Tips to get the most out of LinkedIn for your nonprofit

We constantly hear about the many advantages that are to be gained by nonprofits with an active commitment to social media and I fully agree that a structured approach to social media will bring dividends and most importantly build relationships with donors and like-minded individuals. While there have been an avalanche of new social media options in recent years you should ensure that you are actively using one of the old staples (old being a relative term with social media) – LinkedIn.

A balanced approach for your nonprofit to excel in social media involves determining what can work best to help you specific to your goals. Strengthening donor relationships should be at the heart of what is looking to be achieved online and via blogging, facebook, twitter and active involvement with nonprofit gateways such as Jumo (for example) and each will have their merits. Providing some honest time is dedicated to the strategy that you develop. While LinkedIn is not the new kid on the block for social media it does however present a very active community that will provide bona fide progress and provide true assistance in the nonprofit world if you have tactics in place.

Just like every other facet of social media it is not just enough to launch a profile and leave it for weeks or months on end and hope for interaction or recognition. On LinkedIn ensure that you keep your company page updated, sharing news and events while trying different methods to make the face of your nonprofit more visible online. Contact is king and with that the ability to be able to contact your important internal members is vital, ensure your management and key contacts each maintain profiles specifically tied to your organization and that each of those profiles in turn link to your company page. Recycle news and events not just to your company page but via your internal members who maintain profiles.

Make sure that your LinkedIn profiles are interfacing with everything else that you do, include links to your main page or key contacts via your website and within individual blog posts. Include it on e-mail signatures, business cards and publications and make sure your settings within LinkedIn are set as ‘visible to everyone’ otherwise many of your potential contacts may be reluctant to wade through the approval process to find out what you have to say or exactly what your organization does. Use LinkedIn efficiently to monitor who is looking at your profile and then see who they are connected with, such networking can provide you with key contacts that otherwise might not be possible. What I find most rewarding about LinkedIn is that individuals are primarily there to accomplish things; whether it be to find jobs or partnerships, build up networks and contacts for research and develop ideas. In each case LinkedIn is providing a growing community that revolves around approrpriate and responsible behaviour plus a proactive approach to ideas and problem solving via the many forums that you should also research anmd participate with.

Perhaps the most important piece of advice I can give as a refresher to LinkedIn is that you must manage your account in real-time, respond to e-mails and questions or requests, examine those who wish to network with you and do your homework. Communicate frequently with appropriate contacts, begin your own groups, merge your blog or twitter feed to your account and focus on branding/ awareness opportunities for your organization. Make sure you dedicate time to researching networks, as LinkedIn approaches its eighth anniversary it has over 25 million active users in North America and close to 50 million globally. While I can’t guarantee you’ll find everybody you seek on LinkedIn you’ll suddenly find networking has never been quite so easy. Next week I’ll show you how to maximise networking on LinkedIn.