Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos and learn more about the people they meet. Currently, Facebook is the number one photo sharing application on the Web, with more than 24 million photos uploaded daily.
Facebook has more than 90 million active users, is the fourth most-trafficked website in the world and the most-trafficked social media site in the world. Sixty-three percent of Facebook users are women, and at least a third do not use MySpace, the second largest social networking site in terms of users. More than half of Facebook users are outside of college and the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is those 25 years and older.
Facebook is made up of many networks, each based around a company, region, school or campaign. Individuals can join networks that reflect their real-life communities - to learn more about the people who work, live, or study around them – or virtual communities that share their values and political affiliations. Currently, there are over 55,000 regional, work-related, collegiate, and high school networks on Facebook.
Facebook Causes is an application that provides tools to help Facebook users leverage their network of friends to affect positive change. The goal of Causes is “equal opportunity activism,” leveling the playing field by empowering individuals to change the world. Existing nonprofits and campaigns have to raise hundreds of millions of dollars and leverage massive direct marketing campaigns to attract supporters. Causes democratizes activism by empowering Facebook activists with an arsenal of tools.
Political campaigns use Facebook, and the Causes application, to build a network of supporters and tap into their financial support. All three major 2008 Presidential candidates had a strong presence on Facebook throughout the primary season, and many Congressional candidates are expanding their networks as well. Successful campaigns have created candidate profiles on Facebook that give users information about the candidate and where she or he stands on issues, as well as frequent updates about the campaign. Congressional candidate Darcy Burner has an extensive Facebook page, with features like YouTube videos, up-to-date photos from the campaign trail, detailed biographical information, including her favorite TV shows, movies, books, music and quotes, and most importantly, a prominent link to a contribution page.
Fundraise from Women on Facebook
Campaigns should take full advantage of this social media platform to encourage women to donate and to persuade them to engage their networks. Female online political donors are particularly active users of social networking tools like Facebook:
- 59% visit social networking sites daily or several times a week
- 29% visit these sites for political purposes
- 25% consulted a social networking site to learn more about a candidate before making an online political contribution
- 26% invited friends or family to participate in a political campaign because of an invitation they received through a social networking site
To Get Started
Create a new account on Facebook
Read about all the ways to use Facebook
Build a profile
Add contacts to your network
To Learn More about Fundraising:
Learn about Facebook Causes (Explains how donations to political candidates are processed – ActBlue and ABC PAC – only Presidential candidates are supported at this time)
