This document discusses optimizing LinkedIn for nonprofit organizations. It provides tips on creating an effective personal profile, including making sure profiles are accurate, locatable, impactful, value-based and engaging. Additional sections cover using LinkedIn to expand networks, conduct searches for potential donors and members, and strategies for connecting with new contacts.

1. Thrive. Grow. Achieve.
LinkedIn for Nonprofits – Optimizing LinkedIn to Attract Donors, Contributors and Board Members – Share Your Vision and Drive Visibility!
Kelly Leonard , Taylor-Leonard Corporation
Tuesday, October 28, 2014

2. Presented by: Kelly Leonard
© 2014 by Taylor-Leonard Corporation. Any use of this document including reproduction, modification, distribution, and republication without prior written consent of Taylor-Leonard Corporation is strictly prohibited.
Optimizing LinkedIn for Organizational Success

3. 3
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Non-practicing Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Financial services/insurance professional.
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Over twenty years internal audit, healthcare, and financial services experience encompassing federal government, private and public accounting environments, to include Fortune 100 companies. Ten years as a corporate trainer.
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Oversees the Business Development practices of Taylor- Leonard Corporation (T-LC); an information technology and business development consultancy.
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Launched BoostMyLinkedIn to maximize client results from LinkedIn. 3,000+ first level connections with 6-10 daily direct inquiries and opportunities. T-LC generated $500,000+ in consulting revenue within a 24-month period through LinkedIn network. Over the last 3 years, trained 3,000+ business professionals.
Kelly Leonard – CEO, Taylor-Leonard Corporation

4. Today’s Objectives – You Will Learn …
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The relevance of social media/LinkedIn for non-profit organizations
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How organizations are adapting to social media/digital technology
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The importance of being A.L.I.V.ETM [Accurate, Locatable, Impactful, Value-Based, and Engaging]; personally and organizationally
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The best practices for business professionals to get the most from LinkedIn
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Strategies to effectively use LinkedIn to build relationships with potential donors, supporters, volunteers and more
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5. The Good News Is …
“90% of questions you have about social media are not in fact social media questions, they’re actually networking questions…” – Kevin Knebl
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Social media technology allows people to talk about brands with unprecedented speed and volume…

6. Top Challenges?
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Lack of Time
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Inability to Measure Value / ROI
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Difficulty Integrating Social Media with Other Business Activities
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Lack of Budget
Challenges can be overcome, if social media is planned and done strategically!
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7. 7
What’s Your Strategy?

8. Why Is Social Media Important?
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If you're not actively using social media for your organization/business or brand then you're missing out on the potential to reach more than 73% of the adult population that has access to the internet according to a Pew Research Internet Project study

9. Why Is Social Media Important?
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Source: Elaine Fogel, “Nonprofits Must Reach Millennials with Multichannel Marketing
“If your [favorite] nonprofit organization wants to guarantee its sustainability and growth, it needs to build relationships with Millennials – those born after 1980. This generation is generous with their wallets and time.”

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Why is LinkedIn Important?
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310+ MM members worldwide
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Users in over 200 countries, available in 19 languages
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42% of users update their profile regularly
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Over 2MM+ Groups, with 1,000 forming every day
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Over 5 billion professional searches each year
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More than 4MM Company Profiles
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Millions of connections formed every business day
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Vision  create economic opportunity for every one of the 3.3 billion people in the global workforce
Source: LinkedIn Internal

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Why is LinkedIn Important?
Millions of nonprofit professionals use LinkedIn to identify potential volunteers, board members, employees, and donors https://nonprofit.linkedin.com/

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Why is LinkedIn Important?

13. Define your Strategy
What do I want?
1. Career Management
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Job change
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Personal Branding
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Networking
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Collaboration
2. Talent Management / Recruiting
3. Networking
4. Entity Marketing
5. Business Development
6. Research
How Can LinkedIn Help?
1.
Find jobs
2.
Connect with decision makers
3.
Showcase expertise
4.
Company Profile
5.
Announcements, Groups, Discussions
6.
Powerful search engine, survey tools, and repository
7.
Find talent, donors, volunteers, clients, etc
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14. Get Started!
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Effectively building a personal profile is the first step to growing a strong LinkedIn presence because people do business with people they ...

