chfUsing our step-by-step instructions, you can turn the email capture device you’re already using on your organization’s website into a Facebook app. This will allow you to gather email signups where your prospective constituents already are—and even target them with an inexpensive Facebook ad campaign.

We’ll use the example of our client Children’s Health Fund, and their Speak Up For Kids Facebook app. CHF uses Blackbaud Luminate, and Donordigital created their original email capture petition using the Luminate Survey module. These instructions will work for any email capture tool with both a secure and non-secure URL. Here we go!

Step One: Prepare your email capture device

  1. Prepare your email capture tool/Luminate survey in whichever system your organization uses.
  2. You’ll need both a secure and non-secure URL version of the Luminate Survey (or whatever email capture device you’ve created).

Here are step-by-step instructions for Blackbaud Luminate users:

  • Edit the survey you would like to turn into a Facebook app
  • Ensure that the “Yes, make this a secure survey” box is checked under “Survey Security.”
  • Click “Publish Survey” in the left-hand navigation. On this screen, you should see the “Survey URL.” Copy this to include in your new FB App Settings. This will be the non-secure url, which looks like this for our CHF example: http://chf.childrenshealthfund.org/site/Survey?ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&SURVEY_ ID=2700
  • Visit the non-secure survey in a web browser. The Convio system will redirect to the secure version. Copy the secure version of the url to use in the new FB App settings. It looks like this for CHF: https://secure2.convio.net/chf/site/SSurvey?ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&SURVEY_ ID=2700

Step Two: Register for a Facebook Developer Account and Create a New App

  1. Have a Facebook account. (You know you already do.) Log in.
  2. Become an admin for your nonprofit’s FB page, if you aren’t already.
  3. Go here: https://developers.facebook.com/apps
  4. Register for the Developer App
  5. Upon confirmation, etc., go to Apps > Create a New App
  6. Fill out the pop-up and click Create App.Display name: The app’s titleNamespace: This will become the vanity URLSelect “Apps for Pages” as the Category (this means the app will live on your org’s Facebook page).
  7. You should now be on the “Dashboard” view of your new app. The remaining setup for your new FB app will happen in the Settings menu.

Step Three: Configure Your App In Facebook

  1. Go to “Settings” in the left-hand navigation
  2. You have two app domains. Enter your org’s website URL without the http://www (for example, childrenshealthfund.org). Hit return. In the same field, add the first portion of your secure website URL (for many of you, it will be secure2.convio.net). Hit return.
  3. Click “Add Platform,” and choose “App on Facebook”
  4. Paste the non-secure URL to the “Canvas URL” field
  5. Paste the secure URL to the “Secure Canvas URL” field
  6. Click the “Add Platform” button again, and this time, add “Page Tab”
  7. Configure the page tab info. In the case of CHF, our Page Tab Name is “Speak Up For Kids,” the Page Tab URL is the non-secure version URL of the Luminate survey, and the Secure Page Tab URL is the secure version URL of the Luminate survey. Add an image that will display for the page tab on your org’s Facebook page.

Step Four: Add the new Facebook App as a Tab on Your Org’s Facebook page

  1. Ensure you are logged in as an admin to your org’s FB.
  2. In order to add the new app to your org’s Facebook page, you’ll need to replace a couple of URL parameters and visit an amended version of this URL: https://www.facebook.com/dialog/pagetab?app_id=YOUR_ APP_ID&next=YOUR_URL
  3. Replace “YOUR_APP_ID” with the App ID of your new FB App, which can be found in the “Settings” section of your new FB App. Replace “YOUR_URL” with the Canvas URL of your new FB App, which can be found in the “Settings” section of your new FB App, under App on Facebook — Canvas Page.
  4. Choose your org’s Facebook page in the drop-down on the “Add Page Tab” pop-up box that will appear.
  5. Your app is now magically connected to your org’s FB page.
  6. As a page admin, you can now re-order your org’s tabs.

For more documentation on developing Facebook Apps, visit: https://developers.facebook.com/docs.

Walking through these steps will enable you to DIY your app. And if you’d like to do something more involved, or if you’d like some strategy consulting help, you’re always free to contact us at Donordigital.

Wendy Marinaccio Husman is an Account Director with Donordigital. Jesse Kelsey is Senior Developer with Donordigital. Call us if you need help or advice! Donordigital helps nonprofit organizations, campaigns, and socially responsible businesses use the Internet for fundraising, advocacy, advertising, and marketing. We provide strategy and implementation to enable organizations to use e-mail, the Web, Facebook, mobile, and other communications to build their constituencies and change the world.