Last Monday, we hosted our first #MisfitsLive event of 2020, in partnership with LinkedIn. 35 purpose-led organisations joined us in learning how to unlock the power of LinkedIn to meet their organisational goals and elevate their causes.

LinkedIn’s EMEA Lead in Content Marketing Consulting, Bian Salins, kicked off the session with a fantastic presentation on the power and potential of LinkedIn for non-profits. Bian told us that 555,000 non-profits already have a Company Page, highlighting the importance of reaching the right audience with relevant content to stand out above the noise.

We then heard from Autistica, the UK’s leading autism research charity about how they successfully built a LinkedIn culture in their workplace. Rebecca Sterry, Head of Communications and Simon Maltz, Digital Fundraising Manager, talked us through how their staff advocacy programme allows the organisation to build strong relationships with partners. The particular case study they discussed saw them win Fujitsu charity of the Year by proactively engaging with Fujitsu staff to raise awareness of their work and to encourage a vote.

We finished the morning with a full-panel Q&A featuring Rebecca and Simon from Autistica, Customer Success Consultant at LinkedIn, Brandon Davids and our own Managing Director, Natalie Clarke.

For those that missed it, here are our top 5 takeaways to help you make the most out of LinkedIn for your charity:

1. Treat LinkedIn as an extension of your website — use it to build your online presence

Your company LinkedIn page will likely show up on the first page of Google so it’s important your profile is clear and representative of your organisational aims. Make sure to write an informative but concise biography as this gets the most views. It can also make a big difference if you complete your profile as you’re likely to get 30% more weekly page views. Just remember that it doesn’t take much time or effort to get this part right, but it can have a big impact.

2. The type of content you share, and your content strategy, is important

LinkedIn users have a very different mindset to other platforms. People don’t use it for entertainment or to stay in touch with friends like they would with Facebook and Twitter. Users are on LinkedIn to improve their careers, search for new opportunities and learn from thought-leaders and experts.

Bian Salins told us to ask ourselves the question; how can I help someone? Whether you are a charity looking to fundraise or a non-profit looking to grow and show expertise in your field, you have the means to help people on LinkedIn through the way you put out content. Individuals like to engage and share content that is of value to them, so really think about this when posting.

When deciding what content to post, think more about why you are putting it out there. What is the purpose of the content? Is it adding value to an already existing conversation, or does it provide new information that is missing from the mainstream? 85% of all page views on LinkedIn is of content and not jobs, so make sure you are reacting to topical news, and sharing your own stories and real-time updates of volunteer work and events.

3. Staff advocacy is key

As we heard from Austistica, staff advocacy can be a real game-changer for charities and non-profits. In the social good sector, staff advocacy can be enriching and spread awareness of campaigns. Growing staff profiles and having team members shout about the great work they are doing, or the fundraising they are involved with, will increase engagement. Content shared by employees receives 2X more engagement than the same content posted by companies, so make sure you empower your employees to be active on LinkedIn.

Autistica gave staff and volunteers a guideline for posting and handed out awards to those who were helping drive the most engagement online. Think about how you could be incentivising staff advocacy.

4. Use it to build relationships that result in funding & grants

Charities are often looking for support, funding and grants and LinkedIn is a great place to make connections with those that can help. LinkedIn is the platform with the highest number of high net-worth individuals, so spend some time looking to grow your own personal network. Contact people, set up coffees, and engage with other organisations or thought-leaders directly on their page.

5. Use LinkedIn campaign manager to elevate your goals

LinkedIn’s campaign manager tool is a great asset at your fingertips, and there is plenty of free content online to help you learn how to use it. Once you’ve started running ads it can be a great way to strategically grow your network and help achieve specific organisational goals.

You can set up ads to target job titles, industries, those following certain hashtags and more. You might find that you are running an awareness campaign on Facebook for example, but that a demographic group that exists on LinkedIn might be better placed to target and drive more success.

At Social Misfits Media, we regularly host events for purpose-led organisations around London, follow us on LinkedIn to find out about upcoming #MisfitsLive events and keep up-to-date with our work.