Hi Rebecca - this is definitely a step NP's should be taking.  As soon as Facebook Pages came available I created one for my local Make Poverty History group for west-end Toronto.  Check it out:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Make-Poverty-History-Etobicoke/10105987380

I'd be honoured if you'd become a 'fan' too ;)

Thanks for all your great posts.

I'd be interested in seeing how Facebook groups vs. business pages work for small nonprofits. My gut is that creating a group would be more personal, but I could be way off. thoughts?

@Michelle, consider me your latest fan! You've done a great job with that page, in selecting useful applications and posting a variety of content that create a sense of community and the impression of an active and vital nonprofit. Well done.

@Morgan, I've been wrestling with that question myself. It would depend in part on the nature of the organization, and what you want to accomplish, don't you think?

There are a few key differences: Groups can only be seen by people with a Facebook account, for example, whereas Pages can be seen by anyone. Also, anyone on FB can set up a Group around any topic, whereas Pages can only be set up by an "official representative" of the nonprofit or business: I suspect this distinction may become increasingly important as time goes along.

A thought just occurred to me: what if an organization were to set up a Page as an introduction/entry point for publicity and recruitment, and then set up various Groups around your current campaigns and initiatives?

Thank you for this; it's something I hadn't thought of before, but I have a page up now (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bilingual-Schooling-for-Tela-Atlantida- BiSTA/22365069971). I recruit teachers and raise the money to fly them to Tela, Honduras to teach, and to pay their wages while they're there.

I'm just getting started with the page--and with the non-profit itself, really, so if you have any suggestions about how to shift into a higher gear, I'd love to hear them. I'm the only person working for the non-profit--owner, president, secretary and everything else, all rolled into one, and for good measure, I stay home and look after our 1 year old girl, too.

The good thing is that I only need to raise about $12-15,000 a year (American), but the bad thing is I don't know the first thing about raising money...

Glad to have been of help to you, Upshur. If there's some topic in particular that interests you, try the Search function at the top of our sidebar to find more information - or feel free to suggest a topic for a future blog post!

The organization I work for, Church World Service, is just getting its feet wet with Web 2. Initially we made a CWS Facebook group, and now we've created a CWS page because of the additional flexibility you have with a page. We are not having much success getting people to migrate from one to the other - any ideas on what has worked for you? We've posted a message on the Group's wall, but don't want to badger people either - Kay

That's an interesting question, Kay... By "migrate" I assume you mean that you'd like to move people over from Group to Page and gradually stop using the Group? Because there's no reason not to use both, I suppose - with closely related content and lots of cross-linking. I guess my first question would be, if your supporters are adhering to Group, why? Why are they reluctant to 'meet' you on the Page instead? I'd think it must be because something about the Group format is working for them... possibly something as simple as familiarity and comfort level, as Pages are quite a new feature and less commonly seen?

Thanks Rebecca, it may be the comfort level, it is really hard to tell. I am new to Facebook myself and luckily we have some Facebook-experienced staff contributing to our pages. If we use both, we need to update both, but that also means more coverage for us as well.  

@ Morgan & Rebecca: Pages, Groups, and now also Causes are becoming more and more popular.  It would be great to see a side-by-side comparison on the three and their utility.

This is a great beginners guide for starting a page, especially to help with the less intuitive part of selecting Non-profit from Brand/Product.  

However, I would love to see this augmented with another article on best practices, guides for content, do's and don'ts - you get the idea.  Obviously every org has different needs and different content, and we want to inspire creativity and new ideas, but, a guide on content would probably help people get the ball rolling and make it seem less daunting a task.

Thanks again for starting the conversation!

@ Rebecca & Kay: One thought on groups vs. pages - from the user-end, a group is a lot less of a committment, many will join groups without even visiting the group page.  

My org - at this point - is not suited for Fb marketing, and I have no idea if you can track readership of Group messages, but if you can, I am very curious what the open rates are.  I, for one, have joined so many groups because I believe in the ideology of the cause, even though I'm not able to be active in all of them.  It's at a point where I hardly open many of the messages, but I wouldn't leave them as I want to show my support for the org's mission.

These are just my 2 cents on why you may not see a portion of the group interested in taking action (even if it's just to visit your page, or to visit your group page and then click a link to the other page).  There is a definite advantage to being able to Invite people to a group - can you Invite people to become fans?

Kevin, wow, you've brought up a lot of "food for thought" here - thanks!  

Your experience of joining Groups to show support for their cause, without necessarily intending to be active in them all, is a very familiar one... and no doubt a lot of people do the same. From time to time, for example, we'll hear a local news story about a small community group which "already has X-number of supporters on Facebook" - clearly used by the news media as a sign of the group's success or popularity. So I wonder, does this mean that joining a Facebook Group is roughly the equivalent of signing a petition?  But no, it's got to be more than that, right? Groups are an on-going avenue of communication for a nonprofit: a way to get a message directly out to people who have opted-in to receive that message...

Clearly there's a lot to think about and explore with Facebook, and it can be overwhelming. But equally clearly, social media / networking is here to stay and can be a powerful tool for nonprofits. Kevin, your suggestions for a side-by-side features comparison and a best practices content guide to help "get the ball rolling" are very helpful: thanks so much for joining in the conversation!

