THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION’S SOCIAL MEDIA REFERENCE MANUAL

THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION’S SOCIAL MEDIA REFERENCE MANUAL | III

What’s All the Buzz About Social Media?

Social media has created a paradigm shift from a “one-to-many” broadcast model to a “many-to-many” conversational model of interaction and this necessitates a change in how foundations communicate. The rapid adoption of social media and social networking is compelling for organizations to develop a well thought out social media strategy and presence consistent with the organization’s strategic objectives, culture, and values.

The “word of mouth” approach to social media virally and rapidly disseminates your message by endorsements of friends and colleagues. In our fast-paced world, social networking has replaced face-time discussions with friends, family and colleagues about their company and product endorsements. Foundations can send educational, informative and entertaining messages to consumers to increase loyalty and engagement.

Traditional marketing strategies are not to be replaced with, but expanded by social media strategies. Corporate marketing strategies need to incorporate a social media and community building component to adapt to how partners and stakeholders are interacting.

The key question for most nonprofits is not whether social media can be useful—clearly, it can—but rather, how useful, how much time and effort is it likely to take, and what’s a reasonable expectation?

Whatever channel(s) you choose, you’ll need to consider how to integrate the channels with your other communications in terms of tone, message, data and policies. The ideal is to create a strategy to reach as many segments of your audience as possible, attracting and engaging supporters, and keeping them interested and informed. Remember, social media is not just a means to distribute one-sided requests or monologues. It’s a conversation.

Facebook Statistics

• 35 - 54 year old demo is growing 276.4% annually

• 55+ year old demo is growing 194.3% annually

• The average user spends 55 minutes per day

• More than 100 million active users access through their mobile devices

For Profit Companies

• 70% will increase spending in social media

• 64% of companies will increase budgets in search engine optimization

• 26% of companies are shifting budgets from traditional to digital channels

It is not just a medium for the young.AGE GROUP TWITTER FACEBOOK

12 to 17 18% 10%18 to 24 11% 25%25 to 34 33% 25%35 to 44 19% 17%45 to 54 12% 12%

55+ 7% 11%GENDER

Female 53% 56%Male 47% 44%

Statistics reported July 2010 by Facebook and www.edisonresearch.com

Social Media Drivers

• Increase Web site traffic

• Attract volunteers

• Engage Communities in Dialogue

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• Phase 1: Listen. Phase 2: Talk. Phase 3: Engage Dialogue.

• Start small, think big and scale quickly.

• Listen first. There are methods to compile and monitor the dialogue about your foundation. (Example: Twittersearch, Tweetdeck, Bloglines and Google Reader can pull all mentions into a single interface)

• Start conversations after you are informed.

• The most effective strategies focus in three categories: customer support, sales and marketing, and innovation and collaboration.

• Social media connects you to many stakeholders, donors and potential donors. Marketing in social media platforms can be accomplished in clever ways, but the content must be packaged in interesting ways to compel your contacts to share with others, thereby virally disseminating your message.

• Create a pitchengine.com account for online press releases.

• Take pride in your social media presence. If you have a Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn account, note it on your business cards, email signatures and your company homepage.

• Create a social media policy for your employees.

• Build backlinks to your web site from social media to increase search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine rankings.

• Overlap and incorporate social media into your web development and SEO.

• Make sure that at least 50% of your posts are NOT self promotion. Think about sharing information, starting dialogue and disseminating useful information.

• Establish a baseline minimum frequency and stick to it. Each medium has a different expectation on frequency referenced within the descriptions listed in greater detail later in the manual.

• Bottom line: Social media is a modern version of a “word of mouth”endorsement.Thekeyistoidentifyphilanthropicinfluencerswhowillengagewith your foundationand therebymarket your foundation to their circlesofinfluence.And,themediumisFREE.

• The social media phenomenon is here to stay. Customers are demandinginteraction.

• Conversationsaboutyourfoundationarehappeninginthesocialmediaspace.Thequestionis:doyouwantthemtohappenwithorwithoutyou?

• 85%ofAmericansbelieveanorganizationshouldnotonlybepresentbutalsointeractwithitsconsumersviasocialmedia.(OmnicomGroup,2009)

• Of the top-ten most visited web sites, four are social media platforms andaccountfor41%ofthetotaltimespentonallsites.(Compete.com,2009)

Best Practices

THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION’S SOCIAL MEDIA REFERENCE MANUAL | V

Measurement

What Can You Measure?

