Yes, nonprofits can absolutely have LinkedIn accounts. LinkedIn provides many benefits for nonprofits looking to establish their presence online, connect with supporters, recruit volunteers and staff, and share their mission with the world.
Having a LinkedIn account as a nonprofit can help increase awareness, engagement, and donations. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 740 million members worldwide. This presents a huge opportunity for nonprofits to get their message in front of a massive audience.
Some key advantages for nonprofits having a LinkedIn presence include:
- Ability to create an online presence and share your mission, work, and impact with a large audience
- Connect with potential donors, volunteers, partners, and supporters
- Promote important initiatives, events, and calls-to-action
- Establish thought leadership and position your nonprofit as an authority in your space
- Recruit talented staff and board members by leveraging the powerful LinkedIn Jobs platform
- Engage with other nonprofits and businesses through LinkedIn Groups
- Gain additional website traffic by linking to your nonprofit site
While a standard personal LinkedIn account is fine, nonprofits can also create a Company Page to truly optimize their presence.
Requirements for Nonprofits on LinkedIn
Nonprofits operate on LinkedIn under the same requirements as regular Company Pages. Here are the key items to keep in mind:
- The account must clearly represent a registered and legitimate nonprofit organization.
- All information and content shared must be accurate.
- Abide by LinkedIn’s User Agreement and Professional Community Policies.
- Profiles should be kept up-to-date with current information and content.
- Refrain from spamming or unsolicited outreach through LinkedIn messaging.
As long as these guidelines are followed, a nonprofit is welcome and encouraged to create a LinkedIn account and engage with the platform.
Types of LinkedIn Accounts for Nonprofits
Nonprofits have a few options when it comes to the types of LinkedIn accounts available to them:
Personal Account
A standard personal LinkedIn account is free and can still be utilized to represent a nonprofit in a professional manner. The account should include details about the nonprofit in the job title, description, volunteer experience, interests, and more. A personal photo can be used or replaced with the nonprofit’s logo. All content and discussions should be made on behalf of the organization.
Company Page
For more robust nonprofit representation, a Company Page can be created. This allows for displaying key details including the mission, programs, media, job listings, and more. Company Pages have access to additional features like analytics, widgets, Showcase Pages, and the ability to publish long-form articles. There are three types of Company Pages:
- Basic: Free and includes core company information and analytics.
- Premium: $49.99/month with additional branding, showcase pages, and analytics capabilities.
- Career: $199.99/month and aimed at recruiting with premium job posting and applicant tracking.
For most nonprofits, the free Basic Company Page should meet their needs on LinkedIn. But the Premium and Career options provide more resources for those that need them and can justify the extra investment.
Showcase Page
Any Company Page on LinkedIn can create additional Showcase Pages to highlight specific initiatives, events, or projects under the overall nonprofit umbrella. These pages operate independently but roll up under the parent nonprofit. It allows you to go in-depth on causes that visitors may be interested in supporting.
Best Practices for Nonprofit LinkedIn Accounts
To maximize the impact of their LinkedIn presence, here are some best practices nonprofits should follow:
Complete and Optimized Profile
Fully utilize the capabilities of Company Pages or personal profiles. Include images, videos, mission statements, organizational info, website links, and helpful relevant hashtags. The About Us section can tell your nonprofit’s story and make a strong impression.
Consistent Branding
Ensure branding elements like colors, fonts, and logos are consistent across LinkedIn and other platforms. This helps establish recognizable visual identity.
Engage With Content
Post regular updates with news, events, initiatives, and other content. Share articles, images, and videos to educate and engage visitors. Comment on content from other users and organizations to connect.
Build Relationships
Proactively network with other members through linking, messaging, and joining relevant LinkedIn Groups. Partner with corporate accounts that align with your mission. Thank supporters and nurture the relationships.
Promote Your Page
Get the word out about your LinkedIn presence. Include links on your website, emails, and other marketing channels. Post the links on other social media accounts as well. Encourage staff and partners to follow, share, and engage with your content.