"So I wonder, does this mean that joining a Facebook Group is roughly the equivalent of signing a petition?  But no, it's got to be more than that, right? Groups are an on-going avenue of communication for a nonprofit: a way to get a message directly out to people who have opted-in to receive that message..."

Rebecca, I think this quote is right on.  For some, hopefully many, being in a group is just like being on a listserv - or somewhere between being on a listserv and just signing a petition.  

Hopefully many people do read and stay abreast of the news that the organization provides.  However, there may be quite a few people who don't read all the messages, but they feel connected to the cause.  Like being greeted on the street for a quick signature, there's also less effort required on the user-end, as again, they can be easily invited to join (as opposed to joining after reading an email/Fb message, or visiting a website).

Also, I forgot to mention that in addition to Fan pages, Groups, and Causes, I've heard some chatter about organizations creating their own Fb applications.  I haven't come across any yet, but I'd be interested in seeing an example and also having those included in the comparison as well.

To take the step even rather, I wonder if there's any easy to read/implement guides comparing all of the Fb utilities, as well as Myspace, LinkedIn, and other web 2.0 platforms.  There's just so many, it can be hard for an organization to even know where to start of what will work best for their audience.

Thanks again for creating a dialog and providing resources for organizations looking to get started in Fb organizing/marketing.

I like the 'listserv' analogy, Kevin: it feels like there is a strong parallel there, and it could be argued that anything that keeps people feeling connected to your cause is doing good work even if it goes no further. The thing that makes Facebook an intriguing avenue for nonprofits, of course, is that the potential for greater engagement is build right in - and ever-evolving as new applications are developed. I too would be interested in seeing what apps have been created by organizations - and will certainly be keeping an eye open. I hope you or others will drop a note here if you come across an example! Meanwhile, my list of Facebook-related topics to explore has just grown considerably longer! It is great fun (as well as useful) to share ideas and pool knowledge like this, isn't it? :)

Question: Can you change a person-type page into a business-type page? Some time ago we thought we'd get clever and create a non-profit page before Facebook allowed you to do this. Now there's a great way to do this and I was wondering if I can convert my existing page or if I have to start from scratch.

Hi Giselle: Your original personal profile will be needed as 'web admin' for the Facebook Page for your non-profit - you'll see, if you start to create a Page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php) you'll be prompted to login to Facebook on the second sceen of the process.

I would like to form an organization to promote and preserve the photographic legacy I am creating for my estate.  Perhaps a 'Foundation' is the more appropriate method?

Curtis, you might want to float that question by an estate planner or lawyer: so much depends on your jurisdiction as well as ultimate goals.

Hi there,

My non-profit published a page and all seemed to go well but we've since hit some snags.

There seems to be a great lack of applications designed to work properly on Pages e.g. Justgiving and Flickr. In fact, attempting to install the flickr application caused us lots of problems.

There doesn't seem to be a clear way for non-profits to contact existing supporters on Facebook and let them know about the organization's official Page. You cannot message people, you cannot join groups either.

Social Ads seems to be the only way to do this through Facebook itself, or to connect with supporters offline.

For a non-profit without an 'ad' budget, how is it possible to use Facebook Pages to connect with existing supporters?

We are considering closing our page as we feel so constrained by the lack of options available to us.

Jen, you've hit on a fairly common frustration here, I think. Most of the apps that are used on Facebook are actually developed by someone other than Fb (e.g. Flickr) so it can take a while to catch up when something new - like Pages - are introduced.

As for promoting your Page... Facebook is based on person-to-person connections, so the whole setup reflects that fundamental. Thus, while a Page cannot join a Group, the page Admin (individual) can. Think of Fb in terms of individual supporters of your group reaching out to their friends. When someone becomes a 'fan' of your Page, for example, the icon/link for your Page appears on their personal profile and that is one more "way in" for prospective new supporters.

From what you're saying about your needs, it sounds like it might make sense for your organization to have both a Group and a Page - The more "entry points" to your nonprofit, after all, the more ways there are for people to find you!  

In short, I wouldn't be too quick to abandon your Page: To have it costs you nothing, it is content that can be indexed by search engines, and - this is a big point - it is viewable by people who are not yet members of Facebook.

Rebecca,

Thanks for the reply.

We've struggled to work out how we can engage with individuals and have checked the Page Insider's Guide. It seems the page can only upload content, update fans, purchase ads and create events.

Everything else has to be done by personal accounts, i.e. using staff members' individual online identities.

We searched and their are tons of groups and events set up for our organization by individuals, but contacting those groups and individuals to let them know about our official page... How can we do this without being accused of 'spamming'?

We have decided to keep our page going but are now fully aware of the limitations of the facility, and question its ability to allow genuine 2 way communication between non profit and supporter.

That's how I see it, too, Jen. As it stands, the Facebook Page feature is just not optimized for two-way communication - that's where the Groups come in to perform, whereas Pages act more like a little bulletin board or 'sampler' for your organization. And another way to lead visitors to your main website, one hopes!

I do believe, however, that a Page is worthwile because it is public, while anything else you can do on Facebook is restricted to viewing by Facebook members only.

Different tools for different purposes, like interlocking pieces of the overall web-outreach puzzle?