• Views• Followers, friends and fans• Engagement: Post depth provides an indication of whether your content is meaningful and relevant• Conversion: Online communication that creates real-world results

Ways To Measure Impact

• Track your volume of direct messaging to Groups. Direct messaging all members of a group is similar to email marketing or direct mail without any waste - print and/or mail. You do not have to guess if the members received the message in the ether. It is a direct send.

• Real-time search (comments made in social media) are now included in Google algorithms. In laymen’s terms, the more chatter about your organization online, the higher your rank in search engines such as Google. Many companies allocate significant resources to Google ads, this approach is organic and FREE.

• Track and monitor social media conversations via Tweet Search, Tweetdeck, Trackle, Social Mention, Viralheat, and / or Visible Technologies that alert you when online conversations happen.

• Provide direct links to a page on your web site and track the traffic for that campaign / posting period in relation to average traffic.

• Even better, test a few campaigns that direct link to a hidden web page (not visible in your web site menu tabs) and not promoted in any other medium.

• Use online news releases and press releases to drive social media campaigns to have breadth of your foundation available for online journalists, bloggers and social media influencers. These articles are searchable by topics and provide a direct link to the online release. You can drive traffic to your social mediums or you can track your social media activity from other marketing efforts by linking to pitchengine.com.

• Test your Organic search results for key word phrases. (Google deems backlinks as an indicator of relevancy)

• Ask your staff and core supporters to invite their personal friends to like the fan page or join group pages.

• Mention your social media forums in all eNewletters and on your web site.

Setting Expectations

• There is not a strong correlation or evidence thatsocial media drives fundraising. In the instances ofsuccessful fundraising, the organization allowedonline giving so the social media consumer canimmediately donate. Without an immediate call toaction and ability to meet that call to action, socialmedia becomes one of many channels to influencestakeholders.

• Social media has been successful in garneringvolunteers.

• Social media has directly increased web traffic,awarenessandengagement.

Association of Fundraising Professionals Poll Results of nonprofits

• 11%usesocialmedia,andmeasureitsvalue• 17%usesocialmedia,butcan’t/don’tmeasureactual

value• 39%usesocialmedia,can’t/don’tmeasureitsvalue,

butstillfeelit’snecessaryinordertoreachthegreatestnumberofdonorsandpotentialdonors

• 21%don’tcurrentlyusesocialmediabutplan to inthenearfuture

• 12%havenosocialmediaplans

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Before You Develop a Social Media Strategy

• Understand Social Media and How Each Channel Differs• Define Your Goals• Evaluate Specific Tools• Choose Your Communication Mix

• Devote a minimum of two hours per social media channel • Evaluate your staff resources before launching too many channels

(Source: Idealware, “The Nonprofit Social Media Decision Guide”, July 2010 )

Setting Goals for Your Social Media Strategy

Setting GoalsCheck off all of the reasons why you want to use social media with your organization.

• Reachayouthaudience

• Promoteanevent

• Buildexcitementpriortoanevent

• Getpeopletotakeaparticularaction

• Drawtraffictoaparticularonlineresource

• Buildyouremaillist

• Solicitdonationsforyourorganization

• Getsupporterstosolicitdonationsforyou

• Recruitingvolunteers

• Brandingyourstaffasexpertsonacauseorissue

• Gettingyourconstituentstotalktoeachother

• Gettingfeedbackfromyourconstituents

• Keepingyoursupportersupdatedonhappenings

• Buildingacommunityaroundaneventortopic

• Lettingsupporterspubliclysupportyourcause

• Disseminatinginformationaboutanissueortopic

• Recruitingnewmembers,advocatesorpatrons

• Supportingaparticulargroupofmembers,alumni,etc.

• Tellstoriesabouttheworkyoudo

• Getpresscoverage

• Connectwithotherlike-mindedorganizations

• Changingheartsandmindsonaparticulartopic

• Gatheringphotosorvideosfromsupporters

• Understandingwhatpeoplearesayingaboutyou

• Keepinguptodatewithaparticularissue

• Coordinatingpeopleinanactionoraproject

Goggle RankingsYoursite’srankinginGooglesearchresultsispartlybasedonanalysisofthosesitesthatlinktoyou.Thequantity,quality,andrelevanceoflinkscounttowardsyourrating.Thesesitesthatlinktoyoucanprovidecontextaboutthesubjectmatterofyoursite,andcanindicateitsqualityandpopularity. --GoogleWebmasterGuidelines

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Social Media ChannelsFacebook

Facebook allows you to set up a profile, and post updates, links, conversations, events, photos, videos, petitions, or even collect donations online. Friends and fans see updates without needing to navigate to your page, and can get involved in discussions with other supporters. It’s particularly good at increasing the level of feedback and discussion you have with supporters, driving traffic to your web site, and attracting people to specific events.

