More and more nonprofits are using social media – from Facebook to Twitter to YouTube and more. With Facebook so popular among adults now, including those over 50, many of your greatest fans and donors are on Facebook.

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While a Facebook business page offers a lot of potential exposure, it also has some downsides, one of which is that less than 10% (some say that number is as low as 3-5%) of those who like a business page will actually see the posts made on that page.

So, what’s a nonprofit with a possibly limited marketing budget to do?

 

Five Things Nonprofits Can Do For Free on Facebook

  1. Encourage People to Click on “Get Notifications”. Let your donors, staff, and other supporters that it’s important that they not only “like” your business page but that they that if they click on the little triangle to the right of the Like button in order to click on Get Notifications. Only by doing both will they be notified of everything you post on the page. The notifications will appear in their Globe icon.
  2. Form a Closed Facebook Group. Groups are a practical way to share information, including documents and photos, with your supporters. Encourage them to post photos and tag friends to help make your group more interactive and thus more interesting. With a closed group, the outside world knows your group exists, but only members can see the group’s discussions.
  3. Create Events Through Your Facebook Group. By using a group to create an event, the members of the group can easily invite their Facebook friends who are not members. Be sure to adjust the settings for each event – some will be open to the public while others are likely to be for a more limited population – your settings can allow you to determine who can extend invitations to whom.
  4. Like the Business Pages of Related Nonprofits. Doing this is a kind of co-marketing, especially if the nonprofit reciprocates. When a nonprofit likes another organization’s business page, that page shows up in the Pages Liked by this Page listing on the left side of the “liker’s” business page. You can even select up to three pages to feature at the top of this list. It’s a good idea to occasionally alter the order so that different organizations spend time in the top spots.
  5. Share Posts from the Pages of the Nonprofits You’ve Liked. When you enter your page in the “persona” of the name of your page and click on Home, you will see the posts of the business pages your page has liked. By periodically sharing posts from the pages of these closely related nonprofits, you are providing helpful, relevant, and often inspirational information to those who like your nonprofit’s page – and encouraging others to do the same for your page.

 

How About You?

Does your nonprofit have a business page? How do you use Facebook effectively without spending money?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more comfortable using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Twitter.

She works with business owners, business development professionals, leaders of nonprofit organizations, job seekers, retired people, consultants, and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.