Social media has greatly increased our collective capacity to connect with one another and the communities we serve. It facilitates the healthy sharing of ideas and information with people and organizations committed to creating social good. AJLI embraces social media and recognizes its power to help us continue our legacy—120+ years and counting—of developing women to do a world of good.

When naming your League’s social media presence, clearly and concisely identify your League (i.e. Junior League of Anywhere). Do not name your page in such a way that it might be confused with a general page representing The Junior League, or with any other League.

When representing your League please remember to set up a Facebook PAGE (different from PROFILE, i.e. First Name “Junior”, Last Name “League”) or your account may be disabled for violating Facebook’s Terms of Use (see below):

“Facebook profiles are meant to represent a single individual. Organizations of any type are not permitted to maintain an account under the name of their organization. We have created Facebook Pages to allow organizations to have a presence on Facebook. These Pages are distinct presences, separate from user profiles, and optimized for an organization’s needs to communicate, distribute information/content, engage their fans, and capture new audiences virally through their fan’s recommendations to their friends. Facebook Pages are designed to be a media rich, valuable presence for any artist, business, or brand.”

The preferred icon should be the “JL box” Logo. The square shape lends itself well to the icon shape on most platforms. Depending on length of name of your League, you may be able to use the “Center Stacked Combo” (see sample) It is preferred that you use the same profile graphic and cover photo throughout all your social media platforms to encourage consistency.

These platforms serve a dual purpose: as they are both an internal and external means of communication. Internally, you are communicating with your members and engaging them in the work of your League. Externally, you are raising awareness of the work of your League.

Social media provides Junior Leagues a great opportunity to participate in an ongoing conversation about their community impact and exhibit thought leadership. All Leagues have plenty to share, some ideas include:

• Announcements for the community
• Volunteer recruiting events
• Events benefitting the community (e.g. back-pack and food drives)
• Upcoming fundraisers
• Educational events (e.g. panels on human trafficking, nonprofit board trainings)
• Announcements for members
• Reminders about meetings and trainings
• Invitation to apply for board and committee positions
• Displays of thought leadership
• Blog posts related to community impact initiatives
• Articles related to community impact initiatives written by experts
• Infographics (created by your League or by experts) related to community impact initiatives
• General good news about your community, your community partners, and any member accolade

As you are crafting content for social media, always remember to tag partner organizations and people, such as event speakers and guests. Proper tagging is likely to be noticed and result in shares of your posts.

If you are reposting content, including direct quotes from other Leagues or from outside experts or organizations, make sure to give them proper attribution through tagging.

There is no one-size-fits all answer as to which social network(s) is right for your League. When considering which social media sites to use, think about which sites most of your members and the audience you want to reach are on.

Currently, the most popular sites in order of popularity for Junior Leagues are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

In no way should Junior Leagues adopt accounts on more than one of these sites if they cannot manage them properly. Each of these sites has its own rules and conventions and adopting a social media site means that you are willing to commit to those sites and the audience you are reaching out to on them. Trying to take a shortcut, e.g. cross-posting to Twitter from Facebook, tells your audience that you do not prioritize the channel and community following you there.

Junior Leagues should assign community management to members who both understand social media and the importance of communicating regularly with your online audience. Depending on the League’s capacity, community management might be assigned to one or more persons.

Good community management also requires understanding the ins-and-outs of the manager’s League. The community manager should understand the League’s and AJLI’s brand standards, internal and external League events, and the League’s crisis management communications plan.

Community management often involves customer service responsibilities such as answering questions about the League and its upcoming events on social media. Occasionally, this also means handling complaints and criticism too. Good community management means handling any and all commentary in a timely manner. Often simply responding in a timely manner is enough to defuse a situation that begins negatively. On occasion, properly addressing a negative comment means taking matters offline. League community managers should be prepared for any situation and have a plan of action should matters escalate.

And remember, social is social. It’s not a one-way street. It’s a conversation. It’s just as important to listen as it is to tell your story. It is important to engage with your social media audience and to talk with them not at them.