Time Investment: 8 to 16 hours up front to develop and conduct outreach. It’s likely to take two-to-four hours a week to manage on an ongoing basis.

(Time commitment includes posting updates, answering questions, and doing outreach. Nonprofits who devote three and a half hours per week reported substantial success versus moderate, but it is undetermined if the extra time ensures success or if more time is devoted because of the success.)

Attracting donations:

Facebookprovedtobethechannelforwhichnonprofitsreportthemostfundraisingsuccess.Forexample,theFacebook“birthday”campaign,whereusersaskfolkstodonatetoacauseinsupportoftheirownbirthdays,isawell-establishedtechniquethatcanoftenraiseafewhundreddollars.ItmakessensetothinkofFacebookmoreasaplatformforfriendstoaskotherfriendsformoneythanasaplacefortheorganizationitselftosolicitdonations.

Video how-to: John Haydon provides a great video at http://johnhaydon.com/2010/06/how-to-set-up-facebook-pageadmins/

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Facebook -- Do’s and Don’ts

DOS DON’TS1. CreateaFacebookfanpageforyourbusiness. 1.Spamorhardsell.Etiquetteistosocialize

notshoportoreceiveunwantedsolicitations.

2. AddFacebookapplicationstoenhanceyourfanpage.Mashable.comhas a nice list of applications for businesses, ranging from onlinevoicemailtofinanceapplications.

2.InvadeyourfansprivacyorviolateFacebook’stermsofuse.

3. RewardyourFacebookfanswithexclusiveeventinvitations,breakingnewsandinsiderinformation.

4. Engage your Facebook fans with creative content (games, recipes,quizzes,etc.)

5. Interact with your Facebook fans and respond to theirquestionsandconcerns

6. Consider using “Facebook Connect” to enhance your Web site withsocialnetworkingcapabilities.

7. Join Facebook groups associated to your nonprofit toimprovenetworking

8. InviteallofyourgranteestobecomeFriends

9. Uploadyouremailaddressestoinvitestakeholderstojoin.

10. Create surveys to compile market research and offer abenefitforcompletion.

11. Fanmediaoutletsandjournaliststhatcoverphilanthropy.

12. AddCausestoyourFacebookaccount,enablingyoutocollectemailaddressesanddownloadtheminaformatthatcanbemergedintootherdatabases.

13. It’sintheethos:Followthepeoplewhoarefollowingyou.

Example: When Burger King offered free burger

coupons to their Facebook fans who “un-friended”

ten friends the social networking site pulled the

plug on the promotion. This violates the Web site’s

ethos of establishing (not severing) connections.

Facebook Users Responded:

• 38% said they would definitely look for aFacebookpageforanyorganizationwithwhichtheywereconsideringvolunteering.

• 43%ofrespondentswhouseitdailysaidtheywouldlookforavolunteerorganizationspage

• 9% said they would be concerned aboutvolunteeringforanorganizationwithouta lotoffriends

“Your employees, if given the right incentives and tools, can become the biggest champions of your brand. They are the most important audience in any brand effort because they both deliver the brand experience and influence public opinion.”

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Social Media Channels

Twitter lets you send out a stream of short messages called “tweets”—for instance, updates about what you’re doing, or links to resources of interest. People can choose to “follow” your tweets, and if they particularly like one they can “retweet” it (post it again so their own followers see it), potentially exponentially increasing you audience. People tend not to read tweets all the time, or to actually listen to everyone they’re officially “following” through Twitter, so it’s not necessarily a reliable method of reaching any one person. Think of it like a radio station—you’re broadcasting into the ether, and some people are listening, but it’s hard to know who.

Twitter is particularly good for connecting with like-minded organizations and the media, asking questions, and providing very frequent updates. Twitter is for tech-savvy people. Thus, the Science & Technology Working Group and grant selection would be a wonderful campaign trial.

Time Investment: Expect to devote about two hours a week to manage a Twitter feed.

Nonprofits are finding Twitter useful

• Connecting with like-minded organizations. 7% of nonprofit Twitter users mentioned they’ve had success connecting topartnersandotherorganizationsinthesamespace.

