Facebook have launched a new initiative called Workplace for Good. This offers makes their paid Workplace product, available to all educational institutions and not-for-profits, for free. Normally US$3.00 per month, per person, Workplace is currently being used by thousands of nonprofits and educational institutions and with the price now being free, will likely draw many, many more thousands to the platform.
If you’re not familiar with Workplace, its a communication platform that supports live video calls, Groups, News Feed, Events, Bots and even intergrations like single sign-on. Cost-constrained educators across the country will now be able to share best practices, recognize outstanding achievements, talk with experts, and discover new and better ways of working. A number of top Australian educational institutions are already using this technology, such as Australian Catholic University.
Facebook’s Managing Director and Vice President of Australia and New Zealand, Will Easton said,
Since Workplace by Facebook launched globally almost 18 months ago, we’ve seen thousands of non-profits and educational institutions transform the way they communicate and coordinate work through our platform.
The ability to work together quickly and effectively is critical for these organisations. At Facebook we recognise this and want to support the fantastic work of such organisations; Workplace for Good will provide a critical communications tool to industries that often face resource constraints.
ACU uses Workplace to help promote environmental sustainability initiatives across eight campuses and two continents connected and engaged in wanting change.
National Sustainability Manager, Australian Catholic University, Mark Doggett said,
Workplace was important to the introduction of reusable coffee cups for sale on campus and the push to convince all of the cafe operators to offer a discount for reusable cups.
Prior to Workplace, the two things were acknowledged as good, in principle, but there was no sense that they really mattered. But Workplace exposed that assumption as wrong – and to the right person who treated it as a real issue, and increased its priority. Now we’ve got it, after a few years of merely wishful thinking.
Alongside Workplace for Good, Facebook also created a special Multi-Company Group on Workplace. Workplace for Good is a dedicated space for people from nonprofit or educational institutions to create their own community, ask questions, share tips, and swap best practices. It’s open to anybody with a Workplace account.
#ImpactCloud is a coalition of technology companies including Workplace, Salesforce, Box, Okta, and Microsoft, who are working together to help accelerate digital transformation and impact for humanitarian and disaster relief organizations. Facebook have renewed their investment in this area and will continue to help in the event of future natural disasters.
To find out more about Workplace for Good, head over to facebook.com/workplace/workplaceforgood
