How should non profits use LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 722 million users worldwide. This makes it an extremely valuable tool for nonprofits looking to expand their reach, amplify their mission, and connect with potential volunteers, donors and partners.

Why Should Nonprofits Use LinkedIn?

There are several key reasons why nonprofits should have a presence on LinkedIn:

• Reach a massive audience – With over 722 million users, LinkedIn provides access to a huge potential supporter base for nonprofits to tap into.
• Targeted visibility – Nonprofits can connect with professionals and companies who are aligned with their cause and may be interested in partnering, donating or volunteering.
• Establish thought leadership – LinkedIn provides a platform for nonprofits to publish blog posts and demonstrate their expertise on issues relevant to their mission.
• Promote job openings – The site’s huge user base makes it a great place for nonprofits to post job listings and attract top talent.
• Fundraising – LinkedIn offers excellent targeting capabilities to identify and connect with potential high net worth donors.
• Build relationships – Nonprofits can forge valuable connections with other organizations, volunteers and influencers on LinkedIn.

In summary, a LinkedIn presence offers nonprofits an unparalleled opportunity to expand their reach, transmitted their messaging, mobilize supporters and secure resources they need to drive impact.

How to Create a Nonprofit LinkedIn Page

Here are some tips for nonprofits to create an optimized LinkedIn Page:

• Complete the profile – Include your mission, description, contact info, website links, location, and employee size.
• Upload a cover image and logo that represent your brand.
• Highlight causes – Nonprofits can list up to 3 causes on their Page to help users find you.
• Use rich media – Share videos, images, presentations to showcase your work and make your Page more engaging.
• Optimize SEO elements – Research keywords and use them in titles, descriptions and headlines.
• Link to your website and blog – Drive visitors to your nonprofit’s external assets.
• Turn on the “Follow” button – This lets users follow your updates in their feed.

Invest time in fully completing your nonprofit’s LinkedIn Page for maximum visibility and impact.

How to Grow Your Nonprofit’s LinkedIn Network

To maximize the benefits of LinkedIn, nonprofits need to proactively grow their network on the platform. Here are some proven tactics:

• Join LinkedIn Groups related to your cause – Share content and engage with members.
• Follow companies and brands that align with your mission – This builds valuable connections.
• Connect with staff and volunteers – Keep them engaged by sharing nonprofit updates.
• Partner with influencers – Work with thought leaders to help amplify your messaging.
• Engage on high-profile posts – Comment on viral content to tap into wider conversations.
• Cross-promote content – Share blog posts and updates across your other social channels.
• Leverage hashtags – Use relevant hashtags to expand the reach of posts.
• Send personalized connection requests – Tailor invitations to message why you want to connect.

Make growing your LinkedIn network an ongoing priority. A bigger audience means greater impact for your nonprofit.

Best Practices for Nonprofit LinkedIn Posts

To maximize the impact of your nonprofit’s LinkedIn content, incorporate these best practices:

• Share multimedia – Posts with images, videos, presentations get more engagement.
• Post consistently – Aim for 2-3 updates per week to stay visible.
• Embrace storytelling – Put a human face on your cause through stories.
• Highlight impact metrics – Quantify the difference you are making.
• Recognize partners – Tag and thank supporting companies and volunteers.
• Respond to comments and shares – This builds community.
• Use calls-to-action – Offer clear ways for people to get involved and support you.
• Vary post types – Mix up blog posts, news updates, event promotions, etc.
• Repurpose content – Cross-post from your blog and other channels.
• Post at optimal times – Track engagement data to see when your followers are most active.

Test different types of content and analyze performance data to refine your LinkedIn strategy over time.

LinkedIn Features Nonprofits Should Use

Here are some of the key LinkedIn tools and features nonprofits should leverage:

• Company Pages – Create an optimized Page to represent your nonprofit.
• Showcase Pages – Use to highlight specific initiatives, campaigns or events.
• LinkedIn Groups – Join and engage with Groups aligned to your mission.
• Targeted ads – Run sponsored campaigns to reach potential supporters.
• LinkedIn Live – Broadcast live videos to share news and connect with your audience.
• LinkedIn Events – Publicize your upcoming webinars, fundraisers, and other events.
• Nonprofit Hub – Take advantage of special resources available through LinkedIn’s Nonprofit Hub.
• Job listings – Post volunteer and employment opportunities.
• LinkedIn Elevate – Use this social media management tool to schedule and optimize content.

Regularly explore new LinkedIn products and features as they are frequently adding and improving capabilities to boost engagement.

