Should you be saying no to your FRS17 pension report?
7 Feb 2012
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Is Facebook a waste of time?
Last week, I wrote about Facebook Connect, and how charities could potentially use this feature to allow easier and richer sharing of information between their website and Facebook.
As there are so many Facebook users (over 10 million in the UK, roughly 18% of the population), and it’s the top social network in the UK, (accounting for almost half all social network visits according to the latest Hitwise data) tapping into that network would appear to be a good use of a charity’s time. Or is it?
One commenter on my last post disagreed:
"As donors cannot actually donate to a charity via Facebook, this just sounds like a waste of time for the charity itself in an era where resources are stretched.”
Do you agree with that? Is it all about getting people to donate, ultimately? Can charities afford to take the time to engage people in these networks, when there is no guarantee of a return and measuring effectiveness is not always easy?
If you’re a charity with a presence on Facebook, or another social network, how have you justified the time you spend there? How do you define success and a return on your time investment?
Or to put it another way, what is the return on not investing in social networks like Facebook – if you see it as a waste of time, and ignore it, will your charity ultimately suffer? I’d love to hear your thoughts…
Place a comment
Jonathan Waddingham
27 Aug 2009
Hi Tessa, I think most would agree that a fan page is better than a group, as it gives you a lot more functionality and flexibility. This post may help explain more: http://mashable.com/2009/05/27/facebook-page-vs-group/
Tess
26 Aug 2009
Is it better to have a Facebook group or a page? Which is best for widgets etc?
Tess
Luke Edwards
24 Aug 2009
If you want Facebook to bring in funds then this is done through empowering your supporters. Setting up a 'charity' page is useless as no charity has the resoruces to keep it updated or dynamic to a degree that will interest visitors. If you develop tools for your supporters to use on Facebook and promote your cause, then you will see traffic and $ to for your charity. The more innovative and interactive the tool (widget etc), the more chance people will use it to promote their cause through their personal page. The best part, if you know how to setup ecommerce and configure Google analytics on your website, you can track and measure the exact $ value Facebook is driving to our site.
Tess Harris
22 Aug 2009
Does anyone have any experience of collaborating with other FB groups and pages that have grown larger than one's own charity group/page? Facebook does tend to fragment the 'market' somewhat. Is there a way to 'merge' groups or pages? (With everyone's consent of course.)
Jacqui Darlow
21 Aug 2009
Tess, We took what was originally a normal profile page and turned it into a succesful charity page over a year. If your Charity page is well run and regularly updated it should become the primary page in time, visit the other groups and let them know the 'official' page is there and cross post info until your numbers rise - no-one says it is easy but its worth it.
A search for Dogs Trust brings up over 300 groups and pages including our favourite 'We hate Dogs Trust ads' group. To bring them under one umbrella would be to control them. Dogs Trust social media geek!
Carl Finn
20 Aug 2009
We actually started our charity the Libertyrosetrust.org on facebook, supporting children\'s brain tumour research and raising awareness about the leading cause of death in childhood cancer.
The Liberty Rose Trust which was formed after my daughters own facebook support group Liberty Rose A Special Angel received over 18,000 members in a matter of months.
Off the back of this huge success the charity has also received great support and some invaluable connections have been made with the music industry that could potentially lead to a massive impact with regards to funding children\'s brain tumour research !!!
A waste of a charities time.......i think not.
Will Jones
20 Aug 2009
Facebook is an increasingly vital part of brainstrust's presence. Not only is it great awareness building tool for events and a great way of sharing news, but it is another way for potential advocates to interact with our charity. It empowers supporters and helps them to become more involved.
Emerson
20 Aug 2009
Hi Reb,
Glad to see everyone's changed your mind!
Whilst I understand your charity's worry about resources (aren't we all worrying about that?), they have missed the target somewhat with their feelings around core purpose. 'Doing' facebook, or Twitter, or YouTube, or any other of the plethora of social sites, isn't an activity in its own right. It's another communication channel, like PR, direct mail, tube posters or anything else you might do. If the audience is correct for your charity, then it's another communication channel to take advantage of!
Tess Harris
20 Aug 2009
Does anyone have any experience of collaborating with other FB groups and pages that have grown larger than one's own charity group/page? Facebook does tend to fragment the 'market' somewhat. Is there a way to 'merge' groups or pages? (With everyone's consent of course.)
