And, conducting a social media audit is the perfect way to get the ball rolling on that.

A social media audit? An audit of that nature involves analyzing your financial accounts.

However, a social media audit is really quite similar except that it involves your social media accounts.

It’s essentially a step-by-step process that allows you to look at your current social media operations and online presence and determine how well things are working for you. This will allow you to clearly see the big picture of your current social media presence.

Create a column for the type of account, the profile name, the URL, number of followers, and the date of your last activity on that specific profile.You’ll end up with something that looks like this:

This exercise alone will start to clearly show you where you’re doing well, as well as where you could devote some extra time and attention.

However, this is also an important step to help you determine if there are any accounts you should eliminate altogether. Sit down and identify what exactly your nonprofit’s goals with social media are.

Do you want to use social media to increase awareness of your organization as a whole?

Do you want to use your accounts to recruit more volunteers?

Are you hoping to use them to drive more traffic to your donations page?

Clearly outline exactly what social media should accomplish for your nonprofit.

Next, it’s time to determine a specific mission for each of your accounts. What really resonates with them?

Finally, you should also do a quick Google search of your nonprofit’s name to see which social media accounts show up.

Not only will this allow you to see which of your accounts are ranking in that space, but also if there are any imposter accounts that were set up that you need to request be shut down.

When you put a lot of effort into your social strategies, you don’t want a poser out there that could undo all of your hard work with a few foul posts or crude tweets.

Step Four: Make Necessary Updates

Chances are, you change things here and there when it comes to your social media accounts but then neglect to make the same update across the board.

This results in a hodgepodge of branding across all of your different platforms. So, analyzing your competitors is also a great exercise for determining if there are any new platforms you should be a part of.

New networks are constantly cropping up (like Periscope or Blab, for instance), and you’d hate to be missing out on an opportunity to share your message in a innovative and fitting new way particularly if your direct competitors are active in that space.

Wrapping Up: Where Do You Go From Here?

Now that you’ve put in the legwork by going through your existing accounts and strategies with a fine-tooth comb, you’re armed with the knowledge you need to pull together a solid nonprofit social media strategy for this year.

Creating your overall strategy is a separate process from your comprehensive social media audit but the two rely heavily on each other.