4 Ways to Fulfill Your Nonprofit's New Year's Resolutions with LinkedIn

New Year’s resolutions are famously easy to make and hard to keep. But when it comes to fulfilling the goals you’ve set for your nonprofit in 2021, it’s important to keep your eyes on the prize. 

Luckily, you’re not alone. LinkedIn for Nonprofits can help you build momentum right out of the gate, so you can set your organization up for success this year. Here are a few free and paid ways you can use the LinkedIn platform and solutions to achieve some common nonprofit New Year’s resolutions efficiently and effectively.

Resolution #1: Identify new corporate donors to meet fundraising goals

2020 was a challenging year for fundraising. For nonprofits that relied on local businesses for donations, that support might have dried up as the community faced financial hardships. As such, you may have set yourself the goal of identifying and engaging with new corporate donors to shore up resources and meet your fundraising goals for 2021. Even if you retained most of your major donors, it never hurts to diversify your donor base in case the worst should happen. 

As you look for new corporate donors, it’s always useful to have a mutual connection that can introduce you to the right person and give them a great first impression of your organization. LinkedIn Sales Navigator makes it easier to identify these warm introductions, allowing you to quickly visualize your organization’s vast extended network of professional connections. Your employees, board members, and volunteers all have rich networks that you can tap—and since these people care about your cause, most will be delighted to make an introduction if you ask. 

Resolution #2: Boost awareness of your organization’s mission and programs

This is likely a perennial goal for your nonprofit, but the start of a new year is the perfect opportunity to ensure your marketing strategy is as strong as it could be. And you don’t need a huge budget for this: the most effective marketing is often free. 

Posting relevant, timely, and insightful organic content to your organization’s LinkedIn page is a great way to reach a professional audience that is active, engaged, and interested in making a difference—whether that means making a donation, volunteering, or even applying for a job. Sharing photos, videos, and testimonials that showcase your mission, culture, and social impact can help you build interest and rapport with this audience—but first, you need to convince them to follow your page. The LinkedIn Pages Action Plan for Nonprofits is full of free tips you can use and best-in-class examples you can look to in order to enhance your organization’s presence on the platform and attract a whole new audience.

Of course, depending on your marketing budget, you can also invest in sponsored content and other targeted ad solutions. These can help you boost your organization’s visibility—and get your message in front of more people faster.

Resolutions #3: Follow through on your commitment to diversity

As we enter 2021, it’s essential to follow through on any commitments that your organization made to diversity, inclusion, and belonging (DIB) last year. Not only is this a critical step in building trust with untapped and overlooked communities both internally and externally, but it’s also vital for your nonprofit’s evolution and growth. Bringing people from different walks of life together is good for your teams and the communities you serve—broadening the perspectives and horizons of your organization as a whole and helping you innovate. 

DIB is a journey, not a destination, so it’s something you should always be working on. That requires a thoughtful strategy—and the right tools.

LinkedIn for Nonprofits’ recruiting solutions can help you expand your talent pool and pinpoint exceptional candidates you might otherwise have missed out on. For example, if your organization is considering making remote work a permanent fixture of your culture, you could use LinkedIn Talent Insights to identify cities beyond your usual radius that have more diverse populations with the type of skills and experience you’re looking for, helping to guide your search. 

As you work toward these goals, you can also use the "Life" tab on your LinkedIn page to emphasize your organization’s commitment to DIB and share steps you’re taking to walk to walk, rather than just talking the talk. It’s important to be mindful of the team photos that you share here and on your website, as if everyone looks the same, it could signal to underrepresented candidates that they won’t belong. 

Resolution #4: Bridge skills gaps that are holding your organization back

Sometimes, it can feel like the only solution to filling skills gaps is hiring more staff—which isn’t always ideal. But remember, your most valuable employees probably didn’t start out knowing everything they needed to know to succeed. What counts most is passion for the cause, willingness to learn, and a scaleable way to enhance your team’s skills.

LinkedIn Learning can help with this, giving your team access to thousands of expert-led courses and videos that they can work through at their own pace and at the time that’s most convenient for them. In addition to content focused on in-demand skills like data analysis and leadership capabilities, they’ll also find courses designed to support their health and wellbeing—helping you look after your team, even from afar.

Discover the next chapter for your nonprofit

It’s time to turn the page and discover what 2021 holds for your organization. There will certainly be challenging this year, but with the right strategy, you can overcome them and continue moving your mission forward.

To learn more about how LinkedIn for Nonprofits can help, contact one of our nonprofit consultants.