The Annual Giving Exchange

If you have not yet incorporated social media into your annual giving strategy, it’s probably for one of three reasons:

* You don’t know how

* You don’t think it’s important

* You’re not sure what’s considered “acceptable” by your organization

While the first two reasons are easily overcome with time and good advice, the third can be overcome by having a social media policy.  But creating a policy and establishing helpful guidelines without appearing to censor the honest and transparent conversations of social media participants is not an easy task.

Technology giant Intel has developed a good social media policy. Click here to read a copy on the company’s Website. These guidelines, which apply to all employees and contractors, are summarized by, “the good, the bad, but not the ugly.” They imply that when content is positive or negative and related to the conversation, it will be approved whether it’s favorable or unfavorable to the company. However, if the content is offensive or unrelated to the conversation, it will be rejected.

Your organization likely has many supporters and many critics.  Let social media be an open space for both of them to speak their minds.  Watch them, listen to them, and learn from them. Don’t try to control what they say unless it’s ugly or off topic. Good news travels fast, but giving your critics an opportunity to voice their opinion is sometimes the best way to earn their trust.