Earlier this year, friend of the GIJP Technology Program Debra Askanase guest-blogged on eJewishPhilanthropy about Facebook Pages. Her blog post: The Facebook Page is the New Website stressed the importance of a fresh, engaging Facebook Page for all nonprofits. She went even further, positing that “the place of the nonprofit website will soon fade in importance as social network profiles become your organization’s number one online identity.”

I agree…to a point. As Debra states, your constituents are likely using Facebook. A lot. And the numbers are only growing. Facebook isn’t only for young people anymore. Some are concerned that Facebook will lose its “cool” factor and younger users will leave in droves as more and more parents (and grandparents) get online. But it hasn’t happened yet.

Plus, more and more people are searching for and finding information on Facebook, rather than leaving the site for a traditional search engine like Google. This makes it more important than ever for nonprofits to have a vibrant Page to interact with their constituents on Facebook.

However, the traditional website is far from dead. Websites still play a very important role in disseminating basic information in a simple, easy-to-navigate format. If you are looking for an organization’s phone number, address, or mission, the website is still the easiest place to find that information. For more details about how to get involved by volunteering or donating, the website offers the best format for sharing lots of information.  Traditional websites also offer the easiest way for users to submit information via online forms and download application materials. And, no matter how large Facebook gets, it will never have 100% participation. Some users will want to find out basic information about your organization without signing up for Facebook or figuring out the interface.

Finally, although it doesn’t appear to be on the horizon just yet, Facebook may not always be the social network of choice for the vast majority of users. If/when there is a shift in user habits online, the standard website will be your organization’s “base,” offering simple links to all the organization’s social media presences…wherever they may be.

So go ahead and embrace Facebook. Build a Page and update it regularly. Interact with your Fans.

But make sure you keep your website up to date as well!

Photo by Andrew Feinberg on Flickr

Recently, Facebook updated their Organization Pages to be much more fully featured. These new pages now combine the viral nature of the Personal Profile with the functionality of an Organization Page (thanks to www.thekbuzz.com for that great description of the new Facebook Pages). The key new features of these Pages include:

• Multiple “tabs” for different types of information and customization
• “Status Updates” by the Organization that go directly to Fans’ news feeds (increases the viral nature of the Facebook Page immensely)

These new features alone have forced us to reconsider our past thinking about Facebook Pages vs. Groups for an Organization’s official presence. Now, Facebook Pages are clearly superior to Facebook Groups for engaging with constituents. (For a very detailed comparison of Facebook Groups and Pages, please download the document we’ve prepared on this subject.) That said, if you have a thriving community on a Facebook Group, it may not be worth trying to change to a Page – there is no easy way to do so and you could easily lose some of your constituents in the transfer. Consider the needs of your Organization and constituents before making that decision. Also, grass-roots created Groups on Facebook must not be ignored. These Groups are full of individuals who are excited about your Organization – you must continue to listen to them and engage them where they prefer to congregate on Facebook.

If you decide to implement a Facebook Page (or already have one but aren’t sure how to maximize its effectiveness), this article from Diosa Communications specifies some best practices for managing your Facebook Page. Some highlights from the short article include:

• Allow as much interaction with Fans as possible. Some Organizations are tempted to set up the Page so that Fans can’t post comments or Photos or Wall Posts because of a fear of what they might post. However, to truly take advantage of the interactivity available on Facebook, Fans should be allowed to communicate back to the Organization and with each other on a Page. Of course, the Page must be monitored consistently so that any inappropriate content is removed in a timely manner.
• Include “http://” before any links in your Updates. Otherwise, Fans will have to copy and paste the links to check them out. Make it as easy as possible for them to go where you are directing them!
• Ask questions via your “Status Updates” to engage your Fans. Of course, continuing the conversation when Fans respond is just as important.

Beth Kanter offers a lot more detail about setting up and maintaining a Facebook Page on her blog. She took notes from a recent NTEN Webinar on the subject. Check it out – Beth and NTEN have lots of great tips on nonprofit technology.

In our recent Webinar called Facebook: What Organizations Need to Know, we discussed the differences between Personal Profiles, Groups, and Pages. We also briefly showed how to create a new Page. The presentation and session recording are available on our website.

What issues are you currently confronting with Facebook? Do you have any tips to help maximize the effectiveness of Facebook? Let us know!

Now that many camps are utilizing Facebook to reconnect with their alumni and other constituents, many are asking, “Should I create a Facebook Page or a Facebook Group…or both for my camp?” Lots of nonprofits are asking the same question, so you can find a lot of discussion on this topic online. In particular, I found this blog post on the Why Facebook blog to be useful. In this post, Mari Smith has broken down the pros and cons of Facebook Pages and Groups. In particular, I found these nuggets to be the most useful:

Facebook Groups:

The Good:
- All activity on a group goes into your constituents’ news feeds in Facebook. This is how you stay top of mind with your existing group members and also find new people to join the group. (Edit: Facebook Pages now offer status updates that go into Fans’ newsfeeds – this is much more viral than what the Groups offer.)
- Messages go to the constituents’ Facebook Inboxes

The Bad:
- You cannot add any of the great applications in Facebook to a Group (more on this below)
- If for some reason you don’t want the group any more, it can be tough to delete. Luckily, you can get help from Facebook in turning the group into a page. (Edit: This option is no longer available from Facebook)

Facebook Pages:

The Good:
- Pages are indexed, so search engines like Google can find the page
- You can add applications to your Page to offer additional functionality. For example, you can add the Causes application and show current fundraising campaigns. And Camp Gilboa added a Google Calendar application to show their calendar of events right in their Facebook Page.
- You can work on parts of the Page offline until they are ready to be published.

The Bad:
- Not much activity goes into your constituents’ news feeds; this limits the viral marketing of your Page. (Edit: Pages now offer status updates that go directly to Fans’ news feeds – this is no longer a “bad”.)
- Messages sent out to your “fans” are not found in their Facebook Inboxes (as they are in Groups). Instead, they show up in a less viewed area of Facebook.

The conclusion? Unfortunately, there is no right answer for everyone. Do a little research on both. Figure out what your goals are for the community on Facebook. And then, no matter which you choose, listen to your constituents and interact. That’s the power of these social media tools.

(Edit – with the recent changes on Facebook Pages, we recomend a Page for a nonprofits official presence on Facebook. However, if you have a thriving Group on Facebook, it may not be worth the effort to change. And don’t forget about those grass-roots created Facebook Groups out there – continue engaging those constituents!)

Have you created a Facebook Page, Group, or both? What have you found to work well? Not so well?