Facebook is constantly changing and evolving, challenging nonprofits to continually evolve with it. The most recent, and very major change gives users more control of which stories will make it into their newsfeeds from friends and pages. Find out what the new Facebook changes mean for your nonprofit, and how you can grow with them.

When each Facebook user has the opportunity to view up to 1,500 stories per day, how are stories weeded out from the junk pile to keep the site feeling fresh, and keep users from becoming bored and going elsewhere for digital entertainment? Facebook has given the world a peak behind its curtain, revealing their solution to this issue by publishing the latest algorithm behind the newsfeed– introducing Story Bumping and Last Actor.

Story Bumping: With Story Bumping, Facebook doesn’t just look at what stories have been published since a user last looked at their feed, but at all the recent stories they hadn’t seen (i.e. which Facebook had previously not displayed!) — not just “new” but “new to that user”.

Last Actor: “Last Actor” looks at the 50 people a user most recently interacted on Facebook (so activities such as viewing a profile or photos, or liking feed stories). Facebook then shows that user more from those people (or pages) in their feed in the short-term.

So how can you guarantee your nonprofit’s content will perform well, be seen by many, and not be thrown into Facebook’s junk pile? Engagement is key, now more than ever. With Facebook’s new measurement system, your organization’s page will rely even more heavily on how often your fans like, comment and share content in order to grow organically.

Good news for nonprofits

There is now more opportunity for a page to see organic growth! The new algorithm was tested on a small group of employees and select users before the official roll out, boasting an eight percent increase in stories seen from pages, and a jump from 57 to 70 percent in overall stories read.

Our rockstar tips

Engaging interaction from page followers will increase your nonprofit’s presence in their newsfeeds, giving your community the opportunity for growth. Here are our tips to increase fan engagement, and elevate your organization’s page to rockstar status.

Call to action

Sometimes, your fans should be told how to engage; give them a call to action. Don’t be afraid to remind your community to speak up. Ask the audience to like, comment and share a post in order to boost engagement, and garner more attention to each piece of content.

Questions

Asking simple questions are an easy and fun way to encourage fans to engage with your content. Nonprofits have seen much success with fan response to trivia and polls. Facebook users respond actively to trivia, testing their knowledge against others. Polls are another great way to garner interaction, giving individuals a sense that their opinions and input are valued by your organization.

Use photos and memes

Social media users respond to images more than any other type of content. Photos, memes and infographics are great ways to create dynamic content that fans will want to repurpose and share with friends. In order to be shareable, be sure the image is attention grabbing– funny, vibrant, thought provoking, etc.