You probably consider your shelter or rescue group to be a nonprofit organization. But when you identify what category your Facebook page should be listed in, is that the designation you choose?

The first reason you might want to list yourself as a nonprofit rather than a pet service, community or animal shelter is this: Facebook has created a new “Donate” button, and it’s only available to pages listed in the “Nonprofit” category. So if you want people to be able to easily donate to your organization when they visit your Facebook page, and particularly at the time they first “like” it, that’s a powerful motivator.

But it’s not the only reason you should choose “nonprofit” as your page’s category.

First, animal welfare groups often don’t think of themselves as being part of the larger nonprofit world. This means they miss out on tips, tools, relationships and experiences that can greatly expand their lifesaving and improve organizational sustainability. Owning that category for your shelter or rescue group can remind you every day that you’re part of that network.

Second, while Facebook currently doesn’t have a nonprofit program offering free advertising for pages with that designation, they probably will at some point. And just as they first rolled out the “Donate now” button to those pages, they’ll almost certainly roll out nonprofit advertising as well.

Third, while adoption, fostering and volunteering are local — and a reason to list yourself as a local organization or business instead of as a nonprofit — donations and sharing are not local. Many organizations have dedicated supporters who don’t live in their geographic area, and your posts may not be shown to those individuals because they’re not in your community.

Finally, seeing you listed as a nonprofit organization can give potential volunteers, donors and adopters confidence in you — an effect that may be entirely unconscious but can still matter.

Convinced, and want to get that “Donate now” button on your page? Here’s how:

1. Make sure you’re logged into an account with admin status on the page.
2. Go to your page.
3. Click on “Create Call to Action” on your page’s cover photo, or, if you already have a call to action, click on the arrow and select “Edit call to action” from the drop-down menu.
4. Select “Donate now” as your button.
5. Add your donation link (usually to your website but can be to a GoFundMe or similar page).
6. Save!