Social media platforms are varied and you have multiple options to choose from. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and your website or blog, are all great ways to raise an awareness of your organisation or business. These platforms allow you to share stories and images, let your community and supporters know what’s going on behind the scenes, what events are coming up, and the good that you and your NFP are doing. They’re also a great way to involve and include others, and foster a strong connection with your community.

While providing an array of opportunities for you, there are a lot of things to be aware of when using these platforms.

One of the most common errors organisations and business make on social media is the breaching of copyright rules. IP, trademarks, and other protected materials are also often misused.

You can share images and posts others have shared on their pages, but you must be aware of the copyright rules around doing this. It’s not only good manners to acknowledge the source, or the original owner of the content, it will help to ensure you’re not overstepping any legal boundaries.

Using other’s trademarks, or even content, advertising or headings that could be construed as belonging to another brand, is also a breach that could leave you in a lot of trouble. This also applies to models or frameworks, graphs or other illustrations and images that have been developed by others

If you’re wanting to post images or stories, whether it is your board members, volunteers, or beneficiaries, you must obtain their permission to do so. It’s advisable that you do so in writing, and to watermark any images with your brand or social media handle, to help reduce misuse of this information.

Being clear about the rules of your page or profile, who can share posts or content on your or with your page, and any guidelines or conditions around this, is important. It won’t stop everyone, but it will help to reduce people abusing the privileges. Having moderators to oversee that the guidelines are being kept to, and removing unwanted or inappropriate content is also a good idea.

Because social media encourages sharing, conversation and community, it is set up to easily share status updates, images, videos and more between users. It can be tempting to share something you see that you think will benefit your community, without really thinking of any breaches or other implications.

It also has the potential to leave you open and vulnerable; whether this is due to your community sharing your posts with others, or others posting content onto your page or profile. Even tagging you in shares or updates can have implications.

The best advice would be to carefully read through the terms of use provided by the social media platforms you’re using. Make sure you understand the rules and regulations, keeping in mind they may extend well beyond the state or country in which you are operating.

The Not For Profile Law Innovation Hub also have some helpful tips and information downloads on various social media platforms (http://www.nfplaw.org.au/socialmedia).