We use social media in just about all that we do. We look for home decor ideas on Pinterest, breaking news on Twitter, learn what our friends are up to on Facebook and make business connections on LinkedIn.

So, it seems like it would be natural for a busy fundraiser with limited time to turn to social media channels like LinkedIn to better understand their donors and prospects. Many view LinkedIn as the professional face of an individual. A LinkedIn profile is a wealth of data that includes employment history, connections, education information and sometimes causes and interests. And the information is self generated, so the hope is that the person is keeping it accurate and up to date.

But what are the best ethical practices when using a site like LinkedIn for prospect research purposes? Some great guidelines have been created by AFP on the topic of social media and ethics and APRA has a statement on ethics solely related to prospect research and social media. Both provide good guidelines on how to navigate the murky waters of social media.

And as we all know, when you register with a social media site, you agree to their terms of service, thus entering a legal agreement with the provider. So if you are going to use social media sites like LinkedIn for prospect research, make sure that you are covering both the ethical and legal issues.

A few things to consider when using social media and specifically LinkedIn for prospect research:

1. Read the terms of service.

For LinkedIn, they have used plain language and big font for their terms of service – really there is no excuse. The terms of service has some explicit language around your identity and account information. It states you will be forthright and truthful of what you post on a LinkedIn profile. Fake or multiple accounts, pseudonyms or false identities are a violation of the terms of service. You are unique: so there should only be one of you in existence on LinkedIn and it should be a truthful representation of who you are and where you work.

2. Use social media sites like LinkedIn as a source but verify any information you find with other resources.

Don’t just rely on one source or site for your information on a prospect. There would be nothing more embarrassing than giving you CEO or board member outdated or incorrect information because you didn’t take the time to double check the data.

Within LinkedIn, people have a public profile (what the world can see when not logged into the site) and their LinkedIn profile. The public profile is just that – public. If you have any hesitations about researching someone through LinkedIn, you can always do so without logging on to the site and simply review what they have publicly agreed to share with the world.

3. Finally, follow the risk management policy for your organization as it relates to accessing and using resources.

You want to ensure that you are adhering to the policies and protocols your organization has set in place so that you aren’t inadvertently placing your organization at risk with your action.

There is nothing illegal, immoral or distasteful in viewing material that is publicly available through social media for the purposes of better understanding your donors and prospects. However, we should always be mindful of the ethical and legal implications of what we are doing when we use social media sites to research our prospects and donors. Fundraising is built on trust and being authentic, we wouldn’t want to negate that because we didn’t know how best to research those with an interest in our cause.

Liz Rejman, CFRE has spent her entire career in the not-for-profit sector bringing her dynamic expertise to health care, education and the arts. Professionally her passion is database management and prospect development. She is a member of the board of directors for APRA International and has taught on the topic of technology in the not for profit for Western University. She is the Database and Research Manager for Pathways to Education, ethically researching prospects through a variety of sources including social media.