Measuring LinkedIn Success for Nonprofits

It’s important for nonprofits to track metrics and measure the impact of their LinkedIn presence. Here are some key performance indicators to monitor:

• Follower growth – How rapidly is your follower base increasing?
• Engagement rate – What % of followers are liking, commenting, sharing posts?
• Click-through rate – How many people are clicking links in posts?
• Leads generated – How many potential volunteers/donors contacted you via LinkedIn?
• Content reach – How many unique users did you content reach?
• Page views – How many times was your Company Page viewed?
• Referral traffic – What % of website visitors are coming from LinkedIn?
• Conversion rate – What % of site visitors convert into donors or volunteers?

Use LinkedIn Analytics and monitoring third-party tools to track these KPIs over time. This data will reveal what content and strategies are most effective.

Tips for Engaging Your LinkedIn Audience

Driving ongoing engagement on LinkedIn is critical. Here are some proven tactics to motivate your audience to take action:

• Ask questions to spark discussion.
• Run polls and surveys to collect feedback.
• Reward top contributors by sharing their posts.
• Give behind-the-scenes looks at your nonprofit’s work.
• Spotlight clients, donors, partners and volunteers.
• Use hashtags and tag influencers to expand reach.
• Leverage holidays, events and awareness days with custom content.
• Respond to all comments and messages.
• Send regular updates to followers.
• Go live or post videos to deliver multimedia content.

Experiment with different engagement tactics and see what resonates most with your audience.

Ideal LinkedIn Content Types for Nonprofits

Nonprofits should incorporate a diverse blend of content into their LinkedIn strategy. Here are some of the most effective content formats to leverage:

• Storytelling spotlights – Share the journeys of those you’ve impacted.
• Behind-the-scenes photos/videos – Give an insider’s view of your work.
• Spotlights on partners – Recognize corporate, nonprofit and celebrity partners.
• Infographics – Visually communicate data and statistics.
• Blog posts – Repurpose blogs on topics relevant to your audience.
• Upcoming event promotions – Create visibility for fundraising events.
• Impact reports – Quantify your results and achievements.
• Donor testimonials – Authentic stories build trust.
• Volunteer spotlights – Recognize committed volunteers.
• Pledge drives – Mobilize support around giving days or campaigns.

Analyze performance data to double down on what content types resonate most. This will evolve over time as your follower base grows.

Common LinkedIn Mistakes Nonprofits Make

While LinkedIn presents amazing opportunities for nonprofits, it’s important to avoid these common pitfalls:

• Failing to complete and optimize their Company Page.
• Not posting frequently enough. To see results, nonprofits need to post consistently.
• Broadcasting too much promotional content without enough value-added content.
• Not engaging enough with their audience or network connections.
• Not incorporating multimedia content such as images, videos, and presentations.
• Not targeting content and messaging for the LinkedIn audience.
• Not taking advantage of LinkedIn’s powerful targeting and analytics tools.
• Not repurposing content from other channels.
• Sending overly mass or templated messages instead of personal outreach.

Avoiding these missteps and proactively incorporating best practices will help nonprofits get the most value from their investment in cultivating a LinkedIn presence.

Tips for Nonprofit LinkedIn Advertising

LinkedIn advertising presents a huge opportunity for nonprofits to reach new supporters. Here are some tips to maximize the impact of nonprofit LinkedIn ads:

• Target your ads based on industry, job role, location, interests and demographics.
• Test different ad variations to see what messaging resonates.
• Use emotional storytelling focused on the “why” behind your cause.
• Highlight the human impact of donations to inspire action.
• Dynamic ads can showcase specific profiles of those you serve.
• Retargeting ads reach those who’ve already engaged with your content.
• Videos and images boost ad performance.
• Watch cost-per-click and conversion rates to optimize campaigns.
• Partner with brand sponsors to fund larger ad campaigns.
• Promote time-sensitive campaigns and giving days.

Allocate a portion of your marketing budget to testing LinkedIn ads. The platform’s powerful targeting makes it possible to surface your messages exactly where they’ll resonate most.

Conclusion

LinkedIn offers an incredibly valuable platform for nonprofits to dramatically expand their reach and impact. By leveraging Company Pages, growing their network, sharing compelling content, and running targeted advertising campaigns, nonprofits can connect with new supporters and drive real-world action.

However, it requires dedicating staff time and resources to cultivating an active presence on the platform. Nonprofits need to make a commitment to posting consistently, monitoring metrics, and refining their content and engagement strategy over time. Those that invest in maximizing the opportunities on LinkedIn will see tremendous dividends for their organization.

In today’s digitally connected world, LinkedIn is too powerful of a platform for nonprofits to overlook. Adding it into their mix of outreach channels diversifies their audience and enables them to drive greater awareness, mobilize support and ultimately create bigger impact.