[Ed. Note: As you probably know, the Case Foundation, together with Facebook Causes and Parade magazine, is going to award $750,000 to charity. To help illuminate the process and generate discussion and ideas, the NTEN Connect Blog will be posting occasional updates from actual participants in the Challenges. You may want to read Ruby's first post, as well.]

Ruby Sinreich, Fellowship of Reconciliation

First, an update: My attention to Facebook recruiting fell off during the holidays and has not recovered much since. In addition, the realization that we not going to win any prizes has been demotivational. Our cause, "Peace and Justice through Nonviolence", is now up to 81 members and $235 in donations. As Beth Kanter recently pointed out, social networks are often not as effective for fundraising as they are for awareness raising.

This week, I bring you some advice for marketing your cause on Facebook, or anywhere else: Write a personal note!

I often get invitations to causes that I don't understand. What is "Haptic technology?" Who is "Conscious Alliance?" These are both actual causes or groups that I have been asked to join recently -- with no accompanying explanation. Why make me take the time to learn what your issue is before I can decide whether I support you? I already waste too much time on Facebook; I don't really want to get sucked in to yet another thing. I just want to click a button and go. (Yes, I'm lazy. Like most web users.)

In addition, I'm even less likely to give money to a cause I've never heard of: you're going to have to do some education about your mission before I open my wallet.

When inviting people to the Fellowship of Reconciliation's cause, I made sure to add a personal note to every invitation. Since Facebook limits me to just 20 invitations per day, I tried to choose groups of friends with similar interests so that I could write one note that would appeal to the whole group. The recipient can't tell whether you are writing only to them or to a dozen people, so I write it in the first/second person.

As with all communication, the more personally relevant the message, the more successful it tends to be.

In my invitation to anti-war activists, I mentioned our recent peacemaking delegation to Iran. When writing to my African-American friends, I highlighted FOR's historic role in the civil rights movement. And for people younger than 30 or work with youth, I emphasized our Peacemaker Training Institute, which trains young people about nonviolence and counter-recruitment advocacy.

Facebook doesn't offer stats on each invitation, but I have personally recruited over 30 people to our cause so far, and have educated over a hundred more about the Fellowship of Reconciliation. This will prime them for the next time I ask for something.