February 18, 2016; Mashable
Last week, Facebook launched a new website catering to nonprofit organizations that provides tips and tools on how nonprofits can successfully manage their Facebook Pages. The Facebook for Nonprofits website walks organizations through getting started on the social network, engaging with audiences, raising awareness, and fundraising strategies.
A few resources on this new site could be of use to nonprofits, such as browsing through Facebook’s featured success stories to get inspired or looking over tips on how to set up calls to action. But isn’t this tool being launched about a decade too late? A significant amount of the information provided by Facebook seems to speak to nonprofits just starting out on the platform, when most organizations were aware that they needed to establish a social media presence on sites like Facebook closer to when organizational Facebook Pages were launched, back in 2007. Does Facebook really believe nonprofits are this far behind on the learning curve?
The new Facebook for Nonprofits site seems to jump from the most basic information one could possibly provide to pages focusing on tips for raising awareness and fundraising that heavily promote their advertising products. Is this new initiative’s goal simply to extract more money from nonprofits?
Facebook is a billion-dollar corporation, and should be looking to innovative nonprofits programs offered by similar tech giants. Consider Microsoft’s recent donation of software valued at $1 billion to nonprofits and universities, or Google for Nonprofits, which grants 501(c)(3) organizations free access to valuable tools like the Google Grants Program and YouTube for Nonprofits. Is this all Facebook is willing to provide for the nonprofit sector? We’re not impressed.