15. Is My LinkedIn Profile A.L.I.V.E.TM?
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A – Accurate L – Locatable I – Impactful V – Value-based E – Engaging
"To attract attractive people, you must be attractive. To attract powerful people, you must be powerful. To attract committed people, you must be committed. Instead of going to work on them, you go to work on yourself. If you become, you can attract." -- Jim Rohn

16. Is Your Profile … Accurate
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Free of grammar/spelling errors?
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Correct in all details – factual?
“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters” - Albert Einstein

17. 
Users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn
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Is Your Profile … Locatable
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Do your Specialties contain appropriate keywords which cause you to “rank” for your expertise?
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What words would a potential client/partner use to search for your services/skill set?
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At least 5 skills
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Profile photo
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At least 50 connections
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A summary
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Industry and postal code
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A current position with description
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Two more positions
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Education

18. Is Your Profile … Impactful
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Are your Headline and Summary compelling?
1.
“Tireless, caring Registered Nurse who helps pediatric cancer patients and their families feel at ease throughout treatment and recovery”
2.
“PMP-certified project manager – Known for successfully leading multi-million dollar projects in developing countries”
3.
“Global health professional specializing in the use of mHealth, eHealth, and informatics for maternal & child health”
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What message does your profile communicate?
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How do you want others to remember “your brand”?

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Is Your Profile … Value-Based
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Does your Summary & Experience highlight your value proposition; succinctly written with measurable/quantifiable accomplishments?
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Does your profile contain current recommendations that are directly aligned with your skills/abilities? Recommendations vs. Endorsements

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Is Your Profile … Engaging
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Define your Connection Strategy
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Grow your network.
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Share what you’re doing – post meaningful content as an update, provide thought leadership/hot topics
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Communicate with your network – comment on posts, follow their company, etc.

21. Profile Sections
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Profile Header
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Background/Summary
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Experience
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Publications
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Projects
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Organization
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Education
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Certifications
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Skills & Expertise
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Recommendations
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Volunteer Experience & Causes
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Each section in your personal profile is relevant in helping you to build your network, “brand”, expertise/credibility, demonstrate balance, and to rank.

22. WARNING! WARNING!
Implementing these strategies will get you noticed. Temporarily turn off notifications.
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23. Profile Header
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Professional headshot
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Compelling headline
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Contact info – email & contact #
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Website & Social Media Links
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Personalized LinkedIn URL
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24. Summary
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High impact, overview
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2-3 paragraphs highlighting accomplishments & ways you add value
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Name drop when possible
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Establish a Call to Action
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Specialties to drive SEO

25. Experience
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Snapshot of professional experience
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Include current & past employment
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Showcase relevant resume sections; focus on your value proposition & measureable accomplishments
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Link to Company Page to drive brand /visibility
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Mix text with bullet points, when possible
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Give/Get Recommendations

26. Recommendations – Third Party Validation = Credibility
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Who are you connected to, have you delivered value to?
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Who are your current/past clients?
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Who has been a mentor to you?
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Is your profile reflective of the experience that would allow you to be recommended?
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Endorsements vs. Recommendations … Know the difference!
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27. Endorsements – Third Party Validation = Credibility
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The Good
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Quick, easy, painless
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Visually attractive skills schematic The Bad
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Impersonal
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Limited value
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Viewed as “soft” recommendations The Ugly
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Often driven by ulterior motive

28. Additional Searchable Content/Sections
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Recall your strategy … use keyword searchable content

29. What’s Your Connection Strategy?
Counterintuitive to our childhood experience … “Don’t talk to Strangers” What’s your philosophy  Connect with no one … Connect with everyone Who?
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Colleagues/Industry peers
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Former co-workers
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Supervisors
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Friends/Family
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People you meet
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Classmates/Alumni
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People interested in your cause/mission
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30. LinkedIn Helps You Expand Your Network
When in doubt, “X” it out!
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31. Advanced Searches – Individuals
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Refine Searches By
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Keywords
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Title
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Name
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Industry
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Relationship
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Location
Benefits
•
Research perspective clients
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Discover how you’re connected
Consider the value of LinkedIn Premium for more robust candidate searches

32. Let’s Apply It!
1.
Provide the name of a prospect (person/key contract) you’d like to connect with ?
2.
Provide the demographic information of your ideal member and/or volunteer?
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Once identified, what next step(s) would you consider?

