my roles have already changed like I have been put in charge of the youth in the church that i thought i would be doing children's ministry. so i guess for a lack of a better word i would be called the youth pastor. the chruch is of about 40 people but still i'm a little nervous. their youth ministries have fallen off recently so i really want to grow their youth again. there is also a day care the church is setting up this coming week from tuesday to friday so i want to help out with that. i will hopefully get involved with more ministries as well.

thanks again for all the prayers, love, and support. May God Bless you"

Jared

Frank's Five Dollars

Our local “Ride for Refugees” is a great event that empowers many churches to get off the sidelines and become involved, raising funds and increasing awareness for the plight of refugees. http://www.rideforrefugees.com/ At our sixth annual event recently, 1,000 people gathered at Creekside Community Church in Waterloo, Ontario.

Over the course of the day I had several conversations with one of these participants, an honorary team member I’ll call "Frank" who lives on a disability pension that leaves him with next to nothing to spare. At times I was busy talking, making introductions and solving little issues as they arose and, well, Frank was constantly there ... a little in the way, really.

After the riders returned from their time on-the-road, had great food and were on their way, Frank found me one more time and looked at me directly and I saw emotion in his face. He placed a rolled up five dollar bill in my hand and said, "Here, this is for the refugees."

I was thrilled with his “widow’s mite.” Within 10 minutes his donation was matched and doubled! I was no longer annoyed. Rather, I was convicted. Seeing “one of the least of these” helping refugees prompted me to repent and change my attitude. “God looks on the heart.”

Words of Anguish

"Confront me with the truth and I'll shut up,
show me where I've gone off the track.
Honest words never hurt anyone,
but what's the point of all this pious bluster?
You pretend to tell me what's wrong with my life,
but treat my words of anguish as so much hot air.
Are people mere things to you?
Are friends just items of profit and loss?

Job 6:25-27 The Message

I've been thinking about this passage of Job quite a bit recently. From my own journey, to those close to me who go through really tough times. Sometimes our words do "belong to the wind", because we speak from our pain. More difficult to deal with however, is the feeling that our words fall on deaf ears and we become less human for a moment.

I am thankful that Jesus hears me whenever I cry out, he hears my groans as clear expressions of a heavy heart. Yes, he does hear and I know that with certainty. But, if I'm fully honest with myself, I still need a person to look into my eyes as they listen to me, and to acknowledge my feelings. Then my humanity is restored and I can journey on and give myself to others in that same kind of 'human listening'.