Analyze Performance
Utilize LinkedIn’s analytics to assess what content and strategies are working best. Identify ways to improve engagement and reach with your target audience. Continuously optimize your nonprofit’s LinkedIn presence.
Examples of Great Nonprofit LinkedIn Pages
Here are some real-world examples of nonprofits effectively leveraging LinkedIn:
Charity: Water
- Clean, bold branding and visuals
- Shares stories and puts a face to their mission
- Promotes current campaigns and initiatives
- Strong supporter engagement through likes, shares, and comments
American Red Cross
- Robust Company Page with comprehensive information
- Posts news updates, safety tips, and ways to get involved
- Links to their website, donation pages, and social media channels
- Runs active jobs board to recruit new talent
Doctors Without Borders
- Shows the global impact of their field work
- Storytelling through photos, videos, and testimonials
- Focuses on current medical crises and disasters that need support
- Shares content and has Groups for each major country they operate in
Studying nonprofits that are effectively leveraging LinkedIn is a great way for other organizations to get ideas and inspiration for their own presence.
Tips for Nonprofits New to LinkedIn
For nonprofits that are new to LinkedIn and aren’t sure where to begin, here are some helpful tips:
- Claim your nonprofit name – Register your official Company Page URL to strengthen brand authority
- Optimize your profile – Include keywords and complete all sections to help people find you
- Follow influencers and partners – Connect with leaders in your space that align with your mission
- Share visual content – Posts with images/video get more engagement than text-only updates
- Engage with followers – Reply to comments, like posts, and share others’ content
- Join Groups – Become part of LinkedIn Groups relevant to your cause or location
- Promote events/initiatives – Share upcoming happenings and how people can participate
- Partner with companies – Collaborate with brands that support your nonprofit’s goals
Dedicating time to build a thoughtful LinkedIn presence can pay off substantially for nonprofits in terms of awareness, supporters, donors, and overall impact.
Common LinkedIn Mistakes Nonprofits Make
While LinkedIn presents many benefits, there are also some common mistakes nonprofits should avoid when getting started:
- Not having a profile photo or logo
- Leaving sections incomplete or lacking detail
- Failing to regularly post updates and engage with followers
- Not utilizing available features like Showcase Pages or Groups
- Following/messaging people unselectively or in a spammy manner
- Neglecting to monitor notifications and replies
- Not integrating LinkedIn with other marketing efforts
- Missing opportunities to promote events, initiatives, and calls-to-action
- Not tracking key metrics and optimizing content
Avoiding these missteps can help nonprofits be more strategic, impactful, and successful with their LinkedIn presence. It’s important to invest the time to learn best practices and maintain the profile over the long-term.
Tips for LinkedIn Content Strategy
The content a nonprofit shares on LinkedIn can make a big difference in engagement and results. Here are some proven tips:
- Educate supporters on issues relevant to your cause
- Share stories that humanize your mission and showcase impact
- Respond to current events related to your work
- Feature staff members, volunteers, and people you’ve helped
- Post multimedia like images, infographics, and video
- Promote special events, campaigns, and fundraising initiatives
- Drive traffic to your website by linking to landing pages
- Repurpose and link to great content you’ve already created
- Ask questions and encourage discussion in posts
- Highlight nonprofit partners and sponsors
Combining these different approaches will allow nonprofits to demonstrate expertise, build relationships, promote important causes, and inspire supporters through quality content. Tracking performance over time can reveal what resonates most with your audience.
Should You Pay for LinkedIn Services?
While a basic LinkedIn presence is free, there are paid offerings that provide additional capabilities:
Premium Subscriptions
For $29.99-$79.99 per month, Premium accounts unlock features like:
- See full profiles of your visitors
- Send InMail messages to anyone
- Receive expert coaching and feedback
- Unlimited profile searches
- Expanded analytics on content and followers
For most nonprofits focused on engagement, the free features usually suffice versus premium. But the expanded analytics may provide useful insights.
Sponsored Content
You can pay to promote content to a wider LinkedIn audience beyond your followers. CPM rates apply and minimum spends are around $50/day. This can generate brand awareness and visits from new potential supporters.
