With over 230M members, LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network. This LinkedIn Checklist for Advancement is specifically geared to advancement, alumni relations and development professionals looking for ways to be better informed and to keep a professional fundraising presence.

1. updated!
Checklist for Advancement

2. Imagine walking into a donor cocktail reception. On
average, the crowd is over 35, nearly 50% earn over
$100,000 and many work in Finance and Technology.
Every second, two more potential donors join the party.
Not a bad reception to walk into...and there are already 225
million attendees.*
Welcome to LinkedIn: the world’s professional network.
In this checklist learn how to make LinkedIn a core
component of your fundraising strategy.
*Credit: LinkedIn Press
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3. LinkedIn Checklist for Advancement
LinkedIn by the Numbers (page 4)
Optimizing your Profile for Stewardship (page 8)
3 Tips for LinkedIn Groups (page 12)
Social Donor Intelligence: Prospect Research (page 17)
Harness LinkedIn’s New Features (page 20)
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4. LinkedIn’s user base of 225M
represents 200 countries.
*Credit: LinkedIn Press
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5. Who do they Look Like?
4 in 5 LinkedIn users drive business decisions.
42% of members make over $100,000 a year in salary.
39% are Managers, Directors, Owners, Chief Officers or VPs.
Members include executives from all 2012 Fortune 500 Companies.
93% more likely to be college graduates than the average adult online.
*Credit: LinkedIn Marketing
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6. Activity on LinkedIn
In 2012, LinkedIn users conducted 5.7 billion professional searches.
More than 2.9 million companies have LinkedIn company pages.
In the last year LinkedIn experienced a 170% inc. in mobile use.
*Credit: LinkedIn Press
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7. LinkedIn Checklist for Advancement
✓
LinkedIn by the Numbers (page 4)
Optimizing your Profile for Stewardship
3 Tips for LinkedIn Groups
Social Donor Intelligence: Prospect Research
Harness LinkedIn’s New Features
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8. Profile Photo: It’s Time to Smile!
Donors, potential board members
and colleagues are much more apt
to trust a profile with a face than
with a blank headshot. Avoid nonprofessional photos from a night
on the town, but don’t be shy to
show your personality.
Bad
If your institution takes head shots
that’s a good bet -- either copy the
photo from the website or contact
your public affairs office to see if
you can get a new picture with a
recognizable school landmark.
Bad
Good
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9. Be Fun to Talk to.
Create a Captivating Headline & Summary
LinkedIn gives you a 120 characters to describe yourself in your
headline – make them count. In your summary, seize the open format
to give readers the full view of who you are and what drives you. While
writing your copy ask yourself the question: “Why am I on LinkedIn”
and think of the keywords that one would search in relation to your
answer. Do not write in first person.
Include those keywords, but also make sure to not sound like a robot!
Make it a Custom Fit
LinkedIn allows you to create a custom url to your name, and to label
your “company sites” with your own copy. Customizing this
information makes your profile easier to find when donors are
searching for you.
Give and Get: Endorsements
Recently, LinkedIn has made it easier than ever to give endorsements
and to be endorsed. Just remember to add plenty of skills to your
profile (you can add up to 50!) and your next supportive nod is just a
click away. Longer written recommendations still pull in more
credibility. The best way to get started on collecting the praise? Write
one for a colleague, or for your favorite donors!
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10. Pssst...Here’s a Few Extras.
Power Up with LinkedIn Applications
LinkedIn permits third parties to submit apps for an extra profile
punch. Use popular apps like Amazon’s Reader’s List to display your
favorite book titles, or Trip It to show what your upcoming schedule on
the road looks like. You never know, the next time you travel to NYC a
major donor might spot you’re coming to town and also be a big fan of
Malcom Gladwell!
Reach More Donors, Board Members & Colleagues
Groups provide a way for you to connect with members outside your
reach. Think about what groups are most relevant to your industry,
and the people you are reaching out to, so that you can participate.