• Connectingwiththemedia.Postingabouttalksandresourcesontargetissuescanshowcaseyourexpertise,makingyouapossiblesourceforastory.Followingrelevanthashtagscanalsoletyoujumpintoansweraquestioninyourareaofexpertise,whichoftenarepostedbyreporters.

• Askingquestions.It’ssurprisinglyeasytoenticeTwitterfollowerstorespond.Postingquestionstowhichyouactuallywanttoknowtheanswer(asopposedtojustconversationstarters)cansometimesgenerateusefulanswers.

• Engagingpeoplewithfrequentupdates.Peopleexpectpostsatleastonceortwiceaday,butyoucaneasilypostfiveormorewithoutraisingeyebrows.

• Providingnear-real-timeupdates.• Coordinatingagroupinrealtime.BecauseTwitterintegratessowellwithcellphones,itcanalsobeagreatwaytocoordinate

agroupthatisn’tallco-located—forinstance,atarally,orwhencoordinatingasimultaneousactionindifferentpartsofthecountry.Italsoeasilysupportsdecentralizedcommunication.Yourgroupcanallfollowaparticularhashtag,like#myrally,andseeanythingpostedbygroupmembersthatincludesthatkeyword.

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DOS DON’TS1. Rememberthemaximumlengthofatweetis140characters.(Most

userssendfromtheircellphone.SavvydesktopTweetersusersuseTweetDeckorHootSuitethatallowsamoresophisticatedmanagementofincomingandoutgoingtweets.

1.Automatetweetsunlessyoumonitortheresponse.(YoucansetupyourTweetsinTweetDecktosendattimedintervalsandcheckintomonitorresponses.Thisisgreatwhenyoucansetasidetimetodevelopastrategyforafewweeksoramonth.)

2. Engageindialogue–queryyouraudience.Listentoyourfollowers.Respond.Thinkofsocialmediaasasocializingplatform.Providemeaningfulcontentthatyourfollowerswouldretweet.

2.Tweetunrelatedsearchtermstoincreaserankings.

3. Humanizeyourtweets–theseare140-charactertweetsnotpressreleases.It’soktospeakinformallyorhaveasenseofhumor.Organizationsoftenidentifytheemployee(s)behindthetweetingwithapictureandname.

3.Spam.Again,socializeyourmarketingmessages.

4. Re-tweetcontentthatyoufindinteresting.Promoteothers.ItisexpectedonTwitter.Ifyoudon’tfollowtheetiquettefollowersmaystopdisseminatingyourmessages.

4.Beafraidtoaskyourfollowerswhattheywanttoknowaboutyourfoundation.

5. Usehashtags(the#symbol)toprecedeakeywordtotrytoreachacertaingroup.(Forexample,#nonprofitwillflagyourpostasrelatingtononprofitandwillmorelikelybeseenbythosewhofollowthatstream.

6. TrackconversationsmentioningyourfoundationwithTwitterSearch,Googlealertsandtweetdeck.com.

7. UseTwellow.comtoidentifygeographicgroupsand/orpeoplewholistaninterestinphilanthropyandnonprofits.Followthemandhopetheyreturnthefavor.

8. Rewardyourfollowerswithexclusiveeventinvitations,breakingnewsandinsiderinformation.

9. UseTwittertoadvertisejobopenings.

10. Followexpertsandotherfoundations.

11. Followmediaoutletsandjournaliststhatcoverphilanthropy.

12. UseTwitterListstoorganizeandmanagefollowersbystakeholdersegments–board,volunteers,donors,prospects,etc.

13. It’sintheethos:Followthepeoplewhoarefollowingyou.

Twitter -- Do’s and Don’ts

Twitter Usage:ComcastusesTwitterasacustomerserviceresponder.BymonitoringTweetdeck,youcanseethechatteraboutyouandrespond.Youcanevenencouragefollowerstosubmitqueriesviasocialmedia.

Twitter Users Responded About Usage:

• 62%Tolearnaboutnewresources

• 62%Topostaboutwhattheyaredoing

• 59%Tokeepupwithaparticularissue

• 52%Tomarketaspecificserviceorcause

• 47%Tokeepupwithaparticulargroupofpeople

• 18%BecauseIamlearningaboutTwitter

• 11%Becausealotofmypeersare

• 5%Forentertainment

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Social Media Channels

Blogs are an online site -- told from a personal perspective -- where one or more people post fairly frequent updates about what’s going on in the organization. They can be particularly useful to showcase your organization’s expertise (thus attracting press or clients), educating people on a particular topic, engaging people with stories of your work, or promoting resources on your web site.

