How nonprofits can make the most of LinkedIn

I had the privilege of presenting a webinar to the Darim Online community about how nonprofits should use LinkedIn.

If I had to offer three tips about using LinkedIn effectively, they would be:

Here’s a closer look:

Start with your goals

The key to using any social media platform effectively is to use it to meet your goals. Decide first why you (or your organization) would want to use LinkedIn (such as finding collaborators, funders or colleagues). Once you know why you want to use LinkedIn, how you will use LinkedIn follows. For example, if you want to use LinkedIn to connect with foundations then you might:

Identifying your goals will dictate your LinkedIn strategy.

Optimize your personal profile

One aspect of optimizing your profile is completing it fully. Be sure to include your photo, a summary of who you are, keywords and interests, and a summary of what you’ve accomplished in every position. It’s also important to have at least five recommendations, as people can search LinkedIn by number of recommendations.