Facebook Now Offers Free Version of Enterprise Platform for NPOs

Facebook has launched a free version of its enterprise platform for nonprofit organizations (NPOs). Known as Workplace for Good, it's intended to help NPOs achieve their goals by providing them with a digital marketing tool. Using

Workplace for Good isn't a new tool. Rather, it's been around for several years now. However, the social media giant charges for traditional for-profit businesses a fee of $3 per user -- with a limit of 5,000 users per month -- to use it. While Facebook says that for-profit businesses can continue to use Workplace by paying this fee. Now, though, NPOs can use the specialized version, Workplace for Good, without paying this fee.

It appears that Facebook is now shifting direction by focusing its efforts on attracting NPOs. This shouldn't come as a surprise given that more than 1.5 million NPOs operate in the United States, according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS).

So, how exactly does Workplace for Good work? The free-to-use platform -- for NPOs, at least -- offers many of the same communications features found in other Facebook apps and platform. Using it, workers for NPOs can send and receive instant messages and even make video conference calls. Workplace for Good also allows NPOs to create repositories and collaboration spaces. Furthermore, the platform supports integration with private network and file-sharing tools. In essence, Workplace for Good is a Swiss Army knife of social media-based communication that's designed to help NPOs succeed.

When speaking about Workplace for Good, the platform's leader explained that 360 videos have become a popular feature. As the name suggests, 360 videos are interactive videos that provide users with a 360-degree panoramic view of the surrounding space. Users can control the direction of the camera, allowing them to see more that just what's in front of them,

"When we look at how they use the product, non-profits really push it to its limits, using it in scenarios and ways we never imagined,” explained Facebook's Julien Codorniou. “We want to serve these scenarios. We learn a lot from them. Who could have guessed that 360 video would be such a big thing in Workplace? We want to keep learning with them.”

You can learn more about Workplace for Good by visiting the platform's website at https://www.facebook.com/workplace.