Keeping your cause members up to date and informed

Bulletins are the best way to keep your cause members engaged and informed. Using simple, quick updates with a specific call to action is an effective way to both increase engagement and drive donations.

As the cause administrator (or a nonprofit employee with access to your org’s Partner Center account) you have access to update your members via Facebook news feed, email or both. We’re going to focus on the experience for cause admins:

All cause admins have access to post bulletins to their cause

Here are your bulletin options:

• Update: This is the most common type of bulletin (and also the most flexible). Choose a concise, yet descriptive, title and then enter your update. Note: If you’re going to send the bulletin to your cause members’ news feeds, you’ll need to limit your update to 420 characters (this is a Facebook limitation). If you just have to send a longer update, deselect the “Post to News Feed” option and select “Email This.”
• Invite: “Invite” is specifically intended as a call to action for your cause members to invite their friends and family to your cause. When members receive this bulletin and click on “Invite” they’ll be taken to a page assisting them in choosing people to invite to your cause. Note: Facebook news feed character limits apply.
• Video: Share a video with your cause members (you’ll need to upload the video to a site like YouTube first)
• Photo: Post a photo related to your cause. Cause members tend to respond very well to images, so when you have one that helps tell a story, by all means share it with your members!
• Link: Is there a news story or blog post relevant to your cause or efforts? Simply post the link here and we’ll share it with your membership.

Tips

• If you are a nonprofit employee, send your bulletins from the Nonprofit Partner Center – http://nonprofits.causes.com.  This will allow you to send to multiple causes at once.
• Cause admins should make a habit of posting bulletins at least once per week and certainly when there are important events related to your cause.
• Unless you’re posting a specific link to a news article or blog post, try not to post other links in your bulletins – once you send your members to another site, they may not return to your cause.
• Keep your bulletin concise and focused. Long, rambling “wall of text” emails are no fun for anyone to read and your members will likely lose interest before they’re halfway through.
• Be specific! If you’re asking for donations, tell your members what their money will accomplish.
• Learn to love your admin center. After you send a bulletin, there are tools to help you analyze its effectiveness (and see how many people left your cause after receiving the bulletin).
• Be there. After you post your bulletin, your members may leave comments (especially if you’ve posted to their news feeds). Engage with your cause members at this point so you can get to know them (and they you) and learn about why they’ve joined your cause.
• Avoid using link shortening services like Bit.ly in your bulletins as many email providers flag messages containing these links as potential spam.

Sample Bulletins

(all of these are optimized for use as Facebook News Feed posts as well as email)

Introduction to the Fundraising Project

Title: You can make a difference – Help Build a School in Tanzania!

Body:  Today we’re announcing that we are going to build a school 20 miles away from Lusaka, Zambia & we need your help! Can you help fund the books & supplies for the school? Just think, with one donation, you can help provide tools these kids need for their education. The cost of these supplies is $2,000 & we can reach that goal with your help: http://www.causes.com/donations/select_donation_method?campaign_id=xxxxx

Recognizing Individuals

Title:  Why Carrie F. is such an awesome member of Support Schools in Tanzania

Body:  Thank you so much to the 23 people who have donated already to our project to build a school in Zambia. I wanted to give a special thanks to Carrie F. who not only donated $25 to the project but has raised over $1,390 from her friends! Here’s a note from Carrie: “This is such a great project, I just had to tell all of my friends. It was pretty easy; I just spent 15 minutes every day inviting my friends on Facebook.”

Milestone Update

Title:  You are awesome!  We’re ½ way there!

Body: Wow – this cause is amazing! We are half-way to our goal of raising $2,000. 21 people have donated to fund our newest school outside Lusaka, Zambia. A big thanks to those who’ve donated so far. Thank you for all you do – let’s get to $2k! Please, invite your friends and consider donating your time or money to help us build this great school!

Focus on Impact

Title:  Why This Really Matters…

Body: Thank you so much to those who have given to our efforts to provide supplies to our new school outside Lusaka, Zambia. This school will not only make a difference in the lives and the futures of these children but studies have also shown that investing in education can have lasting effects on poverty levels, health, and economic factors.  You really are making a difference. Please continue to spread the word!