Why/how do people use it?
A social network for professional networking, LinkedIn is designed to avoid the frivolities associated with other networks, so is an ideal network for your orhanisation's executives, networkers or decision-makers.
Its greatest value is in knowledge transfer through peer networking.
Groups
- encourage your organization to join so each member becomes an ambassador for your organization with a badge on his or her profile.
- Prominent stakeholders (volunteers, advisors, board members) help build your organization’s credibility when they list their involvement on their profile or display a group badge.
Do
- Utilize Advanced Search to find the right contacts at other non-profits that you can partner with, or corporations who can provide sponsorship, etc.
- use Answers to access the knowledge and experience of other professionals in the field, particularly if your organisation lacks access to best practices or specialized knowledge in a number of non-core areas that are still important to day-to-day operations,
- create a group under the “Nonprofit” category and select “Yes” to both being listed in the “Groups Directory” and that your Group be display on “Profiles”.
- Consider also setting up a more generic group for your cause. People searching for keywords will be more likely to find it than a group names after your organisation.
Don't
- Confuse quantity for quality. As with all social media, it's not about how many people you're connected to, but how many you're interacting with
Useful links
- LinkedIn For Good
http://www.linkedin.com/good - Three Simple But Powerful Ways Nonprofits Can Use LinkedIn
http://nonprofitorgs.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/threewaystouselinkedin/