This document provides guidance on developing social media policies for organizations. It discusses establishing expectations for social media use, educating staff, protecting brands, and avoiding legal issues. The document recommends involving social media users in policy development, teaching the policy, allowing for personal connections, and regularly reviewing policies. Effective policies balance rules with guidelines, focus on successes rather than failures, and link social media use to organizational values.

1. Setting the Boundaries:
Developing Social Media
Policies for Your Organization

2. CanadaHelps.org
What is CanadaHelps?
A public charitable foundation that provides accessible and
affordable online technology to both donors and charities.
For Charities
A cost-effective means of raising funds online.
For Donors
A one-stop-shop for giving.
CanadaHelps is a charity helping charities.

3. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 3

4. About PwC
PwC provides industry focused assurance, advisory and tax services
for public, private and government clients in four areas:
• Corporate Accountability
• Risk management
• Structuring and mergers and acquisitions
• Performance and process improvement
Part of a global network of firms – 154,000 people in 153 countries
PwC service areas include our multi-disciplinary Not for Profit and
Sustainable Business Solutions Practices
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 4

5. PwC Canada Foundation
PwC established a charitable Foundation in 2004.
Its mission is to help
build and empower community leadership
by helping employees sharing their time, expertise
and resources.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 5

6. PwC community impacts
The total number of volunteer hours donated by PwC employees
during work hours over the past seven years.
90,000
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP 6

7. How PwC looks at the work of our sector
Thought Leadership Publication:
Capacity Building: Investing in
not-for-profit effectiveness
Read more about the initiative:
www.pwc.com/ca/capacitybuilding
Twitter: @CSRjames
James Temple
Director, Corporate Responsibility,
PwC
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

8. Who Are You?

9. What are we
so afraid of?

10. “Engaging in social media
requires a shift in the way
companies view themselves and
their relationships with
[stakeholders].”
• Social Fish & Croydon Consulting Social Media, Risk and Policies
for Associations

14. Everyone has a megaphone

15. GETTING STARTED

16. Don’t
start with
a desire
to
CONTROL

17. Start with a
desire to use
• the tools
Your starting point should be to maximize the potential of social media for your
organization.
effectively

18. Do you need a social media policy?
Zappos: Be real and use your best
judgment.

19. Benefits of a social media policy
• Setting expectations
• Educating staff and volunteers
• Protecting your brand
• Avoiding legal liability
• Clarifying the reasons you use social media

20. Before you begin:
Review existing policies

21. Before you begin:
Develop your social media plan

22. Before you begin:
Clarify roles & responsibilities

23. Before you
begin:
Identify the
risks for your
organization

24. What are the biggest
risks for your
organization?

25. WHAT A SOCIAL MEDIA
POLICY IS NOT

26. A social media policy is not a guarantee
against mistakes

27. A static
document
that never
gets
reviewed

28. A staff management tool

29. WHAT A GOOD SOCIAL
MEDIA POLICY IS

30. An opportunity to educate and create
dialogue with staff.

31. A balance between RULES and
GUIDELINES for success.

32. A chance to
review your
social media
strategy.

33. YOUR POLICY

34. Elements of a Successful Social Media Policy
• Clarity
– Avoid legalese
– Use bullet points
• Light, Casual Tone
– Avoid punitive language
– Focus on the DOs, not the DON’Ts
• Practical
– Keep it short and easy to implement
– Should be intuitive to follow (i.e. people shouldn’t have to find
the policy before posting, or they won’t use it)

35. Anatomy of a Social Media Policy
1. What the policy covers
2. How your organization uses
social media
3. Link social media to your
values and culture
4. Elements of the policy
5. Consequences & discipline
6. Who to contact with
questions and concerns

36. Preamble
• Explain:
– Who the policy applies to
– What types of sites and/or social media tools are
covered
– When and how updates will be communicated

37. These are the official guidelines for social
media use on behalf of Social Fish. If you’re
a Social Fish employee, intern or contractor
creating or contributing to any kind of social
media… these guidelines are for you.
- Social Fish social media guidelines

38. How your
organization
uses social
media
• Marketing and publicity
• Fundraising, donor engagement
and retention
• Connecting with others around
your cause
• Building relationship and online
community
• Collaboration and collective action
• Sharing expertise on our issues
• Movement building and social
change

39. As a company, we encourage communication
among our employees, customers, partners and
others – and [social media tools] can be great ways
to stimulate conversation and discussion.
- Oracle Social Media Participation Policy

40. Link social media to
your values and culture

41. The vision of the Coca-Cola Company to achieve
sustainable growth online and offline is guided by
certain shared values that we live by as an
organization and as individuals:
Leadership, Collaboration, Integrity,
Accountability, Passion, Diversity, Quality
- The Coca-Cola Company Online Social Media Principles

42. • Alternately, develop a set of social media
“guiding principles”
If you participate in social media, please follow
these guiding principles:
- Stick to your area of expertise
- Post meaningful, respectful comments
- Always pause before posting
- Respect proprietary information and content
- When disagreeing with others’ opinions, keep it
appropriate and polite
- Know and follow the Intel Code of Conduct and the Intel
Privacy Policy
- Intel Social Media Guidelines

43. THE HEART
OF YOUR
POLICY

44. RESPONSIBILITY
• Indicate that people
are responsible for
what they post

45. You are responsible for your actions. Anything you
post that can potentially tarnish the company’s
image will ultimately be your responsibility. We do
encourage you to participate in the online social
media space, but urge you to do so properly,
exercising sound judgment and common sense.
- Coca-Cola’s Online Social Media Principles

46. The “Anonymous”
Supporter

47. TRANSPARENCY
• Be clear about
who you really
are

48. Don’t be a mole. Never pretend to be someone else
and post about DePaul. Tracking tools enable
supposedly anonymous posts to be tracked back to
their authors. There have been several high-profile
and embarrassing cases of company executives
anonymously posting about their own
organizations.
- DePaul University Social Media Guidelines

49. • Let your
unique
personality
shine through
PERSONALITY

50. Identification on Social Media Tools
• How should your employees, volunteers, consultants
identify themselves on social media tools?
• CanadaHelps
• Kirstin Beardsley – with a
mention about where I work
• Kirstin@CanadaHelps

51. Transparency of Origin.
Dell requires that employees and other company
representatives disclose their employment with Dell
(e.g. Richard@Dell) in all communications with
customers, the media or other Dell stakeholders
when speaking on behalf of Dell.
- Dell’s Online Policies

52. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
• How do we show personality?
• How should employees represent
their affiliation with our
organization?

