Getting Started with Facebook Causes
What is the “Cause” Application on Facebook?
The Cause application on Facebook is a valuable tool for non-profit organizations. It allows charities to promote their cause and fundraise through Facebook’s powerful social networking capabilities. In the same way that users join groups, they can also join a Cause—and donate. Best of all, it’s free! Anyone can set up a Cause for your organization and use their network on Facebook to raise awareness and raise funds for your organization. CanadaHelps is partnered with the Causes on Facebook application. This means that all donations made through Causes in Canada are processed and disbursed by CanadaHelps to your organization.
The Cause application on Facebook is a valuable tool for non-profit organizations. It allows charities to promote their cause and fundraise through Facebook’s powerful social networking capabilities. In the same way that users join groups, they can also join a Cause—and donate. Best of all, it’s free! Anyone can set up a Cause for your organization and use their network on Facebook to raise awareness and raise funds for your organization. CanadaHelps is partnered with the Causes on Facebook application. This means that all donations made through Causes in Canada are processed and disbursed by CanadaHelps to your organization.
Creating a Cause on Facebook
To set up a Cause for your organization, you will need to have a Facebook account. For more information about setting up a Facebook account for your charity, visit our InfoPage on Facebook.
To set up a Cause for your organization, you will need to have a Facebook account. For more information about setting up a Facebook account for your charity, visit our InfoPage on Facebook.
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Sign into your Facebook account.
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You have to first add the Cause application to your account. Go to the Applications toolbar in the lower left hand corner. Search through the applications menu for the “Causes” application if you don’t already have it. Once you have it, make sure to bookmark it so it shows up on your profile page.
- Once you have it, make sure to bookmark it so it shows up on your profile page. Go to “Find Causes” and then click “Start a Cause.”
- There are two information sections you have to fill out: “Basic Information,” which is the information everyone can see, and “Extended Information,” which is the information non-members see. After you fill in these fields, you will be asked to provide a beneficiary.
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The beneficiary is the organization that will receive the donations made through your Cause.
- Choose Search Canadian charities.
- Type in the name or charitable business number of the charity in the search field. Next, type the name of your charity or the business number.
- Select the right charity from the listing by clicking the Select Beneficiary button.
- Enter your email address to retain administrative privileges over your Cause.
- Click Continue to create your Cause.
- Now that it is complete and you have created your cause you can access it anytime. It will show up on your profile page, located on the top of your screen.
- Choose Search Canadian charities.
Getting Support for your Cause
Once you have created a cause, the next thing to do is to gain supporters. Because you are the moderator of your cause, you are in control of all aspects of its appearance. Users will not see your profile or your non-profit page through your cause (though you can link to them if you wish).
You can either invite those in your contact list to support your cause, or you can wait and hope that people will find your cause when they are searching through Facebook. Another good way to market your cause is to write notes with the note application and post them on your personal profile page and your non-profit page.
Get the Most out of your Cause
Pictures, quotes, videos, links to other sites—use as many “marketing” tricks as you can to promote your cause. You can only have one picture; however, you can have photo albums on other sites that you can link to. As well, remember that a cause doesn’t have to necessarily reflect your organization’s overall goal. You can set up a cause to promote an upcoming fundraiser or event, or to simply increase awareness of your organization’s profile.
Pictures, quotes, videos, links to other sites—use as many “marketing” tricks as you can to promote your cause. You can only have one picture; however, you can have photo albums on other sites that you can link to. As well, remember that a cause doesn’t have to necessarily reflect your organization’s overall goal. You can set up a cause to promote an upcoming fundraiser or event, or to simply increase awareness of your organization’s profile.
But remember: make sure you cause has a function link to your organization’s home page!
Check out our Facebook 101 webinar recording. It's a great resource to help you get started with all the tools on Facebook: Pages, Causes, Events, Groups!
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Bookmark or Become a Fan of the official Facebook Causes Page to keep updated on the latest from the application.
- Read this page to read about how Causes got started and the people behind it.
- Find out more about how donations work here.
- To read Facebook Causes success stories, visit the Causes Exchange blog.