33. I Made a New Connection … Now What?
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Send an email requesting a short, telephone conversation “Hi Judy! Thanks for connecting with me. I’d like to schedule a quick, 10-minute call with you; the purpose of which is to learn more about you, to share the same, and to explore ways to help one another. Please share the best time/number to reach you.”
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Consider their connections & “People Also Viewed” for points of affinity
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Build value for “Following” your company page
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34. Marketing & Collaboration Wheel
Pulse
Personal
profile
[Saved] Searches:
Groups
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Company Pages
Posting Updates
Outlook Social
Connector

35. Pulse - Read/Contribute Content
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Pulse app and on LinkedIn.com
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News application with content tailored to your professional interests
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Follow Channels and share topical info
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36. Identify/Join Relevant Groups
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Connect with thousands of industry experts and like-minded professionals to gather insight and feedback
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Follow and share topical info
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Credibly expand your business network and uncover opportunities to collaborate
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1,000+ groups are created every day with 100,000 users joining at least one group every day
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WARNING! WARNING! Make sure your posts are genuine and that you're not spamming the group with worthless noise.
Group search word: “non-profit”

37. Leveraging Company Pages  Organizational Development
Refine Searches By
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Location
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Industry
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Relationship
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Company Size
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# of Followers
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Fortune
Benefits
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Research perspective clients/companies
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Discover public information on companies & how you’re connected
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Find key executives within those companies
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38. Let’s Apply It!
1.
Provide the name of an organization or company you’d like to do business with?
2.
Provide the demographic information of your ideal corporate/strategic partner?
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Once identified, what next step(s) would you consider?

39. 
Create an impactful, high-level overview
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Grow your “Follower” base
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Post relevant Company Updates to remain “top of mind” & engage Followers
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Encourage your Team to “share”/ “like” posts to expand visibility
Build Your Company Profile … 4MM+ featured
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40. 
Grow your Following | The Employee Effect
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Include a clear call to action in all posts
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Ask thoughtful questions to engage your followers
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Add visuals/videos to make feeds stand out
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Align content to your members needs and/or interests. Balance organization specific posts with trending industry news/information.
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Create an editorial calendar but have some flexibility to accommodate time sensitive entries
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Measure/evaluate your results
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Manage updates to keep audience’s attention. Avoid excessive posting.
Company Page Best Practices
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41. When in doubt … “Follow” the Leaders
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42. Update Best Practices – Personal & Company Page
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Be brief
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Post regularly  Companies that post 20 times/month, on average, reach 60% of their followers with 1 or more updates
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Encourage your network’s participation  Include a clear call to action in all posts (read our latest blog, subscribe to …, register today, etc.)
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Balance content  You/Your Company, Industry, Miscellaneous
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Consider leveraging Hootsuite, Buddy Media, Sprinklr, etc
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Always add photos/videos to make feeds stand out
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Time updates  weekday morning/midday
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Track your results

43. Process
Frequency
Call to Action
View Updates
P
Daily
Comment on successes of your network. Shows you have an interest in them and keeps you/your services in front of them.
Check “Who’s Viewed Your Profile?”
P
Daily
Send connection requests to individuals you’re not currently “linked to”. For others, engage them in dialog by asking “How may I help you?”
Add Updates
P/C
Weekly
Expose your network to hot topics, promote for speaking engagements, specials, etc. Always include a call to action!
Review Saved Searches
P
Weekly/ Monthly
This is your pipeline. As you receive results from saved searches, connect with them.
Make Recommendations
P
Monthly / Quarterly
Set a goal to make recommendations. Think “givers gain”.
Join Groups
P
Monthly / Quarterly
Identify the groups containing former colleagues, alumni, peers and/or target market and join them. Contribute to the group by providing meaningful content.
Define an Operating Rhythm … 15 minutes/day
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P = personal profile | C = company page

44. Key “Take Aways”
1.
Finalize your Strategy
2.
Optimize Your Personal Profile (Think A.L.I.V.ETM)
3.
Expand your Network
4.
Engage in Groups
5.
Leverage Saved Searches
6.
Complete your Organization’s Company Page
7.
Adopt an Operating Rhythm
8.
Get Help! https://nonprofit.linkedin.com/
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45. Kelly Leonard, CEO Kelly.Leonard@Taylor-Leonard.com www.linkedin.com/in/ktleonard 240.994.4861 (M)
© 2014 by Taylor-Leonard Corporation. Any use of this document including reproduction, modification, distribution, and republication without prior written consent of Taylor-Leonard Corporation is strictly prohibited.