Tips for Recruiting Supporters to Your Facebook Cause

Koch said the most common mistakes nonprofit organizations make when it comes to Facebook Causes are thinking:

• their brand is the most important thing. Some organizations will disable the Media Board or wall to have more control over the page, she said, but the idea behind Causes is to offer an opportunity for people to rally around a cause they believe in. Supporters really want to work with you, she said, so your page will be much more effective if you have an open policy.
• that creating more than one Causes page is confusing. It really depends on the work your organization does and how it wants to go about its Causes strategy, she said.
• "I created it and it's not doing anything. Facebook must not work for us." Koch advised really spending some time on your page and pushing content out to your community to get the word out.
• the page needs to be approved by all internal departments. Koch recommended deciding your policy for this ahead of time, and how much time you need to devote to different kinds of communications.
• that person doesn't work for us so we can't trust her. Koch stressed the benefits of organizations turning over a bit of control to supporters, noting, "They'll be your best activists."

Another common mistake she sees organizations make is having no sequencing strategy. She stressed the importance of getting people to the Causes page and behind the mission before launching a campaign on Causes. Not only is this key to a successful campaign, but it also makes supporters who were there with you from the start feel like they helped you achieve something valuable.