Follow alumni who actively participate in your alumni groups. In the
groups that you are a member of go to settings and adjust to let others
message you.
Double Check Your Profile Settings
Link your Twitter account to make sharing easy and to increase your
following in the Twittersphere. Turn on your activity broadcasts, let
others see your connections and manage your visibility. Make your
settings easy for your to be contacted and that your profile is visible -as fundraisers we’re in the business of getting found!
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11. LinkedIn Checklist for Advancement
✓
LinkedIn by the Numbers
✓
Optimizing your Profile for Stewardship
3 Tips for LinkedIn Groups
Social Donor Intelligence: Prospect Research
Harness LinkedIn’s New Features
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12. Rule #1: Have One Group
As much as you can, try to
focus your alumni into one
group. This will allow for
improved control and a more
unified experience for your
community.
While an alum’s enthusiasm
to start a group of there own
is an encouraging sign,
contact them to see if they
would be willing to point their
members into the school’s
sponsored group so that they
can access all of the resources
available to them.
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13. Rule #2: Keep it Locked Up
Although there is some debate on this issue, we
believe that managing a private alumni group is
most beneficial for your community. Keeping your
group closed keeps out spammers. It allows you to
personally welcome members into the community.
Lastly, a more exclusive group piques interest.
Pro Tip: require alumni to list your institution on
their profile before accepting them into the group.
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14. Rule #3: Utilize Group Manager
Whether setting up an auto-message,
posting group rules or setting up subgroups
(as recommended for after reaching over
5,000 members), spend time exploring your
group manager.
We suggest not using your RSS Feed and
instead manually posting as to ensure more
LinkedIn/career-specific messaging.
Pro Tip: One of the unique features of
LinkedIn groups is the avatar’s flexibility to a
rectangular shape. This provides a way to
stick out with more visual real estate.
Grow Your LinkedIn Group by 5PM!
Send a mass invite to alumni
contacts to join your group in the
“send invitations” option.
Learn more here.
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15. Bonus: Use Group Analytics
LinkedIn’s Group Analytics serves
as an excellent report card for group
managers and a place to discover
areas for improvement.
Although many first look at a
group’s size, the most important
number is the level of activity. Look
for peak days to learn what type of
content to foster.
Lastly, note top locations when
considering regional alumni focus.
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16. #INDay for Seniors
Collaborate with your career or
counseling office, to introduce
your soon-to-be grads on the
basics on using LinkedIn with a
dedicated day or afternoon.
From teaching students how to
conduct searches, to giving them
a step up with a professional
photo for their profile, an InDay
will also ensure that you can stay
in touch with students after they
pick up their diploma.
LinkedIn Photo Booth
at Wake Forest University
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17. LinkedIn Checklist for Advancement
✓
LinkedIn by the Numbers
✓
Optimizing your Profile for Stewardship
✓
3 Tips for LinkedIn Groups
Social Donor Intelligence: Prospect Research
Harness LinkedIn’s New Features
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18. Advancing with Advanced Search
Go beyond just searching a
donors name, and start digging
with advanced search. Start by
clicking on advanced.
From there identify the fields
that you would like to narrow
your search by. To get a look at
your alumni community in its
entirety select location
“anywhere” and the school’s
name. Quotation marks around
the school name will eliminate
similarly named schools from
appearing in results.
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19. Saving Your Search
Once you’ve narrowed down a
specific search, say of alums who
work at Google in Boston, sort your
results and easily retrieve an
updated list again by clicking “save
search.” These “saved searches”
can be sent to your inbox weekly or
monthly. LinkedIn provides up to 3
saved searches for free.
LinkedIn Premium Alert
With a LinkedIn premium account,
you can set up real-time alerts for
when alumni have acquired a new
job, skill or have moved to a new
region.
