I have mixed feelings about Facebook, not only for nonprofits but for business in general. I think that its a great tool for networking with family and friends, but I’ve yet to see true value for businesses.
As an experiment, we set-up a Facebook cause for GoodDogz.org and then ran a campaign for our upcoming Pet Fiesta event. Since we launched the Cause about a year about, we’ve received donations totaling $155. We received $0 through our Pet Fiesta campaign. We list our Facebook Cause on our website, in our NING community, in our e-newsletter, etc. But we’ve yet to get any real traction.
Here’s where I see Facebook being a semi-valuable business tool…
- Networking and keeping up with friends, family and colleagues.
- Providing an additional outlet for feeding your blog, Twitter and other status update feeds.
- Sharing information about upcoming events.
- Sharing news about your business or organization.
Here is a great article from the Washington Post analyzing Facebook as a fund generator for nonprofits. It also compares typical nonprofit fundraising with the success of the Obama Facebook campaign – good stuff…
To Nonprofits Seeking Cash, Facebook App Isn’t So Green
Admittedly, Facebook is a mystery to me in terms of business value. I’d love to hear your take on how you are making Facebook work for your cause or business.
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