In order to know what you want to do with social media, you must first determine where your charity stands right now. If you do not have a business plan, you must create one. If you have not reviewed your business plan recently, you should review and update it. Only by knowing the current status of your charity can you determine where to steer it.

A business plan is a document to outline the objectives of your organization over the coming years. It describes how your company has progressed over the last few years, and where it is headed. It analyzes your customer base as well as your competitors.

As you journey through describing your business objectives, you will emerge with a more focused perspective on your charity's goals. It also gives you the key points for you to discuss your business with clients and business partners. So what does a business plan usually look like?

Executive Summary

Your business plan, like any report, should start with some introductory text. The executive summary introduces the reader to the highlights of your charity, and your vision of its purpose.

Investment Summary

The investment summary shows how your charity is organized. It provides information to investors on why they should prop up your business with their funds and services.

Business Description

The products and/or services you currently provide and will provide are described in the business description. Remember to describe your quality control methodology in this section.

Marketing Analysis

Your marketing overview should identify your growth strategy. It should outline your strategy for entering new markets, retaining your share of current markets, and identifying markets that are no longer profitable. This section is very important in an economic downturn as customers tend to be more frugal with spending. Your charity may experience a decline in donations as a result. How can you counter this decline? By increasing your donation base.

Marketing can be an expensive activity. It is a lot easier and therefore cheaper to retain your existing donor base (including past donors) than to convert new potential donors into giving ones. New donors will be unfamiliar with your charity and may not trust it to deliver on its promises. Existing donors are your greatest asset. They provide much of the income in your budget. They also are an excellent marketing agent. Let your donors advertise you to their friends and family. Their advertising "targets" are much more inclined to trust a recommendation from someone they know than a complete stranger. Commercials often use famous people to advertise a company's products or services to act as a proxy friend/relative.

It is important for your reputation that word-of-mouth advertising accurately reflects your business objectives. Outdated, inaccurate, or false statements hurt your charity's reputation as well as the person conveying the incorrect message. Let your donorrs know your business plans and objectives. A company's tag line helps focus your goals. "Helping everyday people every day" implies that the goods and services are easily obtainable. This tag line would not fit a custom furniture maker.