Here are a few notes and links to resources that I hope you will find helpful. I encourage you to look up some of your favorite nonprofit organizations on Facebook. If you work for a nonprofit organization, please share how you are using Facebook and what you’ve found works best for your organization.

First of all keep in mind that Facebook is simply one tactic in your overall outreach and engagement strategy. Focus on using social networking sites like Facebook to engage and connect with people first and for fundraising second. Engaging and connecting with people will lead to increased giving and engagement through all channels.

Also, use social media sites as a tool for listening and to better understand what people are saying about your organization and how it impacts their life. Two keys to success with Facebook are frequent updates and being personal and human to forge real connections.

One of the first questions that organizations seem to have when it comes to Facebook is which tools should they use and how should they set up their presence on Facebook. Some organizations have set up their presence the same way as an individual does with a basic Facebook profile. Others are using Facebook pages or groups.

Pages can only be created by official representatives of businesses, bands or organizations. There are also specific applications built for different types of fan pages. The pages are indexed by search engines which is a huge reason to use them. Also with a page people can become “fans” of your organization. As a fan you are showing that you value and appreciate the business or organization but you aren’t giving the organization access to view everything on your own personal profile as you do when you become a “friend” with someone. An organization can also enable multiple administrators to help keep the page up to date.

Groups tend to be more informal and based around specific interests. With groups you can be more viral because everyone in the group can send bulk invites to their friends to join the group or participate in group activities.

I think it makes a lot of sense for organizations to use both pages and groups and to encourage staff and volunteers to use their personal Facebook profiles and friend networks to spread buzz about the organization.

The page would be the place for the official organization presence, link to sign up for the organization email newsletter etc…

Groups could be used for specific purposes and constituencies such as the volunteer group, the junior board group, or a group related to one specific aspect of your organization’s mission.

A couple quick examples — WGBH has a volunteer group as well as a WGBH page and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago has a page as well as a group for people who like attending their First Friday events.

Here are some other articles on the topic that you may find of interest:

Beth Kanter is a go to person when it comes to how nonprofits use social media. Her blog is constantly updated and jam packed with useful information. This article on her blog is very useful on this particular topic.

This article from Searchenginejournal.com has a good explanation of the reasons to use pages versus groups.

Mari Smith offers this great comparison of pages and groups in Facebook

I also found this excellent article about the use of facebook pages and groups in Higher-Ed.