Facebook

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So what can we say about Facebook now? We don't want to be negative but with the closing of Facebook lite and all the privacy issues that have arisen lately, we're not sure if nonprofits and NGOs should use this site as much as before.

At one point, FB could be utilized by nonprofits to create a "fan page". Now, there's a whole "like" button campaign which doesn't suit our goals in our opinion. The point was to be a "fan" of a cause. Now, you just "like" something and it all sounds a little unofficial.

On a positive note, you can still update your status to let those "fans" know what's going on in your organization.

In iGetcha's opinion, Facebook is running into a lot of privacy issues so look for users to start switching to so called anti-Facebook competitors such as Diaspora*. Also, since FB is crowded with gamers and noisy ads, a nonprofit may not get noticed as much as before.

Still, the amount of users is still something to consider when seeking those interested in your cause, which reminds us that you can set up a cause to receive donations so that's still a plus.

As we've said before, iGetcha's recommendation is to not rely on one social network to display your nonprofit work. So sign up for a couple and let your fans know ;) Foursquare may be the place to be if you're a new nonprofit and with our visit to Taiwan, it seems that nonprofits are getting creative by using it. Check out our post on Foursquare :)

Please note: We created a fan page but it was a bit difficult at first. Our advice to avoid the troubleshooting is to just make sure your organization date of birth is above 13 and to just keep the default category because we had some frustration setting it up! (as several other users have commented on FB). Lastly, if you're a small ngo your email address may not work so set up a Gmail account and create a Buzz profile while you're at it ;)

We have limited resources to maintain a FB fan page and all the social networking at the moment but if you create a FB profile, you can use our suggested aggregator - Tweetdeck. Makes managing your social microblogs a lot easier!

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