@ Kay - you can ask Facebook to migrate your org's group members to nonprofit page fans.  My org did it two weeks ago.  Facebook also migrates some of the group content, like wall posts, to the page.

Check out "I have a Facebook Group. Can it be converted into a Page?" at

http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=175

Great tip, Allison - thanks for sharing this!

@Rebecca - Thanks for the info, that's a fab solution. We'll get on it right away!

@Allison - Great tip

Jen, I'm glad that seems like a workable solution for you. Please drop a link here sometime, if you like, and share what you're doing with your organization on Facebook?

Rebecca, I loved the comment you left on Darren's blog! I'm going to quote you when I do a post on engagement. Were you at BlogHer 08? If so, I'm sorry I missed you!

Robyn, thanks: do drop a note when your post goes up - 'engagement'/community is a topic with endless depths to explore, and I look forward to reading your thoughts on it.  No, I didn't get to the BlogHer conference, unfortunately: from all reports, it sounds like it was an exciting idea-exchange.

I’m working to set up a Facebook presence and am torn between starting with a group or a page.  I work for a non-profit center based out of a university.  We want to target students for some things and the general public for others.  The particular issue we have is with events.  We have some for students only and we’d like to restrict those to within our network.  Alternately, we’d like to make everyone aware of the public ones.  Right now it seems as if it  is better to have a group for our campus presence and a page for our regional presence.  I think it would be great if the page could operate like a stand alone account in that it sould be able to create groups (that could belong to a specific network) and events.  People who join would be fans of the page and if they fall into a specific network, they could choose to join that as well.  It is just too tedious to post things twice on disconnected areas and users don’t feel the need to join both a group and a page.  The page should ultimately run (or host) all  groups and events but if the event is created at the group level it wouldn’t be visible by outsiders looking at the page.  If and event is created at the page level, people looking at the page and those with group access could view it.  If anyone knows if this is possible, please let me know.  

I also agree with Jen that the applications are a problem.  We have other organizations that we want to ‘link’ to and if we can’t join their group or be their ‘friend’ we end up posting a link to their website.  That draws people away from Facebook when the org might already have a Fb presence.  I doesn’t make sense to me.  

Any thoughts?

Lauren, off the top of my head, I'm wondering if Facebook is really the ideal place to centre your online activity? A presence, yes - especially for your audience demographi, it's practically a necessity. But there may be better solutions for what you're trying to accomplish...

I'm going to have to give this some more thought - and hope that some of our savvy readers can pitch in with ideas!

As for posting things twice on disconnected areas, RSS may be your friend there?

@ Rachel - First, thanks for starting this topic, I think the people who have posted have all brought up some interesting questions to be asked, or points to be made about Pages.

I work for a non-profit called Tamarack and have created a Page as well. Feel free to visit it at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tamarack-An-Institute-for-Community-Engagement/7782724463.

I think it is very important for those who are just starting a Page to determine the language and the message that they want to use. An organization may be involved in many complex issues and have a variety of things to offer, but FB isn't the place to go into detail about this. Keep it simple, finding an overall focus or theme about the organization is key to forming a presence on Facebook!

@ Lauren - I think your idea of a stand-alone page is great. It would definitely benefit larger organizations who have smaller and different networks to adhere to.

Your current issue is one that is tough to work around and I don't think there is one solid solution for you given what Facebook currently provides. The other option would be to have a website where you can manage your events the way you want it. But you lose the direct promotion you would get from using Facebook.

Perhaps the hassle of managing two different groups/pages on FB is worth it for the promotion... or until your stand-alone idea is realized.

I developed other pages under my personal profile and would like to delete those in favour of having just my NP page - but I can't seem to find a delete page button anywhere? I have also cleaned up my personal profile image and changed the privacy buttons so that only my "friends" can see my profile or my "friends" to avoid any misunderstanding or embarrassment as a representative of my org :)

Hi Rebecca--We've just set up a page for Ahimsa House, dedicated to helping the human and animal victims of domestic violence reach safety together. Our page is at http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Ahimsa-House/21828713403 ...your directions were very easy to follow, and I thank you for addressing this topic in your blog!

My question is similar to Janelle's--how do you keep your own personal profile separate from your NP page? My association doesn't want to set up a general page yet; we just want to set up a fan club page for a certain public health initiative. I am the one who will be creating/managing the page but I don't want it associated with my personal page--or with any one individual. Is it possible to create a new facebook account with just webmaster as the owner?

This is the initiative we want to promote: http://www.listentoyourbuds.com . We want to build a FB page that showcases the campaign and also to serve as the platform for housing information/videos about an upcoming series of concerts that will benefit this cause. I did set up a page on MySpace www.myspace.com/listentoyourbuds but it just looks too commercial and I'm finding it next to impossible to add music (you can apparently only add songs from their featured artists and can't upload your own mp3s?) and video. I just think FB might be a bit more professional and easier to manage as far as the content we want to promote.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

@Janelle, what you'd have to do is remove yourself as a fan of those pages. Login to your account and go to each page that you don't want to be associated with anymore, and look for the link way down at the bottom of the page that says "Remove me from fans". Click it, and that will keep the page from showing on your Profile.

@Maggie, that solution should work for you, too, I believe - if I'm understanding your situation clearly. To make changes to the page, there has to be *someone* who's profile is associated with it, but you can certainly remove yourself from showing as a fan; that will stop the page from being listed on your profile at all, however, which may or may not be what you want?

