Raise Money on Facebook: Four Strategies You Need to Know About

Peter Deitz, Social Actions

When it comes to online fundraising, an obvious tip is to meet your current and potential donors where they are. With 300 million active users, Facebook is a natural starting place. Moreover, the company reports that people who are 35 years and older make up the fastest growing user demographic, which corresponds to the demographic mostly likely to make a donation online.

To help tech-savvy nonprofits make use of Facebook, this brief guide looks at four strategies:

1. Raise Meaning Before Money
2. Money Is Not the Only Metric
3. Your People Are Your Impact
4. Be Specific and Timely

It's Not About You: Lessons From Colorado

Flickr Photo: rakkaI love public speaking.

My husband would swear it's because I love the sound of my own voice, but really, I like it best when I get to hear the questions and comments from the crowd. Truth is, I'm no expert. I learn as much as I share at any speaking opportunity.

Case in point: I spent the beginning of this week in fab-tastic Denver, talking with members of the Colorado Nonprofit Association about -- what else? -- social media.

The funny thing about telling people what they should be doing is how often you notice you aren't following your own best advice. This became patently clear to me in a small group session we did.

Free Nonprofit Tech Webinars and Resources for NTEN Members

Flickr: HowiePoonNTEN has been growing by leaps and bounds over the last few years, in both membership and programming, and we have a few new free sessions you should take advantage of this month:

Effective Fundraising with Facebook Causes

Susan Gordon, Causes

Facebook provides an unprecedented opportunity for nonprofits: 200 million monthly active users, about half of whom are signing in and communicating with their friends on a daily basis, is an organizer's dream.

But can nonprofits fundraise effectively using Causes?

Our top fundraising cause is the Nature Conservancy who has raised $262,984 to date, and we've seen another 15 nonprofits raise over $50,000 so far. Across the platform, users have donated over $9 million in 24 months and our daily donation total is up 10x over the past 12 months.

We're not promising a magic bullet for fundraising. But we have developed some excellent tools that, when combined with your knowledge of fundraising and messaging, can bring in donations from new donors who you have never before reached.

Facebook User Names: On Your Marks, Get Set . . .

In what's being referred to as a modern land grab, Facebook will start allowing it's 200 million users to pick user names for their profiles (and Pages) beginning at Midnight (Eastern Time) this Saturday, June 13th, on a first-come, first-served basis.

There's already quite a bit of hub-bub about this move, with criticism over the process -- and even the decision to provide this feature at all. (Mashable addressed these concerns and posted a poll to gauge opinions.)

Here are some helpful facts: