If you’ve been following this blog, then you know just how handy the LinkedIn social networking service can be when it comes to advancing your career and fostering professional relationships. With over 43 million users, LinkedIn remains the social networking service to use if you care about getting the most out of your career.
And when it comes to enhancing your professional life via the LinkedIn social networking service, the amount of online advice is seemingly endless. But that’s not all LinkedIn can do. Users can also use the LinkedIn social networking service for causes that they care about. As a channel for giving something back, LinkedIn can be a powerful social networking service. Here are some of the ways you can find and help advance the causes that you care about via LinkedIn.
Find fundraising and charity events in your area—Last year, LinkedIn added an events feature. And while most of the listed events are conferences, conventions and other great networking opportunities, there are also fundraisers. Those are listed in the “Find Events” section of the Events panel, and you can search for fundraisers by keyword, date or event type. And of course, you can easily use the LinkedIn social networking service to easily list your own fundraising events.
Promote your cause through the LinkedIn groups feature—A great way to find people interested in the same charity and nonprofit issues in your area is to use the groups feature. It’s an easy and fast way for you to find groups that already exist. If there isn’t a group that you’d like to join, then starting one is a pretty straightforward affair.
Answer questions—You may have already visited the always-interesting “Answers” section of LinkedIn. Answering questions from other LinkedIn users is a great way to build your personal brand. But it’s also a way to help others. Sure, there’s not a lot of work involved, but every time you use your professional knowledge to help someone else, you’re helping people—and not just the question asker, as the question will likely be archived and found by others looking for similar advice.
Foreward someone a job—Know someone who is looking for a job? Are they on LinkedIn? If not, then a great way to help out a friend or acquaintance is to forward jobs posted on LinkedIn to them. Sometimes the most effective ways we can help is by helping the people we know.