Reb
20 Aug 2009
Well, thanks to this article and all the comments above, my mind has been changed!!! I can now see where Facebook could be a valuable tool for raising awareness and creating links. Unfortunately, the charity I work for disagrees with you all, and again, it's probably because the resources are stretched in these hard times so they cannot justify doing something that does not relate to the core purpose of the charity.
Jacqui Darlow
20 Aug 2009
Reb, fair enough but a simple search on Facebook shows that there are many many groups supporting the same aims as you. Why not piggyback and offer support and advice on thier pages if you have no time to start your own. Show your charity there is a need for you to have a presence. The people with the problems are still there even if you aren't. You wouldn't ignore a phone call or email so don't ignore the people that choose to have Facebook as there communication method.
Jack Cumming
19 Aug 2009
So your commenter writes off Facebook because it does not allow supporters to make donations directly? Sounds like TV, newspapers, radio, posters, leaflets, direct mail, etc., etc. I suppose we should stop using those media as well. While the inability of the Causes app on Facebook to accept donations for UK charities IS annoying, it just takes one click to get to the charity's website and make that donation. I agree with the comments above - Facebook is just one part of the overall mix we need to use.
Jack Cumming
e-Commerce Manager Association for International Cancer Research www.aicr.org.uk
Laurence Robb
18 Aug 2009
I find Facebook useful to MS Research; westarted a page in May this year. There are many difficulties in the way of UK non-profits: Justgiving cannot be used as an apps for Charity Fan Page not like a personnal page; Causes is a good tool not open to UK Charities...Apart from that there are ways around this: we have donation buttons and inform fans on how to fundraise without a cash donation...I like linking our efforts using Facebook at the same time.
However, I am the only one with this job at MS Research, it slows me from doing my usual updating the researchers at the Multiple Sclerosis Unit in Bristol. Too many hats!
Ian Beningfield
18 Aug 2009
Meningitis Research Foundation has been building our Facebook presence for a few years now. Although there is no direct way to accept donations (at least on our limited budget with no scope to develop our own apps) we are seeing plenty of traffic being driven to our website & it's donation facility from Facebook. Donations we probably wouldn't have received without our Facebook page as many come from new donors. Aside from the hard numbers of donations what we are seeing more and more from Facebook & other social media channels is a way of acquiring and engaging with supporters.
As our community grows we are seeing more and more discussions between supporters sharing their experiences with each other. In the difficult climate we are in at the moment donor care and building relationships is vital to keeping supporters on board, a huge number of people are on Facebook and use the site regularly to engage with these people we need to be there too.
Ian Deputy Head of Development Meningitis Research Foundation
Kevin Baughen
18 Aug 2009
I think the other comments here make a great point. The key to success with Facebook (and indeed most other social media) seems to be how you integrate it into your other activities. It isn't a panacea to our fundraising and communications issues. But used effectively as part of a well thought through strategy, Facebook can raise awareness, build credibility, engage new supporters and direct them to fundraising asks. Bigger question is perhaps can we afford not to be there given the rate of growth and the way in which apps like Facebook are engaging users with more interesting content (like causes and fan pages)?
Jacqui Darlow
18 Aug 2009
Of course there is a benefit, not everything is about immediate pounds. Here at Dogs Trust our social networking is an integral part of our FR and Comms work. Gone is the day when you can sit back and wait for the supporter to find you, you need to be where they are and though they cannot give on the Facebook page (though we do have paypal its rarely used) they can get advice and news about us. Is preventing a dog being given up a good enough reason to be there? - yes we think it is.
Our Mission is to save dogs lives and wether we do that by kind financial donations or by imparting our advice then the aim is achieved. As we always say to people as we travel around giving presentation, people will talk about you wether you are there or not.
Jacqui Darlow,
Digital Marketing Manager,
Dogs Trust
www.facebook.com/dogstrust
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Corinna Kennedy
27 Aug 2009
I would definately recommend a charity to use Facebook. We started our facebook group less than a month ago and can already see an increased attendance at events. It is a highly interactive and effective way to communicate information and events to genuine supporters.
Corinna Kennedy
E-Communications Officer
Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children www.nicfc.com
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