One of the newest social media tools that's actually generating some buzz is Pinterest. Lots of organizations are starting accounts, but many are confused about what to do with them. I hear a lot of people say, "OK, we have a Pinterest account, now what?" Here are a few suggestions:

Folks like to be asked for their opinions. Giving them the opportunity to make their suggestions can help build stronger relationships with your members, and also gives you a good sense how to better tailor your programs to appeal to people. Plus, if you actually take it seriously and act on the input - and tell them that you acted on the input - your supporters will appreciate that you're listening.

Ever wondered why certain people/pages always show up in your Facebook News Feed, and others barely ever do? Who sees what is largely determined by your "affinity," part of Facebook's edge ranking system. Facebook tracks how people interact with both your page (personal profile or fan page), and with individual posts. Here are a few things to consider when building your brand on Facebook.

In addition to the various social media accounts we use for our jobs, it's also important to maintain a personal presence on social media like Twitter and Facebook. Even in cases where your employer has you set up "personal" accounts to use while employed there (I'll write another tip about this later), you should keep your own accounts that you come to the job with separate from any work-based accounts.

Ever wonder why certain people and organizations always seem to get the love in your Facebook timeline, and others barely show up at all? Facebook employs a complex algorithm that creates your "Edge Rank," which determines how important it think your posts are. (This holds true for personal profiles and fan pages.)

Your email could be absolutely amazing, but if it has one obvious typo or error, that's all anyone will remember about your message. It's easy to let something simple and obvious slip through if you don't have a system to catch things. Here's a quick checklist you should use at minimum for anything you send:

If you're on Twitter, you've probably seen a few tweets that look something like this: ".@neworganizing, what time does tonight's event start?" Recently, I've gotten questions about the dot (.) at the beginning of a tweet. It all comes down to how Twitter determines what to show people. When your tweet starts with the handle of a person or organization, Twitter assumes it's a reply. So why does that matter?

The Tar Sands Action was a 6 month campaign to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline that focused on two large mobilizations in Washington DC -- one over 2 weeks in August-September, and one on November 6th -- and then offline local actions targeting the President. In that 6 months, we made only 4 online advocacy asks to our main list, and a handful of asks to share content related to the action.

Good candidates give a consistent stump speech. Great candidates always encourage supporters to visit their websites to learn more about their campaigns (where supporters can also sign up for the campaign email list and make contributions). But few candidates have ever thought to do this on their own. A dedicated staffer or volunteer made them practice.

For our first action, we needed to quickly turn casual supporters into committed activists with the confidence to risk arrest in a sit-in at the White House. Early response online was strong, so we focused our online organizing on cementing relationships and deepening commitment to the action.

Asking your supporters to take action is a great way to get them involved with your organization's goals and objectives. But, once someone has taken the time to sign your petition or write a letter to their Representative, the ball is in your court. Make sure you have a follow-up action planned so that you can show your supporters they accomplished something. In the end, this will make them more likely to SUPPORT your next campaign and invite their friends to ALSO TAKE ACTION.

One great way to keep your membership engaged is telling them all the ways they helped change the world last year. Check out a great example from the PCCC below. They've also sent a 2012 priorities survey which is a great way to get input on the work ahead and engage your community.