@Maya, you've made a good-looking page there! So glad that you found this information helpful in setting it up. :)

Thanks Rebecca--I created our page. Now I we just need to get some information to add! ;)

Good to hear, Maggie! As for adding information to your page, now that you've got it set up... Facebook Applications for Your Non-Profit Page might give you a few ideas.

Thanks Rebecca--I appreciate it!

Maggie, when you're ready to go public, will you drop a link so we can have a look at your page? -- it's a great way to learn, seeing what others are doing!

Facebook is fast becoming a popular way to publicize an organization's event, invite guests, and track who plans to attend. Facebook Events may be just what your group needs -- but could you be shutting out some of the people who might support your event?

We’ve talked before about how nonprofits are using Facebook to connect with their supporters online,

Hi.  I just created a Facebook page for my organization but I wish I had found this page first!  I've only been on Facebook for a few weeks but I read as much as I could find about creating a Page before setting one up.  Still, I apparently made a big mistake and could not find where to say we were a "non-profit."  I selected "other" and know we are listed as a business.  Is there any way to edit this status to non-profit without deleting the whole page and starting over again?? (I can't find a way but hopefully you know of one)  I've spend hours uploading events and photos and would hate to have to start over but will if I need to.   Thanks for any tips!!

Mary, I'm so sorry to tell you this -- but no, at present there is no way to change the category of your Facebook Page. You will need to delete the Page and start over, just as you thought.  (Let's hope that this will change in future: I suspect that the ability to change Page categories would be a popular feature!)

Thanks Rebecca - I did delete the page and start over.  Just an hour or so of wasted time but it could've been a lot worse.

Now, I'm having a problem loading photos.  When I go to create and album and load photos, FB wants me to download a "plug-in," which I did but still can't upload a photo.  Does anyone know anything about this or something I'm simply doing wrong.  I feel like I'm pretty tech savy but there are so many little glitches with FB.  ??

This blog has been very interesting to read and very helpful.  Thank you!

Mary, I haven't forgotten your question - still looking for an answer, but I haven't yet been able to replicate that photo-upload error.

Glitches with Facebook... yes. I just spent 10 minutes trying to figure out how to remove an application! Not always "user friendly," we might say! Combined with what seems to be a fairly strong resistance (especially among long-time users) to the "new Facebook" interface, and the many competing social networks that are popping up daily, it will be interesting to see how Fb responds to hold onto its share and keep its members happy.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I couldn't figure out where the "nonprofit" selection was hiding. You are a live saver!

Taryn

This is an incredibly helpful post and discussion thread! I've been looking for a good banter on Pages v. Groups for some time, and am excited to find so many suggestions. Our NPO has a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chicago-Metro-AEYC/20601499889">fan page</a>, but we're weighing the benefits of incorporating groups (our own and others). Is there any way for a fan page to have a presence in groups (i.e., include in a Favorites app, invite to become fans, etc.)?

Thank you very much for this article, I couldn't find the link to set up a non-profit Facebook account.

Love your blog! Keep up the good work!

Thijs

If you have set up a NFP on facebook - can it also be a cause so that you can donate?

Meagan, a registered US or Canadian charity can use the Causes application on Facebook. You can read more about it here:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/about

Meagan, here's another useful link for you:

http://www.facebook.com/help/question.php?id=53603

Aaron Palmore responds to the question of whether it's better for a nonprofit to set up a Page or a Cause, and lays out why (and how) he advises to do both.

I know I'm way late for this conversation, but I've found the discussion useful in researching the best way for my organization to develop a Facebook presence.  What I still haven't figured out is how to decide who in the organization creates the page because it will forever be linked to his/her personal account.  I know this info is not publicly shown, but the connection can pose a problem in the nonprofit world where there is a fair amount of staff turnover.  We thought about signing up as a "person" using our organization's general e-mail address, etc...but that seems like bending the Facebook rules.  We like the advantages of the Page option, especially the reporting capabilities, but are tentative about having it linked to a person.  Any thoughts on how to get around this?  We want to keep our Facebook roll out pretty simple and focused, so I'd rather there not be a personal profile AND a group AND a page out there.

Great ideas.

Nicole, that's a tricky question - and I think it's a real flaw in how Facebook works for nonprofits where, as you say, there tends to be a lot of staff turnover (not to mention the challenges for volunteer-run organizations).

Unfortunately, Facebook's Terms of Use specifically say that you are not allowed to "register for more than one User account, register for a User account on behalf of an individual other than yourself, or register for a User account on behalf of any group or entity" -- so that pretty much rules out signing up your organization for an account.

Sorry, until Facebook changes its rules, it will have to be an individual from within the organization who sets up the Page, but per the FAQ, at least they can bring in others as Admins to help out:

"Only the official representative of an artist, business, or brand may create a Facebook Page. Additionally, the authorized representatives may choose to permit their colleagues or employees to help manage their Page. Each Page Admin will have the ability to build and update their pages from their respective user accounts. The initial Page creator reserves the right to add or remove other Page Admins at his or her discretion. "

Sorry not to have better news for you!

