Why “Silver Medalists” Are Blood Cancer United’s Secret Recruiting Sauce

Sourcing candidates for an open job from scratch can be an all-encompassing, time-intensive task. Nonprofit talent professionals spend time, energy, and resources establishing an impressive roster of potential candidates, all while knowing that only one of these professionals will land the job.

For every successful hire, recruiters build and then close relationships with many candidates who would likely have made an excellent hire, only to repeat the same process and reinvest the same resources for the next open role.

Blood Cancer United, formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, is the largest global nonprofit focused solely on blood cancers. It prioritizes organizational sustainability and efficiency to make the most of every dollar. For Blood Cancer United, this hiring challenge and ineffective use of recruiting resources required a creative solution to best serve its mission: Maintaining a strong talent pipeline by staying in touch with promising candidates, knowing that a better fit for them might come along in the future.

By continuing to foster relationships with these “silver medalists,” Vice President of Talent Acquisition & Internal Mobility Sharon Giotis and her team preserve an engaged roster of candidates between hires, create meaningful relationships that lead to opportunities, and leave a lasting impression on candidates.

“When a role opens,” she explains, “we’ve already established some of those relationships that we can readily reach out to for their interest or referrals.”

Blood Cancer United’s recruitment team nurtures valuable relationships with these candidates by making the most of LinkedIn's nonprofit resources.

Building deep talent pipelines proactively

Given that Blood Cancer United–whose mission is to cure blood cancer and improve the lives of all patients and their families–currently staffs more than 1,100 people across the country, recruiting efficiently has become paramount for Sharon’s team. 

“We look at measurements of time [elapsed between] when a candidate verbally accepts a role to when we opened that role,” she says, with a goal of, “keeping that under 45-50 days.”

Sharon has discovered that one of the most effective ways to lower the time between opening a job and securing a hire is to start looking for candidates before the position opens.

“My team members each have LinkedIn Recruiter seats that allow them to access the entire LinkedIn network to proactively source and engage candidates differently,” she explains. “The ability to communicate with individuals for not only roles that we have open currently, but also future roles, is incredibly valuable.”

Staying ahead of their specific hiring needs has consistently benefited Sharon’s team. She recalls multiple times when proactive outreach, whether anticipating an open role or not, helped them quickly engage candidates and move them swiftly into the hiring pipeline.

Even when a candidate doesn’t work out for a particular role, Sharon and her team retain what they learned during the sourcing process for the next time.

She points to LinkedIn as a powerful advantage, noting that tools like Recruiter allow her team to track past candidates, see how far they progressed in the interview process, and review internal feedback—all of which help determine whether someone might be a fit for a current or future role.

Keeping candidates engaged between open roles

Sharon emphasizes the importance of staying connected with the organization’s silver medalists, even when no roles are available, as a key part of her team's strategic hiring approach. Personalizing the outreach keeps the relationship warm and friendly.

In one instance, Sharon's team quickly built a pipeline by sending messages to pre-identified prospects, ultimately landing two strong finalists: one sourced through outreach and the other through referral. While the referral was hired, Sharon notes that the sourced candidate made a lasting impression.

“Candidate experience is so important to us,” she says, explaining that her team continues to engage with the sourced candidate for future roles that align with his skills and interest in the organization.

One practice Sharon recommends is keeping past candidates engaged through a mix of CRM-driven drip campaigns and more personal, high-touch outreach. For particularly strong, just-missed candidates, you might consider putting a reminder on your calendar to reach out to them personally. She advises reconnecting about twice a year to maintain the relationship, even when there isn’t an open role.

Even if these silver medalists never find the right role with Blood Cancer United, Sharon says maintaining the relationship can still pay off in other ways.

“Even if they’re ultimately not available, then their good experience can translate to the fact that they may be more open to sharing referrals or the names of folks within their network that you can contact.”

“There's an interest in giving back, so if [an open role is] not something that's within their scope of interest … they may have somebody that they know who is interested in a role like ours. At the end of the day, every interaction with our organization is a reflection of our lifesaving mission, so we want to make sure it’s as positive as possible,” said Sharon about opportunities that emerge from staying in contact.

How LinkedIn Recruiter helps nonprofits hire proactively

Features and capabilities like these make LinkedIn Recruiter an indispensable talent pipeline tool for teams like Sharon’s:

• Access to the entire LinkedIn network allows teams to identify, track, and engage top talent — even before roles open.

• Ability to save and categorize candidates ensures strong fits stay in the pipeline for future opportunities.

• “Who’s Viewed Your Profile” insights help nonprofits identify past candidates who are still interested in the organization.

• Personalized InMail messaging helps keep candidates engaged, even if they’re not actively looking.

To learn more about how LinkedIn can help your nonprofit source and stay in touch with strong candidates, check out LinkedIn Recruiter.