Has anyone used the facebook ads to increase visability on FB?
Has it worked?
Do you get more *fans*, and then does that ever translate into new benefactors?
WHat's your take on this?
Is it worth it?
Haven't tried FB ads, but Google Adwords have been less than stellar. Ran them for around 6 months at a cost of between $30-$50 a month. Usually got about 100-120 clicks a month.
If you're really planning on making a huge splash in FB...maybe some sort of application...I could see it making sense...but I think building a decent Twitter/FB presence more organically makes the most sense.
Also, make sure that your new website is fully integrated with Google Webmaster Tools (e.g. site map & indexing). SEO is still an important way to build site traffic.
Good luck!
... and, just to expand on what catholicservant has stated: make sure you have good content on your site! Proofread, spellcheck, make it concise, and make it good enough that people will actually want to read it :-)

I personally haven't dealt with Facebook ads yet. I'm still experimenting with Google Ads, but not getting a lot of ROI so far. Facebook ads have great potential, but I'd like to see more studies on the most effective ads' traits.
Advancing the faith.