This is a great discussion!  Sorry I'm stumbling across it just now.  I wanted to share our Facebook Page as one example --

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Atlanta-GA/The-Wrens-Nest/9762659068?ref=ts

The Wren's Nest is an historic house museum in Atlanta that deals with stories and storytelling.  For us, a Page works much better than a group or a cause because the layout is more flexible and allows for different media.  Plus we're more interested in supplementing our website than raising money via Facebook.

Nice looking Facebook Page, Lain, with inspiration for how another org might use a Page  - thanks for sharing it!

Hello Rebecca,

I have just run into an interesting issue.  I recently created a page for our nonprofit organization.  Within two days of the creation, I was locked out of the account and could no longer access the page.  

After two weeks of attempting to reach Facebook support, I finally received a response in which they stated:

"Facebook profiles are meant to represent a single individual.  Groups, clubs, businesses and other types of organizations are not permitted to maintain an account.  We apologize for the inconvenience, but you will no longer be able to use this account.  This decision is final.

If you would like to use Facebook to represent your organization, we offer a Groups application.  Facebook Groups allow users with common interests to come together to express objectives, discuss issues, post photos, etc.  If you have a personal Facebook account, you can create a group from the top of the Groups page.

You can also create a Facebook Page, which allows you to to share information, interact with fans, and create a highly engaging presence plugged into Facebook's social graph. I have forwarded this message to the appropriate advertising support team, and they should be in touch with you soon about setting up a page for your business.

Thanks for understanding,

Madeline

User Operations

Facebook

Facebook is a tool we really need to be using to reach our target demographic and I want to make sure we have at least an informational presence there, and I am confused with how we violated their terms of use.

Hi Rebecca--

I am an avid Facebook user, and spend way too much time on it :-)  But because of this, when the community choir that I'm a part of was recently discussing how to "get the word out" without having to pay exorbitant advertising fees for our concerts, open auditions, etc. I   thought, "we should have a presence on Facebook!"  

Then I started looking at the fine print for setting up a new profile, and noticed that only individuals can have profile pages.  So after getting lost in more fine print, I decided to do an online search and found your site---thank you!  

Now I'm in the process of setting up a page, and am not sure which page category best fits us...We don't have 503 (c) status, so we're not a non-profit/charity.  I'm thinking organizations, because musicians seems like it's more for bands, or recording artists.

Any suggestions?  I've also enjoyed reading all the comments regarding groups vs. pages--they've been very helpful.

Thanks, Kristin

Justin, I hear your frustration!  Unfortunately, that's one of the basic restrictions of Facebook -- only an individual can set up a profile (Facebook account). That means, in order to set up a Page or Group for your organization, there has to be one individual whose personal profile serves as "admin" for the organization's Page.

In fact, it's a topic that's come up more than once in discussions on our posts about nonprofits using Facebook... clearly an area that could stand some clarification on the signup page, rather than deep in the TOS!

As I mentioned to Nicole, above, Facebook's Terms of Use do specifically say that you are not allowed to "register for more than one User account, register for a User account on behalf of an individual other than yourself, or register for a User account on behalf of any group or entity..."  and therein,perhaps, lies the root of your problem?

Kristin, I can't speak for Facebook of course -- and to be on the safe side, I'd suggest dashing off an email to Facebook support with your question -- but here's my personal opinion (for what it's worth):  

If your organization operates on a not-for-profit basis (i.e., any surplus is kept within the organization and not disbursed to shareholders, etc.) then I can't see why you wouldn't be able to list as a nonprofit in the Facebook Pages directory, even without having that registered status.

And here's the thinking behind that opinion:

503(c) / 501(c)(3) status just means that the organization has been granted federal tax-exempt status in the United States -- it doesn't define "nonprofit" per se, or hold sway in other countries. (Have a look at the Duhaime.org legal dictionary's definition of non-profit for some fairly easy-to-digest information from various jurisdictions in the USA and elsewhere in the world.)

If US federal tax-exempt status were a requirement for listing as a Nonprofit in Facebook, then only those registered American orgs would be represented in the Nonprofit category of Pages, and that seems not to be the case -- organizations from all over the world, of various types and sizes, are well represented in Facebook Pages. And I haven't been able to find anything in Facebook's Terms of Service to suggest that there is this restriction. 

On the contrary, in fact, Facebook's TOS section called Additional Terms Applicable to Facebook Pages says this -- "Facebook does not review Facebook Pages to determine if they were created by an appropriate party, and is not responsible for any unauthorized Facebook Pages that may appear on the Site." -- which would tend to suggest that they are not all that invested in confirming the US tax status of organizations with a Page in the Nonprofits category.

And, as I say, I haven't been able to find any reference to US tax-exempt status or nonprofit registration at all, anywhere else in the TOS at Facebook.

If anyone else has information on this issue, however, please do share it -- with all that "fine print" in the Terms of Service, it's quite possible to have missed something!  

Much thanks for the quick response.  It looks as if I'll have to go the personal account route and create the page from there.

It does strike me as odd that Facebook doesn't have a more pragmatic or direct solution for this, but it's tough to throw stones at a house someone is giving you for free.

