How to use LinkedIn to boost your fundraising

LinkedIn has been around for 20 years and it was originally known as the platform to create an online CV and find a new job.

You are still able to use it for both, but it’s also a professional channel where you’ll get to connect with other professionals, follow your favorite organizations, learn from other sector leaders, and build a feed with what matters to you.

But how do nonprofits make the most out of this channel to support their fundraising strategy? We turned to the expert, Tereza Litsa, a freelance marketing strategist and trainer, for their take on how charities can use LinkedIn to their advantage.

Need specialist support with your upcoming digital campaign? Connect with Tereza on LinkedIn and keep reading!

What makes LinkedIn relevant in 2024?

In a landscape crowded with social media platforms clamoring for your attention, LinkedIn stands out as a relevant player in 2024. Here's why:

• It’s easy to use - LinkedIn's straightforward interface makes it easy to navigate and connect with professionals in your industry.
• The content lasts on the platform for several days (even a week!) - Unlike some platforms where content disappears in a flash, LinkedIn posts can remain visible and relevant for longer, allowing for greater exposure and engagement.
• You can still get organic reach and engagement - Compared to other channels, LinkedIn still offers decent organic reach and engagement, providing a valuable platform for networking and sharing insights.
• It’s the largest professional database - With millions of users, LinkedIn boasts the largest professional network, offering unparalleled opportunities for career advancement, recruitment, and networking.
• Integrate your personal and work profiles - By combining your personal profile with your organization's page, you can maximize your reach and visibility, leveraging both personal and professional networks effectively.

How can nonprofits use LinkedIn?

There are many different ways to use LinkedIn; it all comes down to your objectives and your available resources.

Here are some examples:

• If your focus is thought leadership, you can use your personal profile to connect with others.
• If you want to improve your marketing and comms activities, you will focus on your company pages with tactics that appeal to your audience.
• If you want to use LinkedIn for fundraising, you can combine your personal profile with a company page to balance relationship-building with actionable content.

Building relationships

LinkedIn is an invaluable platform for nurturing relationships that are crucial to your organisation's success. 

Start by using your personal profile to share your expertise, connect with others, and amplify your organization’s cause.

For increased visibility, it's important to focus on improving your LinkedIn profile.  If you only have 30 minutes, prioritize the following:

• Keep your job experience up-to-date
• Create a headline that aligns with what you want to focus on
• Use a professional photo
• Create a summary of your experience in the ‘About’ section

Once your profile is ready, it’s time to connect with others. Start by sending connection requests to existing partners, clients, and people in your network on other channels that may not be following you on LinkedIn.

If you want to be intentional with your relationship building, start with the organizations you want to connect with and send a request to people you may be interested in staying in touch with. For example, I am connected with previous clients, organizations whose content I like, current and previous colleagues, and ‘dream partners’ that I want to learn more from and hopefully work together in the future. One way or another, it’s about adding value to your feed and your relations.

Keep in mind, relationship building should not be treated as an annoying cold outreach tactic. It’s about making a connection and starting a conversation with someone you may have shared interests or areas you are working with. A good way to do this is to send a genuine direct message once you are connected with someone to learn more about them or ask something specific. It’s not about the numbers but about the meaningful connections you’re making. 

Marketing

While you might already be using LinkedIn for your marketing and comms activities, it's essential to recognize that the channel is gradually evolving into a highly engaging channel that deserves its own focus on your marketing plan.

As LinkedIn gets good organic reach and engagement, it's time to move away from ‘sharing a post because I shared it on every other channel’ and create a mini strategy that is tailored to the platform. The good thing is that it’s not about the volume of the content but about knowing how the channel works to make good use of it. Creating 2-3 posts per week is still a healthy cadence, especially if you create them in the formats that work best in the platform.

Your content should be a mix of the different objectives you want to focus on:

• Awareness - share compelling narratives about your cause to captivate new audiences
• Engagement - nurture relationships with your existing audience and partners through interactive content
• Driving action - prompt desired actions such as newsletter sign-ups or donations, but maintain a balanced approach to avoid overwhelming your audience

Another way to boost your marketing success on LinkedIn is to involve your team in amplifying your most important content. If you are launching a campaign, create a mini plan for your team to support it with individual posts that still tag your company page. This approach has multiple benefits:

1. You expand your network
2. You make your team feel involved
3. You can explore future partnerships
4. You are not the only one creating content!

Interested in using AI to take your marketing plan to the next level? Try using it to come up with content ideas, improve your campaign plan, or even analyze your posts’ performance.

Fundraising 

LinkedIn may not have as many fundraising features as Facebook but it can still be a useful channel for your next campaign. For example, you can blend marketing and fundraising to tell a story of how you make a difference. It’s a great channel to share the impact, showcase your work behind the scenes, and link the story to your campaign.

Text posts and a series of images in slide format work well on LinkedIn so this gives you the opportunity to experiment with different content formats compared to what you are used to.

You can also share the content that you are planning for other digital channels but add a personal spin to your strategy. How about getting your team to amplify the message on their profiles to make it more personal and reach a wider network? 

Corporate engagement and partnerships

Both marketers and fundraisers stand to reap significant benefits from the professional focus and growing user engagement on LinkedIn.

For marketers, it's a prime opportunity to tell a story that appeals with their target audience, building enduring connections and leaving a lasting impact. Similarly, fundraisers can leverage these naratives to drive tangible outcomes, such as donations or partnerships.

When it comes to partnerships, LinkedIn is the best digital channel to spend time on.
As a professional network, you can use it to:

1. Keep your current partners engaged
2. Explore new partnerships
3. Re-engage previous partners
4. Monitor relationship and job changes that may be useful for business development and outreach

As the largest professional database available, LinkedIn makes outreach and networking easier, provided that you don’t overuse it for cold outreach with limited success. It’s all about being authentic and connecting in a meaningful way.

How to get started

Now, let's break down the process into seven clear steps to help you get started and make the most of your journey on LinkedIn.

1. Plan - create a plan that aligns with your objectives of how you want to use the channel
2. Objectives - link your channel objectives to your organizational goals
3. Team effort - explore ways that you can involve your team (especially those who are more external facing)
4. Consistency - create a plan that works depending on your available resources and stick to it
5. Multi-channel approach - promote your LinkedIn presence to other channels
6. Outreach - Use LinkedIn for outreach to attract new corporate partnerships or sponsorship opportunities
7. Engagement - Engage with comments both on your page and profile as they tend to boost your posts’ performance (all about relationship building!)

LinkedIn has evolved from a job search platform to a vital space for professionals and organizations. With its easy-to-use interface, long-lasting content visibility, and wide professional network, it offers great opportunities for nonprofits. By following the steps outlined here—like building relationships, marketing effectively, and forging corporate partnerships—nonprofits can make a big impact. 

Get advice from the experts

Tereza Litsa is a freelance marketing strategist and trainer focusing on social media and content marketing.

Tereza is working with nonprofits and purpose-driven brands to help them improve their marketing and make their digital communications more purposeful - from creating digital strategies to running LinkedIn training sessions.

Need help with LinkedIn training or strategic support with your upcoming digital campaign? Connect with Tereza on LinkedIn.

To stay up-to-date with the latest digital marketing updates, check out Tereza’s website. 

Related resources

• How to get started on TikTok as a nonprofit
• Unlock more social fundraising with GivePanel's expanded feature set for JustGiving
• AI for fundraising teams - how to get started
• GivePanel's Partner Marketplace

Co-authored by:

Tereza Litsa - Marketing Strategist