While a number of organizations gain a lot of value from blogs, the vast majority of nonprofits have been disappointed with the results. This is partially due to the origin of the blog-o-sphere. Blogs originated as a medium for individuals to voice their opinions or expertise. Thus, a best practice is to have a thought leader from the nonprofit develop a blog or refrain.

A blog started and then abandoned is worse than no blog at all. Fortunately, a blog doesn’t have to be a one-person job. Multiple staff members could each have a commitment to blog twice a month, spreading the workload. Additionally, a volunteer could blog. Or, consider asking a number of well-known people in your field to blog for your organization, making it a hub of conversation. These contributors will likely promote the blog to their circle of influence to further disseminate your message. This approach requires time managment and doesn’t necessarily mean no time invested.

Time Investment: Expect a relatively skilled writer (or writers) to spend three to eight hours per week updating a blog, (writing, following related blogs and responding to comments) which means it’s not a given that you’ll get a good return on your time—especially if you don’t have specific expertise to showcase. If you decide to launch, try WordPress.

Recommendation: Assess in phase II -- For The San Diego Foundation, a nonprofit resource blog or forum for board governance and capacity building may be explored.

Success Factors:

• Publicizingyourexpertise.Ifyouhaveoneormoreexpertsonatopic(forinstance,askingthemtoblogorevenghost-writeablogpostcanincreasetheirpublicstature,leadingtomorepartnerships,pressordonations.

• Promotingyourcauseoreducatingpeople.Thecommunicationstyleismoreinformal.Thus,wecouldencouragetheprogramgrantingstoriesanddonor-advisedgrantingstories.

• Tellingstoriesaboutyourday-to-daywork.Storiesoftheday-to-dayencounters.• Engagingpeopleinyourdecisions,oryourwork.• Promotingyourwebsiteandonlineinformation.

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Social Media Channels

Photo Sharing Web sites like Flickr provide functionality to post and share photos on the web. Maintaining a continuing presence on these sites is not as important as on many other social media sites, so you could potentially use them only for particular events or purposes.

Time Investment: Posting photos is relatively quick—you could post 10 photos from an event in half an hour—but consistently maintaining a stream of photos to catch attention and build a particular group could take an hour a week or more.

Recommendation: Assess in phase II.

Video Sharing Web sites like YouTube allow you to display and build community around your videos. As with photo sharing sites, the majority of organizations were using these sites primarily to easily upload and share videos rather than in more “social” ways.

Time Investment: The primary time consideration with these sites is the time it takes to create the video itself. If you have one already, you can set up an account and upload it in less than an hour, but polished videos take days, weeks or even months to create.

Recommendation: Assess in phase II.

LinkedIn is targeted at professionals interested in networking. A LinkedIn profile is essentially a resume. Each person can link their profile to other people they know—when you link to people you see their profiles and the entire list of people they know, providing an interesting way to look for connections.

As an organization, you can create a LinkedIn group for people to join. Hosts or members can hold discussions, post resources of interest, or create a job board. Members can also ask questions posed not only to group members, but to their contacts as well, essentially tapping into an extended network of people.

Time Investment: Expect two to four hours per week initially with ongoing implementation requiring one hour per week.

Recommendation: Rollout in Phase I.

MySpace Research shows that not many nonprofits are involved. With MySpace’s large emphasis on music and musicians, it is essentially a niche social media site.

Recommendation: No rollout planned.

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The San Diego Foundation’s Social Media Policy for Employees

This policy governs the publication of and commentary on social media by employees of The San Diego Foundation and its related companies (“The Foundation”). For the purposes of this policy, social media means any facility for online publication and commentary, including without limitation blogs, wiki’s, social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube. This policy is in addition to and complements any existing or future policies regarding the use of technology, computers, e-mail and the internet.

The Foundation’s employees are free to publish or comment via social media in accordance with this policy. The Foundation employees are subject to this policy to the extent they identify themselves as a The Foundation’s employee (other than as an incidental mention of place of employment in a personal blog on topics unrelated to The Foundation).

Publication and commentary on social media carries similar obligations to any other kind of publication or commentary.

All uses of social media must follow the same ethical standards that The Foundation’s employees must otherwise follow.

Setting up social media

Assistance in setting up professional social media accounts (not personal) and their settings can be obtained from The Foundation’s Director of Marketing.

Social media identities, logon ID’s and user names may not use The Foundation’s name without prior approval from the VP of Marketing & External Affairs.