Rebecca, thanks for the good info (again!).  I'm still a little confused about the whole "can someone who has an individual profile be the admin for a Facebook page" thing, but I think I'll ask them that directly.  Maybe I'll make their FAQ page :-)

Justin & Kristin, strange but true, this much is clear -- the only way to set up an account on Facebook (as of this writing) is to do so as an individual. Then, that individual can set up a Facebook Page for the organization. Every Page must have an individual (who is, personally, a Facebook member) as the admin. You cannot register an organization for a Facebook account/profile; it has to be an individual.

Kristin, I've been doing some more looking into the question of whether an org needs to have tax-exempt status in order to have a Page in the Nonprofits category, but no luck so far -- it does look like that's one question you'll have to pose to support @ Facebook directly. Do keep us posted!

I set up a group a couple months ago before I realized that a N/P organization could have its own page.  When I did the page for our ministry, there was no place where it was required to give N/P status or specific N/P numbers.  I would assume it's on an honor system.  I also noticed there were some organizations listed in the N/P search that wouldn't qualify--mainly people messing around.  

I just requested Facebook to transfer our Group to our Page. Received a confirmation that they received my request. Hope it doesn't take too long. I want to see the org Page and use it to disseminate information about upcoming events and deadlines.

Thanks for the good information here. I've bookmarked Wild Apricot for future reference.

Rebecca your site is so helpful!  I set up a non-profit page for the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota, and after doing so realized that a well-meaning volunteer (we don't know who) set one up a while ago too.  Not sure there's a way to let that person know that the one I set up is the "official one"?

More importantly, no one seems to be able to find ours in searches, do you know why that would be?  Is it because it's under my personal profile?  I only seem to be able to invite/share, but board members doing a search aren't finding us...

Last but not least, where do I get the graphic from FB to put on our org's website, saying, "Find Us On Facebook"?

Hi Sandra, what a complication! I see what you mean: searching for "Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota" on Facebook itself does turn up two different Pages, and it stands to reason that search engines will "count" the one that was established first - even though it has no real content.

As for letting the founder of the duplicate Page know that you've now set up an "official" version... it's probable that he/she is listed among its fans, but it's a guessing game... and no easy way to make contact, other than posting a public message on the page, which is something you probably don't want to do.

In this case, I'd be inclined to contact Facebook support and see if they can put you in touch with the person, or at least relay a message.

Ideally, there should be some resolution that brings the two pages together - as it seems clear that the volunteer who made the other WRC page was doing so with good intentions.

Your other question was about getting a "Find Us On Facebook" badge for your site... Here's how to do it:

Go to your Page and click the Edit Page link in the top right, then the Communications link in the sidebar of the next page. You'll be looking for "Promotion Guidelines" in the Communications section -- it's a page with the detailed instructions you'll need, and the "Find Us On Facebook" badge graphic for you to download to use on your website.

Hope this helps!

I have a client that is a Non-profit organization that is looking to set up a page on Facebook. I would be the one actually setting up the page. I am putting together an estimate and am trying to figure out how long (many hours)this will take me. I need to set up the page and include the following applications: (wall, discussion board, events, merchandise, causes, video, photos, and events) I am also looking for the specific steps to set up each application. I am not web-savy and am not sure if there are alot of technical aspects involved? Please help!

Any advice on the top apps to add to a Fan Page?

For example, I'd like a little distinctive headline on posts on the wall, not just plain ol' copy. But any others that are useful would also be great to know about. Thanks!

That's a pretty hefty question, Darcy! I think the best advice I could give is to set up a test page at Facebook and see how it works, add an application and time the process, and do the math from there. It's risky to try to estimate time for you - especially where you want this as a basis for a price to give your client - because it will vary widely.

I can tell you that one application takes pretty much the same amount of time as any other to install, but it's the addition of content that makes a difference, as well as each user's own intuitive ability to find their way around Facebook, which can be a bit confusing until you get the hang of how it's organized.

And remember, too, that once the Page has been set up, it will still need to be maintained: new content added to keep it fresh, and interaction with fans on the Wall, and so on. That will be the largest time investment.

Eddie, I'm not quite sure what you're after, but have a look at the Applications that turn up when you use HTML as a search term there may be something there that fits your needs... although styling is not something that Facebook is famous for, and one does need to be very careful about security issues if choosing to use non-Facebook apps.

Rebecca,

Your blog is very useful! I found lots of valuable info about Page vs. group. Now, I am still undecided between setting up a group vs. jus setting up a personal facebook account for my organization. I've seen some groups do that and they seem to have lots of "friends". Can you comment on the advantages and disadvantages of setting up a Facebook presence this way?

Hi Martha, there are three separate things here: Page, Group, and Personal Profile. It's against Facebook's terms of service to set up a Personal Profile for a group - that's just for individuals - so at least that narrows your choices to two! Advantages & disadvantages will depend in large part on how your group plans to use Facebook - and how many of your existing supporters are regular Facebook users. Can you give more details?

What kind of actions will you want to come out of this use of social media, for example?

That's a huge question - because social-media "friends" are just numbers, unless it results in some kind of action: membership, donations, event attendance, petition signing, volunteer hours put in, whatever... So you reallyl need to think about how you're going to convert those Facebook friends into real-world supporters. That's first; then you'll have a clearer idea of what sort of tools you'll be best off to use.

