According to PewResearch, 73% of online adults are using some type of social networking platform. This is not very surprising considering the number of social networks springing up each year. Whether you’re a small organization with a staff of 10 or less, or a large nationally recognized organization, it’s important to have a social media strategy in place to stay engaged with your supporters and leverage the different social media platforms to promote your initiatives.

Here are some tips that your organization should consider when planning it’s strategy:

First and foremost, set an internal social media policy.

Before you begin creating your organization’s social profiles, make sure you have a policy in place. Create a communications guideline that your staff can get behind and tohelp support your social media efforts. For example, what types of social media platforms will you participate in? Who is responsible for responding to questions and queries from social media? To ensure your organization has a successful social presense, make sure you have the proper staff members available and willing to respond to social posts accordingly (P.S.-Don’t give your interns the keys to the castle). Finally, be sure to create a social calendar for yourself and your staff members, so that your entire team can stay on top of the activities and upcoming posts.

Define your goals and know your audience.

Another important aspect to consider when developing your social media strategy is to make sure your organizational goals are defined for your entire staff, top to bottom. Make sure to think about what you want accomplished throughout your social media campaigns. Do you want to build a bigger following and gain brand exposure? Do you want to promote a program or initiative? Whatever your goals may be, tailor your social media strategy around them.

Once you’ve identified your goals, take some time to do research on your audience. Use your organization’s database software to determine demographics of the clients you are serving. Keep in mind the levels of technical acumen, such as the tech-savvy millennials, as folks that are newer to social platforms. Embrace all that make up your audience and plan accordingly.

Be consistent and engaging.

So, now that you have your social media goals defined and audience identified, it’s time to consider your social editorial calendar. Develop a social calendar as a reference for your organization to create a consistent posting schedule among your social networks. If your organization has a blog, use social media to promote your blog posts and tell your story! You can also use visual images captured while delivering your organization’s mission to populate your social networks. Don’t forget to engage with your supporters by interacting with them and responding to any comments they have. And most importantly, always respond in a positive manner.

How is your nonprofit using social media? Let us know in the comments below. You can also give us a shout if you have a great idea for our next blog post our just want to share some tips/advice to your fellow nonprofits professionals. Need a little extra inspiration to help develop your social media strategy? Check out this list of the Top 50 Nonprofits on Social Media.