"Have the Intern Do It" - Worst Case Scenarios

"Have the intern do it" - it's a phrase often uttered in nonprofits, and is perfectly fine in most cases. However, those 5 words should never be associated with your organization's social media campaign, and here's why:

1. Would you have the intern do a live interview?
   Worst case scenario: Your intern might not be familiar enough with your brand, mission or crisis communications strategies. A follower on Twitter says something negative about your organization, maybe a negative comment about an issue you support. Your well-meaning intern responds, maybe using a choice word like "incompetent" or "rude", instead of constructively responding to the comment.
   How it could have been prevented: Interns rarely receive the in-depth training that staff do. Developing a social media policy, to be executed by employees familiar with any conflicts your organization has, can prevent this type of negative interaction.
2. Would your intern serve as your official spokesperson?
   Worst case scenario: New to the position, the intern writes a beautiful blog post, advocating for your cause. The problem? Your name isn't Metropolitan Animal Shelter. You're the Animal Shelter of the New York Metropolitan Area. Now you've got hundreds of hits from a new audience, and you're going to fight an uphill battle trying to get that awareness to the right brand. Plus, you're missing out on any search engine bonuses you could have gotten, and anyone sharing that link is passing on that small mistake over and over again.
   How it could have been prevented: You could have your intern review the branding guidelines, or take a more proactive approach. Either review your intern's posts before they go live, or have content created within the organization - by someone who is familiar with your cause & message.
3. Look 6 months ahead.
   Worst case scenario: In the case of college interns, they may only be with your organization for a semester. If the social media campaign has solely been in the hands of your intern for the past 4 months, you might not know where it stands, who the intern has connected with, or what to do once he or she leaves.
   How it could have been prevented: Collaboration, collaboration, collaboration. If you'd like to involve an intern or temporary employee in your social media strategy, by all means, do! The more ideas, the better, but keep in mind that when they leave, it's all up to you.

Interns are amazing assets to any non-profit organization. But if you wouldn't create an advertising campaign by "letting the intern do it", why would you do the same with social media?