Sunday, December 16, 2007

Come See Our FaceBook Page! Become a Fan!

We’ve finally done it. With FaceBook’s recent introduction of Pages, we’ve decided to jump into the Social Networking realm. What is Pages? and why have we jumped on the bandwagon? Two very excellent questions, so let me quickly explain.

First, FaceBook is one of the largest social networking sites around. With over 58 million active users, the site is a hotbed of activity. From interpersonal relationships to establishing brands, advocacy for causes, soliciting donations, and more. Myself and a number of Nonprofit Tech consultants are members of FaceBook, so it makes sense to have FaceBook be a stepping stone. But to really understand the logic behind it, you need the answer to the first question:

What is a Page?
This question is better phrased as, “What are Pages?”, but from our perspective both questions work well. A Page or Pages are a medium to engage FaceBook users with your organization—regardless if you are a nonprofit, educational institution, business, or even just a local group. To quote FaceBook

Every Facebook Page is a unique experience where users can become more deeply connected with your business or brand. Users can express their support by adding themselves as a fan, writing on your Wall, uploading photos, and joining other fans in discussion groups. You can send updates to your fans regularly — or just with special news or offers.

Basically a FaceBook Page is a new method for engaging your core constituency or reaching a brand new audience. It’s a web page, but its NOT a website, so don’t go throwing out the baby with the bathwater (smile). Think of it as an expansion to your house. Your house must still exist, and is hopefully structurally sound. But if those two items are true, then you can add-on, create new rooms, add a patio, a garden, invite some people over for a lawn party. FaceBook is the mechanism to create the lawn party. A place where people can stop by, nibble a bit, interact with you and others, learn more about your organization and hopefully support your cause and become more actively involved.

So now on to question number two&helip;

Why have we jumped on the bandwagon?
We are not unaware, that as we become more actively engaged in helping other nonprofit organizations grow their web audience from hundreds to thousands, and occasionally millions of visitors per week; that we have reduced activity on our own website greatly. It’s not that we aren’t still super enthusiastic about technology and its relation to nonprofit organizations. It’s just that when you have the opportunity to not just state a position, but to make that position a reality and watch how it changes an organization, the staff and volunteers; and your engagement is one on one or one to hundred of people that you can call by name; that sometimes speaking to a couple hundred thousand of people who even though the knowledge is valuable; but the reaction is invisible, that sometimes you lose focus.

The truth is, we are working hard to restructure the website. We’ve got a new logo, a new tagline, and a new backend architecture. We still have to convert content, content, and even more content. We want people to have a great meal when they visit our website. We want you to find the information you need, and be challenged and comforted in to exploring and discovering even more than you had hoped for. But we recognize that sometimes fingerfood is better than no food at all. Hence, the FaceBook page.

Our FaceBook Page is hopefully informative and engaging, but can’t provide nearly as much detail as our website can and will. But it’s up and running at full speed, and we are posting lots of little tasty morsels for you to come feed on. So give us a visit. Become a fan. We’ll keep you engaged until super time.

Visit: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=8825146030

Other Details

Categories: Blogging •News •
Viewed: 18629
Comments: 0
Permalink: http://www.nonprofit-tech.org/index.php/main/article/come_see_our_facebook_page_become_a_fan/

Comments

Sorry, no comments right now.