Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, fundraising pros, marketers.

Guest post by Jim Belosic
CEO, Shortstack

Anyone who works for a nonprofit knows all too well about the donation scramble. This is why creating an impactful Facebook Page should be an integral part your marketing efforts is a no-brainer.

Facebook serves as a doorway to donors, allowing nonprofits to provide brief updates and news bites to constituents. It’s also a one-stop shop for photos, success stories, and calls to action, which reinforce the mission. Plus, Facebook is a favorite tool among nonprofits because of its low, low price of … free!

Using custom apps like ShortStack can help increase donations during fundraising campaigns. Check out these three ways that nonprofits can use Facebook apps to motivate donors.

Create a photo and video gallery

1When a nonprofit can establish emotional ties between its cause and its community, donations happen. One way to do this is to let pictures — photos and videos — tell the stories. With ShortStack, setting up an app with our video cascade template allows you to keep a permanent home for your nonprofit’s promo videos, special event video footage, news stories and commercials.

Share stories about the people who benefit from your work

Photo courtesy of Mike Grenville (Creative Commons)

2The people who benefit from your nonprofit’s efforts may have inspiring and moving stories to share. Facebook and Twitter offer a great venue for small pieces of inspiring status updates, but it’s easy to do even more with ShortStack’s Share Your Story template. Share Your Story engages users and raises awareness by making public the inspiring stories that drive your nonprofit to do the good work it does.

Use this template to run a contest or incentivize people to post their inspiring stories to your Facebook app. Once you have some contributions to your Share Your Story campaign, you can augment the impact by plucking inspiring quotes from these stories and posting them in your Timeline feed.

Give your constituents news right on your Facebook page

3Depending on their missions, nonprofits can be deeply affected by decisions made in Washington, DC.

For example, when researchers begin finding clues that may lead them to cures for diseases, when a group’s civil rights are in question or when budget issues affect a certain community, nonprofit administrators can share the news with their followers right on Facebook.

ShortStack offers a pre-made Blog/RSS template that keeps your donors privy to breaking news. If your nonprofit already has a blog, this template is also a great way to give it some more publicity.

These are three of the many ways that ShortStack can help nonprofits inspire and educate their donors, helping raise critical dollars that allow these organizations to continue doing the good work they do.

The post 3 ways nonprofits can use Facebook apps to motivate donors appeared first on Socialbrite.

Target audience: Nonprofits, NGOs, cause organizations, social enterprises, businesses, brands, marketing professionals, social media managers, individuals.

This is the first part of a two-part series on Facebook apps and resources available to nonprofits.

Guest post by Kim Bale

It’s important to diversify the platforms that nonprofits use to reach supporters, but we know that social media isn’t one size fits all. If you find that your community engages more with your organization on Facebook than it does on Twitter, then put your energy into raising your organization’s profile on Facebook rather than trying to spread yourself too thin.

These five Facebook applications will help boost your social media presence even further and expand your social network. Sign in as the Page administrator, search for the app on Facebook, then follow the steps to install it.

Causes App

1 The Causes Facebook Application allows nonprofits to fundraise via Facebook in a number of ways. Fans can “like” Pages, watch videos, play games or complete a number of other small tasks, and donations will be made to their chosen charities. Followers can also opt to donate directly to campaigns they care about via the Causes Application without ever leaving Facebook. With 2.3 million active monthly users, this free application raises awareness for a cause while donating real money to verified nonprofit organizations.

YouTube App

2 The YouTube application boasts 500,000 active monthly users and gives you complete control of which YouTube videos are displayed on your Facebook Page. Users can watch, share and comment on your videos from the comfort of their Facebook account. Sharing recruitment videos, event coverage and campaign collateral with your fans doesn’t get easier than this.

Involver Twitter App

3 Involver, one of the Web’s most popular social marketing platforms, offers more than 24 applications geared toward Facebook, Twitter and the iPhone to create a distinctive user experience. Each Facebook account is entitled to two of their Basic applications free of charge, which can be swapped out at any time. To access more than two at a time, they offer a professional upgrade. The Twitter application will stream your Twitter feed directly to your Facebook Page, allowing you the freedom to customize its look and feel. Instantly two of your most important handles are accessible from one website, expanding your followers and encouraging conversation across platforms.

Involver Static HTML App

4 With an online presence spanning the spectrum from your website to YouTube, it can be tough to maintain brand identity while engaging with fans across various virtual mediums. With Involver’s Static HTML App, you can customize the look and feel of your Facebook Fan Page to maintain consistency with your existing Web presence. Involver makes it easy to upload images and content to Facebook’s iFrame and render static HTML code in just a few simple steps.

Social RSS App

5 The Social RSS application allows you to feed blog posts directly from your blog to Facebook, giving your fans easier access to important updates and milestones. You have the option of feeding from multiple blogs, personalizing the name of your Facebook tab and linking back to your original post. This application is all about increasing readership and converting Facebook fans to informed activists for your cause.

Any other Facebook Applications we should know about? Drop us a line in the comments section!

Related

• 13 top Facebook apps for your nonprofit (Socialbrite)

• 4 resources to create custom Facebook tabs with iFrames (Socialbrite)

• Facebook tutorials (Socialbrite)

The post 5 essential Facebook applications for nonprofits appeared first on Socialbrite.

I hope this list is helpful. Have your own favorite? Please add it in the comments below.

• Twitter App – This app automatically re-posts your tweets in your Facebook Page status. A big time-saver, but a potential bother to your connections if you use Twitter a lot, or if you tweet about topics that aren’t related to your Page.
• Selective Tweets – This app allows to you to selectively post a status update on your Facebook Page from Twitter simply by adding the hashtag #fb.
• Facebook Notes – Allows you to create formatted text with images, links to a post or add an RSS feed from your blog. Set it and forget it!
• Blog RSS Feed Reader – This a bit more robust than the Notes app. You can add an image for your feed, add multiple feeds and even send out alerts to friends of new updates.
• Flash Player – This app allows you to upload Flash videos or games to your Page, which can create a highly customized experience for your fans.
• Static FBML – This app allows you to add certain types of HTML within a custom tab that can be named to match your brand.
• Extended Info – This app works much like the Static FBML application but is slightly easier to use. You can add lists, images, videos and other pre-formatted sections to a custom tab.
• Fundrazr – This app makes it easy for your supporters to fund-raise for your cause. You can sell tickets to events, communicate to members and event track results with an analytics feature. They also have a great relationship with PayPal.
• Giving Impact – This is a donation engine that you can integrate into your existing website, but they also have a Facebook Page app that looks extremely robust. Nonprofits would also be wise to investigate their Giving Impact Grant program.
• MyFlickr – Display your Flickr photos on Facebook so that your connections can view them, comment on them, and tag them without leaving your Facebook Page.
• YouTube Video Box – This app is pretty straightforward. Search for videos, add them to a custom tab and share them easily on with your connections.
• Poll Daddy Polls – An easy way to increase engagement and understand your fan base is with simple polls (yes / no, three choices). This app also has a sharing element to it: As soon as users vote, they are given a choice to share their vote with their friends.
• The Wall – The most powerful Facebook Page app out there.

There are also many more Facebook Page applications for nonprofits at App Bistro, a marketplace of Facebook tab applications.

What apps are you using?

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