Welcome New Members To Facebook Group

The first communication you have with new members is essential. It fosters meaningful community engagement and growth, and it's the first impression you make on your new community. At Mobilize, we've seen many successful communities create a standing pinned "welcome" post.

Think of your pinned welcome post as a virtual welcome booth that should accomplish the following:

Set the tone for your community
Address important rules
Direct new members to where they can find more information about the community
Instructions on how new members can introduce themselves
Make new members feel seen, heard, celebrated, and like they're part of something

Before we dive into a few examples of what successful community welcome messages look like, here's what community behemoth Facebook has to say about helping new members feel welcome.

Community, Where Everyone Knows Your Name…

In addition to your pinned welcome post, it's a good idea to have a separate "hello and thank you for joining" post at the ready. When new members join, you can then use this post to greet them personally and help them feel like they're part of the group from day one.

As a few Facebook admins point out, if it makes sense for your community you can also "encourage existing members to welcome people who have just joined the group." What if larger numbers of people join your group daily? Do a weekly welcome post and connect with them all at once.

The bottom line is to keep things fresh and help people feel genuinely welcome.

Now, some useful welcome templates and a few of our favorite welcome post examples from within the Mobilize community.

Template #1 – Short Introduction

Hi all, at <community name>, we believe there's nothing more unstoppable than when people come together.

This group's mission is to create a global community of diverse individuals who will support, challenge, and inspire one another by providing a platform for networking, mentorship, and career development.

We encourage you to share your knowledge, ask questions, participate in discussions and become an integral part of this little community. Together we can become better community leaders and provide our members with a much better experience.

Your group managers are [insert admin's names]. If you have feedback, questions, or would like to get more involved, email [insert best communication address].

To email the global group directly use [insert email address]. Members of this group can comment publicly & privately on posts, public comments may be emailed to the entire group at the discretion of the original sender.

Template #2 – House Rules

Welcome to [insert community name]!

Here you'll find information on what [community name] is for and what policies you should be aware of.

What is [community name]?

In this group we will share job postings/requests, ask for advice, schedule meetups, search for details on a specific member and interact with other members across [insert your community's name]. All posts and replies are connected/grouped and structured so that you can have a proper conversation on a topic and not just a flow of messages. Plus, posts and comments are searchable so you can refer back to past discussions and questions!

What policies do I need to be aware of?

All communications in the group should be written in a way that provides more context to members who would read them. They should be inviting to read and should encourage readers to respond. The following minimum information should be provided in the body of your message:- Current Location- Current Company- Current Role- Purpose for your request- Guidelines for posts

Job Postings: Job-related posts should be directed to the Jobs group. Please do not post these in your individual city groups, as they will be removed.

Meetups in Different Cities: If you are traveling to a different city, and wish to connect with local members, feel free to post in the relevant city group.

Promotion of Products/Services: Consistent with our previous policy, one email per quarter is allowed for a member promoting his/her product. [insert your own policy here, this is just an example]

Promotion of Events: Emails about events should be limited to events that are a clear fit with the overall vision.

Sharing Content: Articles should include something that states why the article is relevant, and members should be encouraged to include comments / questions, etc. There should be a clear reason why this article is being shared with the broader group.

The following types of content should not be sent out:– Unapproved requests for donations/fundraising (especially important for maintaining 501(c)(3) status)- Emails requesting capital/funds for a venture (unless relevant)- Repeated emails for self-promotion (typically, one email per quarter is allowed for a member promoting his/her product)- Requests for protected media/material (protected through copyright/membership/etc.)- Repeated emails (i.e. one member shares an article and a number of days later the article is shared again).- Members who repeatedly violate our policies regarding posting will be removed from the Mobilize platform.

Template #3 – Setting Expectations

Thank you for officially registering for [insert community name]! Throughout the next few weeks, we'll stagger the next steps to get everyone set up. The most important thing to do right now is to get comfortable with the space. The first big project won't start until everyone is on board.

How to use your new community space: When you registered for the ambassador program you got prompted to create an account. We'll use this platform to send all communication relevant to this community.

Introduce Yourself: Go ahead and introduce yourself and let everyone get to know you. Include details like your name, location and whatever fun facts to help us all get to know each other!

Spread Love About Our Community: You can add it to your email signature, website, social media profiles – simply copy the link in the browser and paste it where you like.

Welcome Post Examples (as promised & in action)

‍These welcome posts were created by our Director of Community Strategy, Alexis Luscutoff. You'll find them highlighted in our Best Practices and Mobilize Updates groups.

Short Intro & How to Participate

Cultural norms & guidelines

Relaunch Welcome Post

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We hope these templates help and we're excited to watch your community grow.