Social Media Policy for Volunteers

Social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) is a powerful communications tool. Junior Achievement (“JA”) expects all volunteers to abide by its social media policy in all their communications on any social media site.

JA volunteers must communicate on social media sites professionally and respectfully, just as JA would expect them to communicate were they present in person. All communications with young people must be appropriate, both in terms of the student’s age and the relationship between the adult and student. Profanity, sexualized language or jokes, images of a sexual nature, or similar communications involving adult topics, drugs or alcohol, are never appropriate around students, no matter if they occur in person, in an email or text message, or on a social media site.

JA volunteers must keep separate any social media communications that implicate JA from their own personal communications. Young people may have difficulty distinguishing among an adult’s different roles. Therefore, JA volunteers must presume that any communications with a JA student will be perceived by the student as relating to JA business and must act accordingly.

In compliance with Junior Achievement’s existing volunteer conduct standards, JA volunteers should not actively “friend,” “follow” or correspond with minor-aged students directly through common social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. The only social media interaction with students should occur through a JA-administered social media platform as part of a JA program and with the consent of students’ parents. JA volunteers should not reach out to any minor students through public platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other social media platform not directly controlled by JA. The following applies to JA volunteers who post on or manage “Official JA Profiles” as outlined below:

Any social media profile used by JA volunteers, employees, students or supporters that is used professionally, for promotion of JA or for regular communications is an “Official JA Profile”. All Official JA Profiles belong to JA and not to any volunteer. As the exclusive property of JA all Official JA Profiles will be retained by JA when the volunteer associated with the profile ends his or her relationship with JA for any reason. JA retains full rights to all Official JA Profiles, regardless of the wishes of a current or departing volunteer who has operated or maintained the profile while working at JA.

Two or more JA volunteers must have access to “admin” status on each Official JA Profile. Each JA volunteer who manages or has access to Official JA Profiles will provide the username and password to the social media profiles to the local JA office. JA volunteers agree to cooperate in good faith with JA to ensure that JA has the ability to access and control all Official JA Profiles.

Any JA volunteer who reasonably suspects misconduct related to social media or any violation of this policy must report these suspicions immediately to the appropriate local JA representative.