Thank you Rebecca. OK, so now I have narrowed it down to Pages and groups :)

You asked "What kind of actions will you want to come out of this use of social media, for example? "

I'll tell you more about us: we are a community library (part of a larger library system). THe System has already a PAGE but my branch would like to have a smaller and more community focused presence on facebook that will be linked to the larger organization's page.

My main goal are

-to collect people's feedback on our services. I want to be able to post questions and get answers but ALSO I want to give people the opportunity to ASK questions and to start discussions themselves.

-To promote our services and facilities (e.g. by posting photos of our new facilities, using existing applications that generate "buzz"around our services (e.g. weRead).

-To build an online community by getting people to meet other people, promote their community activities, their interests, advertise events that are relevant to the library and the community.

My problem with groups is that they seemed to get "buried" in facebook ...updates don't show up prominently in people's feed so people might join the group but then they might never visit the group again.

My problem with Page is that, even the wording they use (fans vs friends), it's more like branding than community building. Hope this makes sense!

One last thing I forgot to mention:

Whereas in Gorups, people can tag your photos ... can you allow tagging in photos posted in Pages? (Tagging is quite big for users as a means to share and find info).

Yes, you can tag photos in Pages, too.

Martha, in theory you can have both a Group and a Page - but I'd be concerned about diluting the attention and spreading the conversation across two places. Before trying to decide between Group and/or Page, however, you might give some thought to whether you really want to make Facebook the "hub" of your online community. Is Facebook the social-networking site where the majority of your library patrons are already gathering?

Martha, here's a follow-up thought:  

I'm an advocate of the "blog and outposts" model for social media strategy -- where you set up a profile (or Page or Group or whatever) on the social networking sites where various parts of your audience tend to congregate. These are part of your outreach, with the aim of drawing people in to your own blog or website, where a higher level of engagement is possible. (Your own forum, for example!) Reading over your goals for your library on Facebook, I wonder if one reason you're having trouble to choose between Group and Page is that neither one of these is ideally suited for the kind of active community you want to build, especially for quite a broad constituency like yours. Your thoughts?

I've got a page set up but I want a 'Take Action' box on the main page where I can put a bit of text and then a link or something where people can join our mailing list. Greenpeace seem to have something like that on their site. Any ideas as to how to set this up?

This blog is the best I've seen for FB... thanks for all your hard work.  

I recently set up a fan page for my Sweet Adeline Chorus.  It was intended to be a presence on the web, where we could send out notices of upcoming events and performances.  I thought it would be a nice touch to occassionally post a note to someone wishing them a happy birthday from our chorus, but have noticed that the note comes across as being from my personal page, not the fan page.  

Is this because I set up a fan page, not a groups page?  Is there a way around this?

Wendy, source code indicates that the Take Action box on the Greenpeace was created with the Static FBML 3 application http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=6009294086

Tina, a Page will let you have a public presence on the web, because search engines and non-FB users can see it. On the other hand, a Group will let you send messages to members from the Group, not from the individual administrator.

Many organizations end up having both, because neither solutions fills all its needs, but then you've got your audience divided between two places - which is why I keep harping on the "blog and outposts" model:

To me, it makes good sense to locate the heart of your online community on your own website (that could even be just a free blog space, if you literally have no budget at all), and use Facebook almost as an interactive business card, a way to reach those people who are already hanging out on FB, to invite them back to your place where all the good stuff happens!

Can anyone tell me how to change a network on a Facebook group?

Aileen, it would seem that it is not possible to change the network you've associated with your Facebook group, once it's set up.

See: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=2361831622&topic=9549 and http://www.facebook.com/help/question.php?id=807

For more information about Pages, see also "Facebook Profiles and Pages and Groups, oh my!"

I'm sorry, but this blog did not help me to understand how to set up a facebook page for non-profits. You must have left out a step...do I need to have a personal account set up first?  It seems like a waste of time.

Thanks!

That's right, Roger: you need to set up an account at Facebook in order to use the site's features -- including setting up a Page. As mentioned in the post, "Your personal account is the regular user account that you log into when you sign in to Facebook, and this is the account you use to manage your Facebook Page."

You may find it helpful to start with our earlier post, A Beginners Guide to Facebook for Nonprofits.

What people really want to do is create a Causes page.

Tim, that's interesting: Can you share more about why you'd see Causes and Pages as an "Either/Or" situation, rather than two different tools that a nonprofit might use for different purposes?  

Why aren't my group members notified when I make a change to the group facebook page?  I update my "recent news", but no one sees it unless they log into the page (which they don't do).

What can be done when someone who is not an official representative of a non-profit has created a page for that non-profit?

@Trish, to the best of my knowledge that is not a feature of Facebook Groups. Administrators of Pages or Groups can send messages to their Page fans or Group members, however.

@Carey, your only real recourse is to contact Facebook support and ask them to remove the "unofficial" Page.

This goes along with Rebecca's post on Dec. 17th.  With staff turnover, I am curious if I can change the page admin?  If I create a page and add other admins, at some point could I remove myself and make another admin the primary page admin?  In other words, keep the page up, but I would no longer be associated with it.

Sorry, I meant Nicole's post. :)

That's it, Ashleigh, yes - and having more than one admin is a really good idea, in any case.

