How to use LinkedIn for fundraising

BRUSSELS — “Underused and underrated.” That is consultant Eelco Keij’s verdict on LinkedIn when it comes to charities and NGOs searching for funding opportunities. The professional social network LinkedIn now has more than half a billion users from more than 200 countries. But even four years ago, Keij realised with “frustration” that few nonprofits were making use of the free tools available through LinkedIn to reach potential donors. Having worked in New York since 2006, first with the United Nations and later as a fundraising consultant specialising in international grants from United States-based foundations, Keij was well placed to help realize LinkedIn’s potential for fundraising. Now director of fundraising at Radboud University in the Netherlands, Keij — a dual U.S./Dutch citizen — gave a presentation at the International Fundraising Conference held near Amsterdam in October last year. LinkedIn has a paid premium service, allowing users to see extra information, such as who has viewed their profile and how they found them, but Keij’s talk focused on what can be done with a free, standard membership. He spoke with Devex to share his dos and don’ts for approaching donors — especially U.S.-based philanthropic organizations — using LinkedIn. 1. Find the right organization There are hundreds of U.S. foundations that give internationally. Some, like the Bill & Melinda Gates and Ford foundations are widely known, “but there are so many others,” Keij said. “And how to find them if you don’t know their names?” His approach is to use the online Foundation Center directory, which allows anyone to search American grant-making foundations. Keij then recommends combining this information with searches on LinkedIn to see what connections you have to current and former employees and board members at these foundations. “It’s all about creating the most informal introduction, in the most warm way.” --— Eelco Keij, fundraising consultant With so many organisations, he recommends targeting no more than three. Those getting in touch from overseas must also contend with time differences and a potentially unknown legal and tax environment, all of which adds time and resources. 2. Find the right person Once a potential donor has been identified, the next challenge is finding the right person to approach, as well as the right person from the nonprofit to reach out. In both cases, Keij said, seniority matters less than the strength of the connection. “That could even be the janitor, I don’t care. Whoever has the best way in,” he said. Someone may only have a few hundred followers on LinkedIn, but the connections of these people’s connections open up millions of secondary and tertiary followers. In this context, a strong connection may often not be based on work. “You may find someone is a secondary connection and the person in between used to live in the same building as the donor you are trying to reach, and is totally willing to introduce you,” Keij said. “It’s all about creating the most informal introduction, in the most warm way.” In addition to board members, staff and volunteers, Keij said it’s important not to forget former employees as potential connections — something that’s also easily searchable on LinkedIn. “It’s not like in the past when people worked at the same organisation for 25 years,” Keij said. “People now move between jobs but they take their contact book with them.” The aim is to turn a LinkedIn profile into a database of its own, able to “create a huge and powerful tool to facilitate that informal introduction that you’re looking for to those previously identified U.S. foundations.” 3. Avoid cold calling When trying to forge a new connection on LinkedIn, Keij said that as a rule, somebody else should make the introduction. “Somebody who has a relationship with the funding officer, which means that the funding officer completely trusts the recommendation and will take your call or your email,” he advised. Where this is not possible, Keij said, it’s important to add a customised note on the invitation to connect. “That’s your chance to create that human connection from the beginning,” he said. “The preferable outcome is that you have coffee or lunch with somebody. LinkedIn is a supporting tool” rather than an end in itself, he said. 4. Be visible, but not flashy When it comes to your own profile, either as an individual or organisation, Keij sees a number of common errors. “With young people who’ve just graduated, either they write way too much about themselves and they overpromise. Or, they are completely hesitant and they don’t put anything.” For a nonprofit looking to grow its visibility and credibility, Keij suggests creating content in the form of videos and blog posts or contributing to groups. “Groups are often around a specific theme, for instance, refugees. Through these groups you can also get in contact with people from foundations because they are often members too. Once you’ve connected in a group then you have a much more equal basis to approach somebody.” Making sure the LinkedIn page also links to your organisation’s Twitter and Facebook presence is another easy step. But don’t overdo it. “What matters is not your profile,” Keij said. “You can have an ordinary profile. Professional donors can be dissuaded by profiles that are too flashy. What counts is the way you approach people.” 5. Bide your time When approaching someone on LinkedIn, Keij said it’s important to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. It’s about tact, and making the other person eager to interact with you. That means withholding from asking for money straight away. “In a perfect world the asking doesn’t even come from you, it comes from the other side,” Keij said. “I’ve heard many stories were the cultivation phase went very well, people got to know each other, and at a certain point the program officer from the giving foundation says ‘hey, next year we’ve got this coming up …’” At the same time, he said, be strategic about who you connect with. “As a fundraiser, the last thing I want to do is connect for connecting’s sake,” he said. “Fundraising is all about thinking from the perspective of the donor and trying to adjust your product to that.” Devex delivers cutting-edge insights and analysis to the leaders shaping and innovating the business of development. Make sure you don't miss out. Become a Devex Executive Member today.