Friday, I attended a workshop by Kim Young of The Forest and the Trees at the Dallas Social Venture Partners First Friday Luncheon Series. Head spinning, I left the informative session realizing I hadn’t even blogged in a while, let alone Tweeted or used any of the other social media tools at my disposal.

It got me thinking about priorities. And it got me thinking about the myriad directions nonprofits are pulled and where they should focus their time and energy. So, thanks to Kim, here are a few thoughts.

1. Get the basics first. Is your phone being answered? Do you have a website? Are you able to communicate with your constituency via email? Take the time to figure out some of these issues and make them right.

2. Brand. This should probably be number 1 on my list. Make sure your inner circle knows your brand. Meaning: how do you talk about your organization? What is your key messaging? Do those closet to you have the tools to help you tell your story?

3. Think about your objectives. Getting people to an event? Raising money? Just getting the word out? Know what you are trying to achieve first!

If you have those things in place, get your constituency to help you with social media. Get them to create a page on Facebook. Get the to post your events, news, information on their Facebook pages.  Then start peeling back the layers and adding to the mix.