How to Start an Animal Rescue Group on Facebook

Facebook is one of the most popular, if not THE most popular social networking site on the net--and certainly a great place for promoting your nonprofit animal rescue. The Internet has done wonders for increasing animal adoptions--and Facebook is no doubt a large part of the equation. Although there are various ways to promote animal rescue/adoption through Facebook--one highly effective way is by creating a "Group." Here are the steps for creating a Facebook group.

Instructions

1. Register on facebook if you don't already have an account.

2. Go under Applications and click on "Groups" and then click on "Create a New Group."

3. Fill in your group name; it can be a new group that you are forming specifically for facebook to promote pet adoption or your own animal rescue organization that already exists.

4. Choose whether you would like the group to be open to any facebook members who would like to join or just members within your network (geographical area).

5. Give a description consisting of your mission statement and group goals and include some highlights of what your organization has accomplished thus far.

6. For Group Type, choose "Organizations" on the drop-down menu under "Select Category." Then choose "Non-Profit Organizations" on the drop-down menu under "Select Type."

7. List any noteworthy news regarding your own or group's accomplishments. You can also include links to related news stories and/or videos.

8. Fill in your contact information including: email address, phone number, physical address, city or town, state and zip code (if desired).

9. Click where it says "Create Group."

10. Upload a picture of your group or logo to be featured at the top of the page.

11. Enter your website address if you have one.

12. Go over the options that are checked. Uncheck any that you don't want enabled such as "Allow members to post links." You may prefer to "Only allow admins to post links," in which case you would enable that instead.

13. Upload group photos where it says photos, any pertinent web links and any videos.

14. Click "Save" and then choose if you would like the whole group description to appear in the profile, an abbreviated version or just one line, then click "Publish." You've now started a pet rescue group on Facebook.

15. Invite animal rescue organizations/individuals by clicking on "Invite People to Join." It will allow you to check off and automatically invite friends from your personal Facebook account as well as supply the email addresses of individuals/organizations you'd like to invite who are not already on Facebook.

Tips & Warnings

• You can continue to update with links to news stories related to your group, video links and photos of animals up for adoption. You can also post group events including fundraisers, as well as request donations.

• Facebook is addicting (but in this case that's a good thing).

Resources

• Facebook