Job Postings
If recruiting is a priority, upgraded job posting packages provide things like:
- 30 or 60-day listings
- Candidate management and tracking
- Featured status in search
- salary data comparisons
Rates range from around $200-$500 per 30-day job post depending on features.
For most, the free tools are a good starting point. But paid services can supplement your strategy if budgets allow. Test different offerings and track ROI.
Should You Use a LinkedIn Agency?
Some nonprofits consider hiring a LinkedIn marketing agency to handle their profile and strategy. Potential benefits include:
- Expertise creating optimized, compelling Company Pages
- Managing daily content and engagement
- Running and monitoring ads or sponsored posts
- Providing guidance on best practices
- Identifying partnership opportunities
- Tracking and analyzing data to refine approach
However, this comes at a significant cost with fees often starting around $1,000-$2,000 per month. For nonprofits with limited marketing budgets, managing a LinkedIn presence in-house is usually the preferred approach. But if you can afford it, an agency can accelerate results.
At minimum, have a point person at your nonprofit tasked with maintaining the LinkedIn profile even if you don’t work with an outside firm. Consistency and accountability are key.
LinkedIn Metrics to Track
To gauge the effectiveness of their LinkedIn presence, nonprofits should track these key metrics:
Followers
How many users are following your LinkedIn Company Page? Is it growing steadily over time? Strong follower growth indicates awareness and interest.
Engagement Rate
Engagement rate shows what % of followers are actively liking, commenting, sharing, and clicking on your content. Higher is better.
Clicks
This shows how many times people are clicking on links you share. Important for driving nonprofit website traffic.
Visitor Demographics
LinkedIn provides data on who is visiting your page – locations, job roles, industries etc. This can shape content strategy.
Most Popular Content
Analyze top-performing posts to identity types of content and topics resonating most with your audience.
Referral Traffic
How many visits to your nonprofit site come from LinkedIn? This demonstrates its impact as a traffic driver.
Regularly monitoring these metrics provides valuable insights to optimize efforts on LinkedIn and other channels.
Should You Post Job Openings on LinkedIn?
Yes, LinkedIn’s massive user base and powerful jobs board make it a top platform for nonprofits to post open positions.
Key advantages include:
- Reach 700+ million candidates worldwide
- Target by location, skillset, industry, job function
- Leverage networking connections to source referrals
- Promote culture and mission to attract great talent
- Manage applicants and track hiring metrics
- No-cost to post individual openings
Most nonprofits post openings directly on their Company Page or Career Page. But a Job Slots subscription allows bulk posting and tracking.
Posting on LinkedIn should be part of any nonprofit’s recruitment strategy. It expands your talent pool and the tools help streamline hiring.
Hidden LinkedIn Features for Nonprofits
Beyond the basics, some “hidden” LinkedIn features can really benefit nonprofits:
Company Analytics
Premium accounts unlock analytics on visitors, engagement, content etc. Critical for optimizing efforts.
Showcase Pages
Create dedicated pages for special campaigns, events, or initiatives under your nonprofit’s umbrella.
Content Suggestions
Let LinkedIn automatically suggest content your audience may be interested in to simplify posting.
Lead Generation Forms
Add customizable forms to your page to generate leads and grow your email list.
Audience Demographics
Discover which members are following you based on location, industry, job role, and more.
Saved Leads
Save leads who visit your page to be reminded to follow up with them.
Checking out these less obvious features can really take a nonprofit’s LinkedIn presence to the next level.
Conclusion
In summary, having a LinkedIn presence delivers tremendous value for nonprofits seeking to achieve their mission. This platform enables organizations to tell their story, connect with supporters, promote important causes, recruit talent, and expand overall impact.
Following LinkedIn best practices, tracking performance data, and leveraging all the available tools can help nonprofits succeed on this channel. While investing time and resources is required, the payoff of increased awareness, engagement, and donations is well worth the effort.
Any legitimate registered nonprofit can and should have a professional LinkedIn profile. In today’s digital age, it’s a must in order to reach key audiences and accomplish your organization’s goals. LinkedIn provides the perfect platform to highlight your mission and make a difference.