This could change at some point in the future, but right now in the era of Foursquare 1.0 it is best to be an individual on Foursquare first, a brand second. Many nonprofits are signing up for Foursquare and converting personal profiles into brands. Facebook will delete your account if you do that on their site. MySpace allowed it and initially it worked, but eventually it led to a spam free for all that did serious damage to the MySpace brand.

For example, the social media manager for the National Wildlife Federation is Danielle B. on Foursquare. Instead of naming her profile the "NWF" with her organization's logo, she kept her Foursquare profile personal. Think about it. How can the NWF walk into Starbucks or a restaurant and check-in? Marketing on social networking sites needs to be subtle and patient, and converting personal profiles into brands for marketing purposes on Foursquare is just way too obvious to be useful. Instead, the National Wildlife Federation has focused on building their venue page apparently through Foursquare's API (more on that later!).

2) If you have a good Twitter username, use it for your personal profile name.

As mentioned above, using personal profiles for marketing on Foursquare should be subtle. If you have a good Twitter username, you can use it as your first name and do not enter a last name. For example, I am not Heather M. on Foursquare, rather I am @NonprofitOrgs. Interestingly enough, my friend requests went up quite a bit when I went from Heather M. to @NonprofitOrgs.

3) Add a Twibbon-like image to your Foursquare profile picture.

Another way you can be subtle about branding your organization on personal profiles is by adding a Twibbon-like image to your personal profile image. Again, see @NonprofitOrgs as an example. You could also enlist other staff and supporters to use your Twibbon on Foursquare.

4) Link your personal Foursquare account with Twitter.

Under Settings > LinkedIn Accounts, link your personal profile with Twitter. That then creates a unique Foursquare URL that matches your Twitter URL. For example, twitter.com/nonprofitorgs then also becomes foursquare/user/nonprofitorgs. Also, go easy on having Tweets automatically generated when you check-in, become a mayor, or earn a badge. Personally, I would just limit it to earning badges or even never.

5) Don't link your personal Foursquare account with Facebook if you are checking-in numerous times a day.

First, automation on social networks is annoying and counterproductive. Second, do you really want your personal Facebook account to be flooded with your check-ins? Do your Facebook friends really need or want to know where you are every second of the day? Most likely it will just result in your Facebook friends hitting the "Hide" button.

6) Subscribe to AboutFoursquare.com.

There is a new blog in town and it is all things Foursquare. Definitely subscribe to AboutFoursquare.com so you know what is coming next.

7) Add your organization as a "Venue" to Foursquare.

If you don't "Add" your organization as a Venue to Foursquare, then someone else will (and there is a good chance that they already have). On the desktop version of Foursquare, login to your personal account and go to "Add Things > Add a New Venue". Spell out your organization's full name. Add your address. Only add your phone number if you want to receive calls. Definitely add your Twitter username. You can only add your Twitter username on the Desktop version and if someone else has added your Venue, then you can not "Edit" the Venue to add your Twitter username unless you "Claim" the Venue (more on that later). More Info: 10 Types of Nonprofits That Absolutely Must Add Themselves to Foursquare.

8) Select a "Category" and add relevant "Tags" to your Venue Page.

After you have added your organization's Venue to Foursquare, then go to your Venue Page > Select Edit > and then choose the most relevant categories and add your Tags. Make sure you add "nonprofit, charity, your city and state" as Tags. The Newseum is a great example of a properly created Venue page.

9) Become the "Mayor" of your Venue.

If you were lucky enough to be able to add your organization as a Venue to Foursquare, then check-in two days in row to become the Mayor of your Venue page. You can check-in via Foursquare smartphone Apps or m.foursquare.com. Later, you will want to let others become the Mayor, but don't leave it mayorless to begin with.

10) Add a lot of friends!

Foursquare makes it incredibly easy to "Add" a lot of friends - especially those friends that are also on Twitter! Go to Find Friends > Find the friends you follow on Twitter, enter your Twitter username and then start adding friends! If you are a local organization, find the Twitterers in your area who are following the most people and enter their username too, and start adding friends. If you are a national or international organization, find other Twitterers with a similar mission, and add their friends too. Don't be shy about adding friends on Foursquare. It's not like Facebook where you only add people you know.

11) Add a Foursquare icon to your website, mobile website, blog ,and e-newsletter.

Go to Nonprofit Tech 2.0 and right-click on the Foursquare icon to save it to your computer. Then add it next to your Facebook, Twitter and YouTube icons on your website, mobile website, blog and e-newsletter.

12) "Shout" out tidbits of information about your organization when you check-in to venues.

When you check-in to venues add a "Shout" about your organization and its work, such as powerful stats, quotes, and accomplishments. You are limited to 140 characters, but you can link to your website in shouts if you add the "http://" in front of your website address. The website link shows up in your shout and your "History" on the desktop version. The more Foursquare friends you have, the more website visits you'll get.