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20. LinkedIn Checklist for Advancement
✓
LinkedIn by the Numbers
✓
Optimizing your Profile for Stewardship
✓
3 Tips for LinkedIn Groups
✓
Social Donor Intelligence: Prospect Research
Harness LinkedIn’s New Features
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21. LinkedIn for Alumni
LinkedIn’s “Alumni” product, originally
called “Classmates,” gives a snapshot of a
school’s alumni community. To access the
feature you must first view your own alma
mater, by clicking on “Contacts”, and then
your school’s name, or go to
linkedin.com/alumni.
From there in order run an effective search
on another institution, click on “Change
school” and change attended dates from
1900 to present. You can search further by
specific keywords on the upper right
portion of the results.
LinkedIn for Alumni provides an excellent
overview of an alumni community from
location, company to occupation.
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22. InMaps
InMap is a visual representation of your
professional universe, based on the
relationships between your connections.
InMaps uses color-coded clusters to
break down your network into different
groups, such as colleagues, alumni and
friends.
Beyond serving as eye candy for the
viewer, InMaps helps you visually
understand how to better leverage your
professional network. From the map view
you can customize your labels, zoom in to
read all the names, click to highlight a
connection and share your map on
LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.
Create your personal InMap at:
inmaps.linkedinlabs.com
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23. InMail
InMail gets a 30x higher response
that cold call inquiries*
InMail from LinkedIn allows you to
send a private message to any
LinkedIn user, regardless of whether
they are a 2nd, 3rd degree connection
or not in your network at all.
While using InMail, LinkedIn suggests
to be brief, make it about the recipient,
develop a clear call to action and to
select recipients carefully.
LinkedIn Premium Alert
LinkedIn Premium accounts include
up to 3 InMails a month, and all
users to see full profiles of
everyone in their network.
*Credit: LinkedIn Press
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24. Finding the Perfect Board Match
In an effort to help non-profits identify
board members, funding and
volunteers, LinkedIn recently
announced “Board Connect”, a service
that will offer non-profits free access to
Talent Finder, LinkedIn Educational
Webcasts and membership to the
Board Connect group.
With Talent Finder, non-profits will
have access to 25 messages to people
they are not connected to (referred to
as “InMail), premium filters for
advanced search, a profile organizer,
and many other features to help them
expand their network.
Learn more and sign up at:
http://partner.linkedin.com/nonprofit/
boardconnect.html
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25. Profile Updates
In a recent update LinkedIn has done an
overhaul of their profile view. For
advancement leaders, this view allows an
better way to visualize a member’s
influence and what connections, skills
and interests they may have in common.
As part of the redesign there has also
been a stronger call for users to include
volunteer experience. This information
can serve as a gold mine for creating
affinity with another member and to
determine where their experiences could
best serve your institution.
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26. University Pages
University Pages allow for LinkedIn
members to gain access to alumni career
information, university information,
notable alumni and featured LinkedIn
Groups. It can be accessed under
“Interests” > “Education.”
To request a page, you must first:
•
have a .edu email address added and confirmed on your LinkedIn
account.
•
be a current employee of the school and your position is listed in the
Experience section on your profile.
your school page does not already exist and is not represented under
a different name
•
Then, contact LinkedIn with:
•
the URL for your school’s official website.
•
•
the country where your school is located.
if you will NOT be the administrator of the page, list the email
address for the correct administrator.
•
if applicable, list the existing Company Page associated with your
school.
if the school is part of a larger university system, please note any
other existing University Pages.
•

27. LinkedIn Checklist for Advancement
✓
LinkedIn by the Numbers
✓
Optimizing your Profile for Stewardship
✓
3 Tips for LinkedIn Groups
✓
Social Donor Intelligence: Prospect Research
✓
Harness LinkedIn’s New Features
26

28. About EverTrue
EverTrue has partnered with LinkedIn to improve donor data and
to provide a mobile platform to keep alumni better connected with
each other and to their alma mater.
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