LinkedIn: top tips for charities

LinkedIn is a great place to make new connections.

Small charity leaders – is LinkedIn already part of your fundraising and communications strategy? Or is it just one more channel demanding your time and energy?

Let’s explore the value those connections could bring to your work, and some simple ideas to try out.

Be findable

Fundraising is hard work.

We all know it takes time for staff and volunteers to research funding opportunities only to find out your charity is too small/too big/too local/too national/too niche/too general... it’s exasperating.

The irony is, many funders are also spending time looking for the types of projects and activities that meet their priorities, especially those trusts and foundations who are “by invitation only”.

LinkedIn provides a unique opportunity for you to showcase the impact of your work in front of a network of potential funders and to be found by their staff. A simple starting point could be to follow all the funders in your applications pipeline, both existing funders and those you plan to apply to.

Be human

LinkedIn works far better on a personal level. You may have a company page for posting updates, but if your staff and trustees are talking about your charity directly to their networks you will have a much greater reach.

Which brings us to...

Get your house in order

As a small charity, you know that your staff and volunteers are your greatest asset. If your team are not already active on LinkedIn, why not provide a quick training session on how to make a standout LinkedIn profile and encourage employees to connect with each other and wider networks.

Help people to map their networks, write a strong headline for their profiles and understand the importance of sending connection requests. On LinkedIn, your headline shows up whenever you comment or send a connection request, so it needs to be a clear description of what you do. Growing your connections brings multiple benefits, including connecting with potential funders or donors, and increasing the amount of people who will see your content if and when you post.

Have a plan

Building LinkedIn into your communications and fundraising strategy helps to create momentum and bring your team on the journey with you. Having a regular schedule for posting on LinkedIn raises your profile and helps get your charity noticed.

Remember – it's fine to repurpose content you have used elsewhere as part of your LinkedIn posts, but you might need to adjust the format. If you want to share a link to a webpage, put the link in the comments rather than in the post itself. The LinkedIn algorithm promotes posts that keep people on LinkedIn. Look at the hashtags that your desired audience are using and add a few to each of your posts so they’ll be picked up more widely.

Interact

Get active. Most people on LinkedIn stay in the background, viewing other people’s posts. If you want funders to notice you, it’s beneficial to interact with their posts through commenting, reposting or mentioning them in your posts.

The more interaction you can generate on your own posts, the better you will stand out. Ending your posts with a question and inviting comments below are easy ways to keep your post popping up in feeds.

Add value

Remember that what makes LinkedIn different is that it is primarily for sharing work-related ideas and reflections, unlike other channels which are social first. If you want funders to notice you, then try to position yourself as a sector specialist, sharing updates on your own work and observations about patterns and trends across the sector.

Corporate connections

If you are dipping your toe into corporate fundraising or expanding your existing work, LinkedIn can offer an (almost) direct line to decision-makers in companies. By following them and interacting with their posts, your name will become a regular feature in their feed. Commenting on their posts gives you an opportunity to start a conversation with them and begin to build a relationship. Further down the line this gives you a genuine basis to ask to connect directly.

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If you’re excited about the potential of LinkedIn for your charity and would like some help to get started, please get in touch. Our team can help with strategy, or crafting those first LinkedIn posts to help get you noticed. Connect with us and follow our LinkedIn page for inspiration and ideas.