The Facebook application ‘Causes’ has just been slammed by a Washington Post article that labels the app as ‘inneffective.’ This is an opinion of course, and many organizations have attained a positive Return on Investment from Causes…

yes, it is effective -> case study: SIDS Research
Sids Education Services’ cause page for ‘Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Research” has over 258,000 members.

1. There are 996 comments on its Wall dating from June 2007 (probably around the time the Cause started);
2. There are 129 media items posted - photos/videos/web links
3. 258,000 members potentially = huge list of qualified email recipients
4. $1,746 has been donated by the Cause’s membership

If you’re looking at these stats and thinking, ‘what in the world, they only raised $1,746 in two years!’ then you’re doing it wrong.

awareness & community cultivation: benefits.
Social Media is an extension of an organization’s outreach efforts just like Printed Advertisements, Radio Spots, and Billboards.  What sets social media apart from the rest is the ’social’ aspect.  It’s the creation and cultivation of opt-in communities of individuals that share a vision, or more specifically, are stakeholders in an organization’s mission.

When you segment your publics for targeted outreach campaigns (you are segmenting right?) you can include those individuals that follow you on Twitter, are members of your ’cause’ on Facebook, or subscribe/comment to your blog.

social media for nonprofits (limited resources)
The Washington Post article mentions that the Taproot Foundation dedicated all of $3,000 in resources towards developing their own Cause page.  Personally, it seems that the article’s authors were just grasping for facts to spin Causes as an ineffective app, because building a Causes page takes a few minutes and recruiting members is an ongoing affair.  Besides, Taproot has an excellent website and $3,000 probably means a lot more to smaller nonprofits like the Sids research nonprofit mentioned above where it would be poor judgement to dedicate so much capital towards a brand new, web start-up that promised nothing .  Nonprofits need high-caliber, high-performing marketing campaigns just like the corporations do - but they have to accomplish this with limited resources.

Here’s what $3,000 could buy you, among other things:

• Several very impressive and high-end microsites that address niche topics
• A decent Facebook application, customized and branded to your own specifications
• A few hours of wages for a database temp to segment your e-mail list by adding meta-tags to each listing (i.e. Female, Large Donor, Blogger, West Coast, etc.)

the bottom line.
The Causes application isn’t offering you a magical portal to an untapped fundraising goldmine…and neither is any other online or social media application (if they are, then please call them out).  Embrace the community, the very ’social’ aspect of establishing effective and efficient your online web presence - this is elementary, build a ‘grassroots’ support base, participate in the conversation, and watch as goodwill towards your cause grows.

and there is magic in social media…
By developing these cause-centric communities you are also building, among other things:

• Databases of interested, qualified individuals that are dedicated to your mission (emails, addresses, names, etc.)
• Invaluable repositories of comments and feedback posted to your blog, facebook group, twitter, etc. (like a free focus group that doesn’t require compensation)
• Brand/Organization Awareness as your URLs float around the world wide web
• Organic SEO and Website Reach for your website