How charities and charity professionals can make LinkedIn work

 

Don’t be afraid to network with potential donors

 

For both charities and professionals, LinkedIn helps everyone stay connected. Some charity professionals might find it awkward to use LinkedIn. They might find it challenging to connect with industry professionals during fundraising seasons.

 

Despite this reticence, LinkedIn is fertile ground for fundraising. According to Statista, in 2018, more than 52% of LinkedIn users have a household income of more than £48,000 per annum. This is compares to the 2018-2019 average annual household disposable income of just over £35,000. The numbers show that LinkedIn user are well positioned to donate.

 

Overcoming the fundraising challenge, LinkedIn is a great way to touch base with potential donors. The key is knowing how to raise the subject of money.

 

Writing on LinkedIn’s blog, Andrey Gidaspov advises on professional ways to solicit donations. He says “Don’t spam your contacts with heavy messaging on your fundraising project.”

 

Rather than overwhelm your network, send personalised messages to select contacts. He also says, “Don’t forget though that your most recent fundraising project should be centrally located on your company page with the DONATE link prominently placed, so that when your prospect gets interested in you and your project, he or she can find all the relevant information.”

 

 

Empower your charity cause on LinkedIn

 

Charities too can take advantage of LinkedIn. Staff should also be part of the journey. Donorbox recommends powerful tips for non-profits. Posting content regularly helps boosts profiles and keeps followers up to date. Donorbox says that sharing fundraising campaigns and awareness is important.

 

The key is to establish your charity as a thought leader. One of the best tips Donorbox has is to create LinkedIn specific content. These could be articles or updates. It’s important to keep content short and snappy. Lengthy videos and verbose articles tend not to be well received. Disruptive Advertising also recommends adding images of real individuals and employees. Avoid stock photos. The advertising agency recommends adding compelling, attention grabbing statistics.

 

Charity employees can make a difference for their causes on LinkedIn. Staff can help build up their network by connecting with their charity’s page. This helps to grow both individual and the organisation’s network. Employees should also share, repost, and comment on charity content.

 

 

It can be a charity recruitment game changer

 

Finally, no article on LinkedIn can really go without addressing recruitment. For both charity professionals and organisations, LinkedIn is an important platform to be on.

 

More compelling than other mainstream social media platforms, LinkedIn can help professionals job hunt and network.

 

Three main features help charity job seekers. Groups, job alerts, and endorsements boost individual profiles. Groups are communities that candidates join to keep abreast of industry developments. Job alerts can be tailored to key words, roles, or locations. Even if you aren’t looking for a new role, alerts can help you gauge the recruitment situation. Endorsements are comments from your network supporting your professional skills. Together, the three LinkedIn features help charity staff find the right role.

 

For charities, LinkedIn is perfect for candidate targeting. Charities can actively recruit staff and volunteers from the platform. Teams can search for candidates they want and message them privately. This type of recruitment also aligns with strategic goals. As an example, charities may want to increase the number of digital professionals. Searching for individuals in your network or specialised groups improves prospects.