Your professional profile (does not pertain to personal accounts) on social media sites must be consistent with your profile on the The Foundation’s website or other Foundation publications. Profile information may be obtained from the Director of Marketing.

Only official Foundation photographs with approval from the individuals in the pictures can be posted. Please see MarCom for Foundation-approved photographs.

Don’t tell secrets

It’s perfectly acceptable to talk about your work and have a dialog with the community, but it’s not okay to publish confidential information. Confidential information includes things such as unpublished details about our software, details of current projects, financial information, research, and trade secrets. We must respect the wishes of our donors and stakeholders regarding the confidentiality of current projects. We must also be mindful of the competitiveness of our industry.

Protect your own privacy

Privacy settings on social media platforms should be set to allow anyone to see profile information similar to what would be on the The Foundation’s web site. Other privacy settings that might allow others to post information or see information that is personal should be set to limit access. Be mindful of posting information that you would not want the public to see.

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Be honest

Do not blog anonymously, using pseudonyms or false screen names. We believe in transparency and honesty. Use your real name, be clear who you are, and identify that you work for The Foundation. Nothing gains you notice in social media more than honesty - or dishonesty. Do not say anything that is dishonest, untrue, or misleading. If you have a vested interest in something you are discussing, point it out. But also be smart about protecting yourself and your privacy. What you publish will be around for a long time, so consider the content carefully and also be cautious about disclosing personal details.

Respect copyright laws

It is critical that you show proper respect for the laws governing copyright and fair use or fair dealing of copyrighted material owned by others, including The Foundation’s own copyrights and brands. You should never quote more than short excerpts of someone else’s work, and always attribute such work to the original author/source. It is good general practice to link to others’ work rather than reproduce it.

Obtain permission before posting pictures of others or of copyrighted work. Images on the internet are often copyrighted. Do not use any images or graphics without explicit authorization.

Respect your audience, The Foundation, and your coworkers.

The public in general, and The Foundation’s employees and customers, reflect a diverse set of customs, values and points of view. Don’t say anything contradictory or in conflict with the The Foundation’s website. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, but do so respectfully. This includes not only the obvious (no ethnic slurs, offensive comments, defamatory comments, personal insults, obscenity, etc.) but also proper consideration of privacy and of topics that may be considered objectionable or inflammatory - such as politics and religion. Use your best judgment and be sure to make it clear that the views and opinions expressed are yours alone and do not represent the official views of The Foundation.

Protect donors, volunteers, partners and suppliers

Donors, volunteers, partners and suppliers should not be cited or obviously referenced without their approval. Never identify a donor, volunteer, partner or supplier by name without permission and never discuss confidential details of a donor engagement.

Controversial issues

If you see misrepresentations made about The Foundation in the media, you may point that out. Always do so with respect and with the facts. If you speak about others, make sure what you say is factual and that it does not disparage that party. Avoid arguments. Brawls may earn traffic, but nobody wins in the end. Don’t try to settle scores or goad competitors or others into inflammatory debates. Make sure what you are saying is factually correct.

Be the first to respond to your own mistakes.

If you make an error, be up front about your mistake and correct it quickly. If you choose to modify an earlier post, make it clear that you have done so. If someone accuses you of posting something improper (such as their copyrighted material or a defamatory comment about them), deal with it quickly - better to remove it immediately to lessen the possibility of a legal action.

Think about consequences

For example, consider what might happen if a Foundation employee is in a meeting with a donor or prospect, and someone pulled out a print-out of your blog or post.

Once again, it’s all about judgment.

Disclaimers

Wherever practical, you must use a disclaimer saying that while you work for The Foundation, anything you publish is your personal opinion, and not necessarily the opinions of The Foundation.

The Director of Marketing can provide you with applicable disclaimer language and assist with determining where and how to use that.

Don’t forget your day job

Make sure that social media activity does not interfere with your job or commitments to The Foundation.

Social media tips

The following tips are not mandatory, but will contribute to successful use of social media.

The best way to be interesting, stay out of trouble, and have fun is to write about what you know. There is a good chance of being embarrassed by a real expert, or of being boring if you write about topics you are not knowledgeable about.

Quality matters. Use a spell-checker. If you’re not design-oriented, ask someone who is whether your blog looks decent, and take their advice on how to improve it.

The speed of being able to publish your thoughts is both a great feature and a great downfall of social media. The time to edit or reflect must be self-imposed. If in doubt over a post, or if something does not feel right, either let it sit and look at it again before publishing it, or ask someone else to look at it first.