Facebook can be a powerful tool to help service clubs and other volunteer groups. Effective use of Facebook helps grow their membership, enhance the group’s camaraderie, and increase their visibility in the community.

The Facebook business page, groups, and/or events features can all be terrific tools for these kinds of organizations.

 

Facebook Business Page

• The business page serves almost like a “mini-website” in that it has an info section where you can include basic information such as your mission and contact info.
• Photos, videos, and posts on this page can be seen by anyone who checks out the business page. However, it’s worth noting that simply liking a page doesn’t guarantee that the “liker” has seen anything more than the request to like the page. Only a small percentage of people who like the page will see most of the page’s posts. Paying Facebook to boost a post will increase the number of people who see these posts.
• A business page can like another business page, which offers opportunities for “co-marketing.” The service club’s page can like the page of its parent organization as well as the pages of sister organizations.

 

Public Facebook Groups

• A public group is a great tool for member recruitment. This is the case because all the discussions posted in the group are available for public viewing. So, someone finding your public group page can read the posts. They can also comment on the posts and share them.
• People who find the group can view the names and faces of members of the group.

Closed or Secret Facebook Groups

• In a closed or secret group, only the members of the group can see the discussions posted. As with public groups, people who find the group can view the names and faces of members of a close group.
• These types of groups work well when the purpose is for members to communicate easily with fellow members.
• Being part of these groups can help foster camaraderie among group members.
• Members can post photos, videos, and links to activities and entities they believe would be of interest to other members.
• Secret groups differ from closed groups in that they do not come up in Facebook searches. This means only the members know the group exists. These groups can be very effective ways for leaders of a group to privately communicate with each other.

 

Facebook Events

• Service clubs and other kinds of volunteer organizations typically host many events. They can post their fundraising, educational, social, and other kinds of events on Facebook.
• Facebook events are a great way to publicize these events to members and the public.

 

How About You?

Are you part of a service club or other organization that is successfully using Facebook? How are you using it to grow your organization and foster camaraderie among your members?

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 45 and up, become more effective using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter. She provides social media tutoring and training to business owners, business development professionals, authors, speakers, coaches, business consultants, job seekers, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.