Social media has become an invaluable tool for advancing nonprofit causes. But most nonprofits are unaware of the many potential legal traps in the online world. Below are some tips on avoiding legal troubles in social media use.

1. Direct your employees not to post anything they would not want to see on the front page of the New York Times.

2. Actions taken by an organization’s employees can be held against the organization.

3. If you’re not allowed to do it in the “real world,” you’re probably not allowed to do it in a virtual world.

4. Implement a social media policy to govern use of social media by employees.