The new Facebook Timeline for Pages design provides nonprofits a great opportunity to make a strong first impression on potential new fans. My graphic design skills are average at best – as the graphics on the new Nonprofit Organizations Timeline attest to, but I have detailed the how-to of custom designing your nonprofit’s Facebook Timeline below. I will also be demonstrating click-by-click the new Facebook Timeline Admin Panel, the how-to of custom designing a Facebook Timeline, and how to create custom tabs in my upcoming webinars on Facebook and Facebook Apps for Nonprofits.

1) Upload a Timeline Cover :: 850 Pixels X 315 Pixels

To upload a Timeline Cover to your nonprofit’s Facebook Page, simply hover your mouse over the area at the top of your page where cover photos are featured and an “Add a Cover or Change Cover” pop-down menu will appear that will allow you upload a cover photo:

NOTE: Facebook’s policies on Timeline banners are as follows: 1) No price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website.” 2) No contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section. 3) References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features. 4) Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”.

2) Upload a Profile Picture :: 180 Pixels X 180 Pixels

Next, hover over your nonprofit’s avatar and upload a profile picture. As I have said many, many times your avatar a.k.a. profile picture must be square otherwise it gets cropped when you post status updates a.k.a. stories to the news feed. Building a powerful visual brand of your nonprofit’s avatar is crucial on all social networking sites and a cropped, messy logo a.k.a. avatar is an absolutely worst practice:

3) Upload Application Icons :: 111 Pixels X 74 Pixels

Finally, an exciting new design option for Facebook Timeline is the ability to upload custom images for your custom tabs. To begin, select the applications drop down menu > the pencil icon for the app icon that you want to edit > Edit Settings > Change Custom Tab Image > Change Page Tab Image > Upload your custom app icon:

Related Links:
Webinars: How Nonprofits can Successfully Use Facebook and Facebook Apps :: Beginner/Intermediate and Advanced
11 Inspiring Nonprofit Facebook Timelines