53. The Not-So-Savvy
Marketer

54. COPYRIGHT
• Your policy should
direct people to
respect copyrights,
trademarks and
other proprietary
marks

55. Respect copyrights. You must recognize and respect
others’ intellectual property rights, including
copyrights. While certain limited use of third-party
materials (ex. quotes that you will comment on)
may not always require approval from the copyright
owner, it is still advisable to get the owner’s
permission whenever you use third-party material.
Never use more than a short excerpt from someone
else’s work, and make sure to credit and, if possible,
link to the original source.
- Oracle Social Media Participation Policy

56. It’s a conversation
• Coach social
media users
to listen as
much or
more than
they
promote

57. Us You
Them

58. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
• Who needs to understand
copyrights?
• How do we balance promotion
and conversation?

59. The Eager Newbie

60. PROPRIETARY INFORMATION
• Your policy should explicitly state that no private,
confidential or proprietary information can be shared

61. PERSONAL INFORMATION
• Include a reference to your privacy policy and a
reminder that it applies to social media

62. Protection of Confidential and Proprietary
Information. Dell employees and other company
representatives must maintain the confidentiality of
information considered Dell company confidential,
including company data, customer data, partner
and/or supplier data, personal employee data, and
any information not generally available to the
public.
- Dell’s Online Policies

63. Don’t Tell Secrets. It’s perfectly acceptable to talk
about your work and have a dialogue with the
community, but it’s not okay to publish confidential
information. Confidential information includes
things such as unpublished details about software,
details of current projects, future product ship
dates, financial information, research and trade
secrets.
- Sample Nonprofit social media policy @
www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com

64. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
• What confidential and proprietary
information do we need to make
sure people aren’t posting?
• How do we handle privacy online?

65. The Passionate
Defender

66. RESPECT
• Clearly state expectations around respect:
– Don’t get into fights
– Disagree in a calm, logical manner
– Correct factual errors in a polite way
– Don’t respond to angry, disrespectful people
– Don’t escalate a disagreement

67. Examples
Avoid personal attacks, online fights, and hostile
personalities.
Build a reputation of trust among your peers,
clients, media and the public.
- Edelman Online Behavior Policies and Procedures

68. EXERCISE GOOD JUDGEMENT
• Accuracy of information
• Don’t offer advice
• Think about connections

69. Be Respectful.
Anything you post in your role as a Vanderbilt
employee reflects on the institution. Be
professional and respectful at all times on social
media sites. Do not engage in arguments or
extensive debates with naysayers on your site.
- Vanderbilt University Social Media Handbook

70. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
• Which people at your organization
need to hear about your policy?

71. The Social
Media
Addict

72. PRODUCTIVITY
• Include a
statement about
the need to ensure
that all of your
employee’s work is
getting done

73. Don’t forget your day job. You should make sure
that your online activities do not interfere with your
job and commitments to customers.
- IBM Social Computing Guidelines

74. Adding value
• Write about what
you know
• Don’t spam
• Post when you
have something
meaningful to
share

75. MEASURE RESULTS
Track the
effectiveness of
your social
media presence

76. The Activist

77. PERSONAL USE
OF SOCIAL
MEDIA
• Remind employees
that their personal
posts could impact
your organization’s
reputation

78. A common practice among individuals who write
about the industry in which they work is to include
a disclaimer on their site, usually on their “About
Me” page… We suggest you include a sentence
similar to: “The views expressed on this [blog, Web
site] are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect
the views of DePaul University.
- DePaul University Personal Site Guidelines

79. HANDLING MISTAKES
Create specific guidelines about how you want people to
handle their mistakes:
• Respond quickly, apologize, be real

81. CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS

84. TERMS OF USE
• Create a separate
policy or Terms of
Use document for
social media sites
that you run and/or
moderate

85. • Terms of Use:
– Statement of purpose for the community
– Community rules around respect
– Moderation and deletion of comments
– Privacy statement
– How you will use the posts (i.e. marketing
material, fundraising etc…)
– Prohibited posts

86. •What stands out for you?
•What are the most
important sections for your
organization’s policy?

87. TIPS & REMINDERS

88. Involve social media users
• Invite the people in your organization who use social
media to comment on and contribute to your policy

89. Teach the policy
• Don’t expect the
document alone to
work

90. Leave room for personality
• Social networks are about personal connections –
don’t undermine that

91. Don’t reinvent the wheel
• Review other policies and borrow liberally
• Good policies to look at: IBM, Oracle, Dell, Intel and
Coca-Cola

92. Review the Policy Regularly
• Things change
quickly online!

93. Let Go!
• You can’t always be
in control

94. Questions
THANK YOU!
kirstin@canadahelps.org
@CanadaHelps
www.mycharityconnects.org

95. A very special thanks to our Sponsor!
The PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada Foundation (PwC)
www.slideshare.com/mycharityconnects
kirstin@canadahelps.org