Is LinkedIn helpful?

Like many parts of social media, LinkedIn seems to have it's positive and negative moments for people. I recently have seen some peers in non-profit fundraising post about their challenges with LinkedIn and after reading all of the comments on their posts (by far negative) I thought I would share some of my experiences.

Just to be clear, I'm not an employee of LinkedIn nor am I paid to write positive things about them.

I have been on LinkedIn for many years. Two years ago I decided that I wanted more from LinkedIn and decided to put more effort in it. Before creating strategy around that I decided to clean it up. I wanted to be connected with people I actually knew, people in my field (non-profit development and fundraising) and people in fields I could collaborate with (corporate leaders, recruiters, activists). This took a while as it was before one could delete from the profile. I had to go through each profile and decide if there was relationship or partnership potential there.

All of that time totally paid off. I ended up deleting almost half of all of my connections, quickly realizing that I had too many connections with people I didn't know and couldn't think of how we could benefit each other.

I started fresh. My goals include building relationships with people in my field, those who I can learn from and those who I potentially might want to work with one day. Another goal is to engage with people and businesses who might want to partner with me and the non-profit I work for. By partner I mean that they get something out of the relationship and we get something out of the relationship, not just me as a non-profit wanting them to donate and then see you later. A true partnership. Finally, and this can be inclusive of the partnership part, I want to engage with the community around the children served by my non-profit, specifically who we are as a non-profit and why we need to exist.

In other words being on LinkedIn for me can't be all about me.

Additionally, like all of social media and most things that end up being good for you in regards to goals, I need to work it. Seriously work it. That doesn't mean being on LinkedIn 24/7. It simply means that I need to be proactive if I want results or if I want to feel it's worth my while. On LinkedIn that means adding posts and articles that might benefit my connections and/or my goals, liking peoples posts, engaging with their posts (writing a comment), introducing people and sharing job openings/searches.

In the last two years my LinkedIn experience has totally changed. I hope what I have shared can be helpful to you! My LinkedIn profile is here if you would like to check it out.

Thanks for reading!

Shout out to non-profit fundraisers!!!

This is a big shout out to all of those professional non-profit development fundraisers out there!

Non-profit development folks rock this world. Every day they build relationships and connect visions so program people at non-profits can change the world and make it a better place.

I'm talking about those development professionals who are filled with passion and purpose and bring it everyday for the benefit of their non-profit.

I am honored to be in your company and grateful for the work you do.

If you are in non-profit leadership, on a non-profit board, a non-profit recruiter or a donor, take a minute to thank the fundraiser you work with. It goes a long way!

Thanks for reading.

Passion with purpose means successful fundraising

What are you passionate about?

One of the traits I immediately see when looking at someone I consider to be an amazing fundraiser is the amount of passion they have for the cause they fundraise for.

It makes sense. Work for an agency that serves in an area that you are very passionate about and your passion is bound to support your fundraising efforts. This has certainly proven true for myself. Yet it's also true that passion alone might not be enough. I also need purpose.

There are many in our field who are in fundraising for some other purpose other than being able to allow their non-profit mission to totally rock.. Perhaps they believe it's a good stepping stone to something else or perhaps they needed a break from the corporate world and this position fits for them at this time. These scenarios don't really benefit the agency, and they could detract from successful fundraising. There is little we as fundraising professionals can do about this except ask more questions when hiring and keep the passion alive on our teams.

I would personally much rather have someone on my team who is hugely passionate about the cause, and whose constant actions and thinking will be focused and purposeful on the success of their work, not thinking into the future about what might come next. Focus is huge in fundraising.

I have met all types of fundraisers since I entered this world and those making the biggest change have passion and purpose.

Just something to think about when considering a new staff member or when thinking about what makes for success in fundraising.

It's also something to think about when you are thinking about a move. It's always something good to consider when taking a look at yourself in the mirror, whether for a new position or your current one.

Thanks for reading!