Best Practices for Nonprofits on LinkedIn
If you are interested in integrating social media into your marketing plan for your nonprofit organization, LinkedIn is a great option to consider. LinkedIn works well as a social networking platform for nonprofits to reach supporters because many professionals already use it as a point of engagement. The social platform allows you to create and foster connections with your supporters while sharing regular updates about the work of your nonprofit.
Here are some helpful tips for being effective as a nonprofit on LinkedIn:
Look for Benchmarks – One best practice is to look at similar nonprofits’ LinkedIn pages for benchmarks. Ask yourself, “Where can I make improvements to our page?” “Is our location and mission clearly stated?” “Are there links to our main and planned giving websites?” “What kind of content do other nonprofits share?” Answering these questions can help guide you in making improvements to your organization’s profile or help in creating a new one.
Keep Your Page Up to Date – Make sure your nonprofit’s profile is updated regularly with posts that include information and photos of your work. Consider using your organization’s logo for your profile picture and a cover image that will resonate with your supporters. It is important to use high-quality images that reflect your unique mission, donors, beneficiaries, staff and volunteers.
Engage Your Staff Members – Are staff members engaging with your organization’s LinkedIn page? If they have LinkedIn accounts, encourage them to complete their profiles with a professional headshot and profile description. Ask them to like and share the organization’s LinkedIn posts to reach a larger audience.
Network and Connect – LinkedIn can be a helpful tool in acquiring new staff, board members or volunteers. The “Groups” feature allows you to join groups that are closely related to your mission or create your own groups. Encourage those that are familiar with your organization to “follow” your organization’s page by promoting it on your website or by email.
Be Consistent and Relevant – How much time are you allocating to maintaining your LinkedIn page? Budget some time during the week to maintain your profile, engage with your followers and answer any comments, questions or messages. Create a content calendar for the month to plan out your posts to ensure you are being consistent.
Your posts should be relevant, interesting and inspiring to your followers. Share updates about your organization, announce upcoming events, promote your legacy society, introduce new hires or board members, share planned giving related articles or donor stories and show the difference your organization is making today with the support of your loyal donors.
As you begin to incorporate LinkedIn into your planned gifts marketing, please feel free to reach out to Crescendo for ideas and support.
