When you think of LinkedIn, you may think of cultivating stronger business contacts, connecting after meeting someone smart at a conference or event, or finding a former colleague or business connection at a new venture.
LinkedIn: All sorts of helpful treats for nonprofits and people who love helping. Photo courtesy of Nan Palmero, Flickr
LinkedIn is certainly good for all of those things, along with keeping up with business news. They also do a tremendous amount for nonprofits, and offer numerous tools to make finding people who are passionate for social good and causes easier.
One of these things is the newly-announced Board Connects. For years now, LinkedIn has been a deep well of talented, resourceful, skilled individuals from which to draw. These same people can make outstanding board members. And now what was once a popular yet informal use — finding new nonprofit board members — has a helpful, structured tool kit to make it simple.
It’s no secret I am one of LinkedIn’s biggest fans because of the tools and resources they offer non-profits, as Head of Social Impact Meg Garlinghouse outlined in her Social Good Stars feature in The Huffington Post. Bryan Breckinridge, LinkedIn’s Nonprofit Success Enabler, also noted how many different, positive things LinkedIn can do for charities and causes in his interview for this blog.
Board Connects takes this grassroots momentum for Good and transforms it into a process that streamlines finding and hiring new nonprofit board members.
Board Connects can also make finding a seat on a nonprofit board easier, which Meg points out, has many benefits:
• Builds your skill set: Hone the skills you currently possess while serving on a board whether you work in marketing, human resources or finance, and learn new skills that you can add to your LinkedIn profile.
• Grows your network: Meet and collaborate with other passionate and talented professionals while serving on a board and make key contacts for the future.
• Builds your brand and the nonprofit’s brand: Not only will your professional brand get a boost from serving as a board member, but you can build awareness and endorsements for that nonprofit through your participation.
• Makes you feel good for doing good: Building social capital will give you that burst of professional and personal inspiration you may be looking for, and there is nothing better than the feeling that you can put your skills to good use.
As Meg explains, “If you are interested in joining a nonprofit board, be sure to add the Volunteer Experience & Causes section to your LinkedIn profile. Expressing the causes you care about and the organizations you support will enable your network to connect you with the right opportunity.”
To learn more and sign up for the program, you can visit LinkedIn’s new LinkedIn for Nonprofits resource page.
Head of Social Impact at LinkedIn, Meg Garlinghouse (@Megarling).
To read more about the Board Connects program details and the inspiration behind it, read Meg’s interview with Forbes here.
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