I took the plunge and tried to set up a FB page - right away I ran into a problem :(  I have uploaded a profile image in several sizes and formats and every time it gets messed up.  The quality of the image is severely downgraded.  The original image is less than 4MB.  I've tried gif, jpg, tif and bmp formats and various sizes.  It can't be this difficult!?!  What am I missing?

OK, I figured out the problem and wanted to share in case this info is helpful to anyone else.  The logo that was given to me was in cmyk format, most of the graphics I work with are in rgb, so I didn't even think to check this. Once I converted the logo graphic to cmyk, all was well. Facebook did bad things to the cmyk formatted graphics - even though they were saved as .gif, tif, bmp, jpg, and looked fine on my local computer. This little tidbit of information could save hours of troubleshooting.

CJ, thanks so much for taking the time to share what you've learned - that information certainly could save someone else a great deal of time and frustation!

I was wondering what is the difference between having a "group" and a "fan page". What are the pros and cons to each one? Also, does the group/page need to be connected to my profile?

Esther, that's covered in our post called Facebook Profiles and Pages and Groups, oh my!  - and you can see all of our posts tagged as dealing with Facebook by clicking on the word "Facebook" in the "tag cloud" in the sidebar, or visit http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/archive/tags/Facebook/default.aspx

Hope this helps!

Can anyone tell me if people other than the page admin. can post pictures on the non-profit facebook site? I would like members of my organization to be able to post pictures on my organization's facebook site.  

Also, how do you notify friends about an upcoming event without making them visit your website?

Jackie, have a look at this page in Facebook's Help section: http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=175 - I think it will answer most of your questions.

Do I need to be friends with someone in order to invite them to join my group or become a fan of my page?

Esther, no, you can also invite people by email - but if they're not Facebook members, they would have to join it to interact with your Group or Page.

For more information, see these Facebook Help sections:

• Help for Facebook Pages http://www.facebook.com/help.php?topic=pages
• Help for Facebook Groups http://www.facebook.com/help.php?topic=groups
  

This a great discussion! I'm so glad to see that it's ongoing and helping so many individuals/organizations.

I am researching making a Cause page for the nonprofit I volunteer with.  I was wondering if you (or any of your readers) knew of any guidelines that places use to post their information on Facebook? It would be greatly beneficial to share!

Kara, I'm not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for... but our post on Creating a Social Media Policy for Your Nonprofit may be helpful to get you started on setting up Facebook-posting guidelines. 

I have went in to log on to facebook under my name for our agency Safe Haven, Inc.  I then went in to create a page for our nonprofit agency.  When you accept friends how do they see all the information about our agency as it does not appear as my main page.  Does this make sense?  Also how do I find the page I created for our agency.  This is frustrating.

I have never used Facebook or any other social networking sites before today, and found your tutorial a great help in getting started. I successfully created a page for our non-profit organisation today; all was going well until I found I could upload photos but I couldn't see them. In the place where you create an album I left the location and description fields blank, because I didn't know what to put there. It said I had uploaded the photos successfully, but you can't actually see them. Are you supposed to use a photo hosting service such as photobucket? I've checked all the FAQs but have no idea what's wrong, and have been going round in circles, it's very frustrating. Also, I don't understand why the page isn't showing up in a Google search, as I read on here that pages can be viewed by non Facebook members. I've checked my Firefox settings, and Java updates and asked a computer technician who thinks it could be a bug, but I'm not sure if it's something I've done wrong as I'm no techie. The page can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/editphoto.php?aid=226472&id=149048065296#/pages/North-East-Vegan-Gathering/149048065296. If anyone could help me with this I'd be very grateful as I've spent ages trying to fix it, thanks.      

@Carla, I'm sorry, I don't quite understand your situation. Can you clarify at all?

@Frances, you don't have to use a photo hosting service - photographs are uploaded to Facebook itself. Sounds to me like some kind of bug in the system, as your technician surmised. My inclination would be to check that your images are in a valid format, and if that still doesn't work, to try again later.

As for why your page isn't showing up in a Google search - since you only just set it up today, the odds are that it hasn't yet been indexed by Google.

I created our iMentor Interactive page a while ago, and now I see that there is a way to be listed under Non - Profit category under Updates section. I think it has something to do with the Category section that you write about in your note. However, is there a way to get back to this section so I can list my page as a Non-Profit? I'm trying to look for it under Edit my Page setting, but I cannot find it. Thank you!

Zulay, sorry, no, even with the site redesign, Facebook seems not to have added the ability to change categories after the setup. You will still have to set up a new page and then delete your old one.

Note: Since this post was written, in June 2008, some of the rules and procedures at Facebook have changed - as is bound to happen. One of the most significant (and I believe very positive) changes is to how Facebook Fan Pages are structured. While most of the information here still applies, Facebook Pages are now much more interactive and useful, patterned more on the way that the personal Profiles have worked all along. (You're going to like this!)

Please check out http://www.wildapricot.com/blogs/newsblog/archive/2009/03/09/facebook-new-public-profile-pages-good-news-for-nonprofits.aspx for more information on the new Facebook Public Profile Pages, and why this is good news for nonprofits.

do you have any best practices for public health efforts? Thanks for an insightful and informative post.I am including this resource site in the blog roll of http://www.publichealthmessenger.com

I have had quite a few users ask me about Facebook and what exactly it does or why to use Facebook in