Best bits: how does your charity use social media?

Ed Cox – managing director, Reason Digital

Develop a strategy: Develop a short statement or disclaimer, explaining what is acceptable behaviour and what is likely to get your post deleted. You should explain that other users can potentially make a complaint about a post, or that a post will be removed if enough people complain or if it breaches your acceptable use guidelines. Whatever you do, you need to draft some sort of internal policy on this and make it available to your staff so there is a consistent response, and to avoid any further claims of persecution or preferential treatment.

Be patient: People who post negative comments are often frustrated or upset and a knee-jerk, defensive response is unlikely to help. They're taking the time to point out what they believe to be an error or an unacceptable situation and the sentiments are based in fact even, if poorly expressed. Take time to plan a level-headed response. Try to address the issue directly and not focus on any perceived threatening tone or personal attacks. If it's something you can't control then say that. Take time to explain why something is the way it is. If it's something that can be changed, explain how you'll take their views on board. There are examples of how negative comments have led directly to very small but important changes in an organisation's behaviour. It's important that organisations understand that on social media they're often an equal voice in a larger conversation. The conversation about them will go on whether they're involved or not, so avoiding social media for fear of negative comments or not being able to control the brand or the message is likely to be even more damaging than trying and failing.

Sylwia Presley – director and head of client services, Voice

Empower employees: Empower charity employees to feel confident in how to post and respond to comments online. HR needs to be involved in clarifying employees' individual social media contributions and the relationship between the individual and the charity as a brand. Look at generic policies here and the Child's i Foundation's social media guidelines are great. Once your team is briefed and backed up by the policies, you can empower your team to be more involved in overral social media for the organisation. If you are worried about potential brand damage it's a sign that you need to review organisational values and train and brief your team of representing your company. Social media is only the extension of your work and company culture – you should not have to monitor your staff or restrict them. Try to talk to them first, openly, identify their worries and make sure they step into Facebook or any other channel in a confident manner, understanding what is appropriate.

Listen and respond: Integrate social into other channels, learn to monitor and analyse social media conversations around your work and respond to those openly. Pro-actively engage with people who support your cause, work with ambassadors on long-term relationships and change if the need for change is flagged up. To curate discussions, comment and add your own content in such a way that you direct the discussions towards the topics you want to see addressed, while respecting ongoing conversations too. Position content properly – anything said online can be put in the right context so if it happens on your official presence, you can take part in discussions and gently put them in the context of your brand, mission, values.

Kirsty Stephenson – digital strategist, Child's i Foundation

The future of social media: Five to 10 years is more than a lifetime in this arena. Social tools are here to stay but how we use them will evolve. Mobile and tablets are already affecting interactions with social tools. Brands (including charities) will need to work harder to be recognised. It's exciting that we can't predict that far ahead and need to keep on thinking and innovating.

Social media can help fundraising: One of our great successes was a specific campaign Child's i Foundation ran to raise £10,000 in 48 hours for a life-saving operation for baby Joey. Within 38 hours, the target had been achieved. Child's i Foundation reached out across all of their social media platforms, set up a JustGiving page, sent an emergency appeal newsletter, blogged about the appeal on their website and posted three videos on YouTube. Social media absolutely should be embedded into your fundraising. Perhaps you won't start raising money directly for some time but the engagement and advocacy you can build could be an indirect but valuable resource. Moreover, although our videos appear slick they are not costly to produce as we have skilled volunteers doing this and equipment kindly donated to us.

Matthew O'Reilly – programme manager, The Indigo Trust

Explore different social media tools: It could be that Twitter is more useful than Facebook or that a blog is even more useful. Work out what you want and what your community want. There are so many applications that social media can be used for, including: service delivery, fundraising, crowdsourcing, awareness raising, campaigning, advocacy.

Closed networks can work well: Closed networks like SavvyChavvy can have their place, although they rely on people knowing about them and being willing to sign up to use them (though an active presence on traditional social media sites can help with advertising them). It may well be that social media just isn't the answer and more one-to-one/face-to-face contact is the right option. We can't pretend that social media is capable of solving everything.

Kate Brennan – communities and social media officer, British Heart Foundation (BHF)

Privacy is possible on social media: When it comes to direct approaches from people who'd rather not speak openly, Facebook has recently opened up a private messaging feature. Alternatively, make sure that all the social media eggs aren't in one basket – Facebook is very keen on having people be themselves but Twitter doesn't seem to mind about that, and communities/social platforms owned by the organisation allow them to take the anonymity call for themselves.

Think strategically: Question and research social media before plunging. It's really easy to open up new profiles and accounts for the hottest new thing but harder to tie them to your organisation's aims and objectives – don't use it just because it's there. Think about what you want to achieve and who you want to engage. From here consider: what are those people using? what platform best facilitates what you want to achieve? Put people first rather than platforms; when you think platform-first it's really easy to share something to an empty room or with the wrong people.

Honey Lucas – founder, TheVeryTiger's Blog

Case study: The Helen & Douglas House, a children and young people's hospice based in Oxford, use social media very well to not only raise their profile but also to make connections with people. The charity recently celebrated 30 years of operation and asked people to post photos to their Facebook page of any friends or family members who were supported by the hospice. These photos and accompanying comments were very moving. The whole process made the work of the charity very real, and allowed people to remember their relations in a positive and sensitive way.

Adam Wilkinson – head of development, Connect Assist

Social media can engage older generations: You must let people choose how they access your services. This goes for any age group, not just the elderly, as it means service users can be served in a way that's most convenient for them, which improves their experience. The over 60s are statistically the fastest growing demographic accessing the internet, and slowly but surely more older people are using social media. As our current population ages, the uptake will naturally increase with time so consider adding social media channels and promoting them clearly alongside the more traditional ones.

Use social media to deliver service: Given the cuts in funding for support services, most charities are having to help more people at a lower cost base. It's important that support services for young people have a broad reach and our research shows that the numbers of people accessing support and advice services through the social media are fairly consistent irrespective of social class. Well-designed social media service delivery is a logical part of the funding solution – it's inclusive and is relatively low-cost as a touch point with service users.

This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional. To join the voluntary sector network, click here.