December 2011

By Marc W. Halpert and Colleen McKenna

Editor’s note: “Company Pages” may sound like something only for-profit businesses should care about. But those pages provide valuable visibility to nonprofits as well. On Wednesdays, we’ll be running a five-part guest series on how nonprofits can reap significant benefits from LinkedIn’s Company Pages.

Now, turn your nonprofit organization into a sales force!

Connecting, engaging and creating opportunities for others to engage with you, and building strong and compelling profiles and Company Page are essential strategies. The next step is to tell your organization’s unique story. Put yourself in the donor’s place. Business professionals will engage with your nonprofit if you fully portray and develop the need for your mission, the crisis, the imperative of WHY they should choose YOUR organization to receive their time and money.

Well, duh: We all knew that happier people work harder, didn’t we? While it may seem a no-brainer concept to socially responsible business owners, those who didn’t get it before have no excuse now. The research is in. It shows that making progress on worthwhile projects makes people more productive … and happier.

Wow! The Grinch really did try to steal Christmas this year … from small businesses at least … but in life as in fiction, he failed.

I knew it! But it’s nice to know that 10,000 consumers in 10 countries confirm my belief: Companies have a responsibility to promote social good and consumers will support those who do.

While they don’t yet realize it, social recruiting -- using social media to find staff -- may be a nonprofit board’s best friend. Why? Because nonprofit boards often under-staff, under-train, and under-fund their Human Resource departments, as documented in Bouncing Back? Employment trends in the nonprofit sector, by Idealist.org.

By Marc W. Halpert and Colleen McKenna

Editor’s note: “Company Pages” may sound like something only for-profit businesses should care about. But those pages provide valuable visibility to nonprofits as well. On Wednesdays, we’ll be running a five-part guest series on how nonprofits can reap significant benefits from LinkedIn’s Company Pages.

 A complete LinkedIn profile is essential if you are to reap the benefits of LinkedIn’s connections and every individual profile adds value to the company profile.

Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa: Oh, my! So much rushing about to do, so much family and festivities and focus on making memories.