In addition to having long maintained this blog as a way to share my ideas with the nonprofit community, I’ve also used LinkedIn to keep in touch with my professional network and my Twitter feed as a way to share thoughts and resources that I learn about in between by (usually) weekly blog posts. But I haven’t paid as much attention to my Facebook page, figuring that this is more of a ‘personal’ site and doesn’t specifically relate to my ephilanthropy work. (I’ve also been concerned about the occasional privacy issues that have come up with sites such as Facebook, addressed in a recent Nten webinar.)
But in ignoring Facebook, I’ve made the same mistake as many nonprofits that are beginning to use social networking tools – not going where the constituents are. Facebook is approaching the 500 million user mark, and is expected to go much higher. Clearly, it is fulfilling the need that our supporters have to be connected to each other. I’ve also noticed more of an overlap between personal and professional posts, an issue that my friend Farra Trompeter of Big Duck has often spoken about. While I’m not suggesting that you share details of your personal life for the world to see and comment upon, it is a good idea to show more than one dimension of your personality.
What does this mean for nonprofits? The more you can get to know about your constituents, the better you can develop your relationship. You can find out by analyzing which of your web pages are most popular with Google Analytics, by taking surveys or polls with tools such as SurveyMonkey, or by simply asking what their most important priorities are. You can also learn from listening and by using simple tools such as Google Alerts.
Even if you don’t fully understand why it’s become such a phenomenon, you can’t afford to ignore Facebook. But make sure you review your privacy settings so you understand how your information will be shared. For a detailed description of Facebook’s brief but remarkable history, read David Kirkpatrick’s The Facebook Effect. For help on deciding what to put on Facebook vs. Twitter vs. other social networking sites, see my post earlier this year, What Content to Post in Each Channel.
Addendum 7/15/10 – I will be featured today on Nten’s Facebook page.
