LinkedIn For Good uses social network for positive social change
Howard Lake | 27 May 2007 | News
LinkedIn, one of the first online social networks, has launched LinkedIn For Good, an attempt to use its global network of 11 million professionals to promote positive social change and generate support for partner nonprofit organisations.
It gives each participating nonprofit a platform to spread the word virally about their organisation.
LinkedIn users can now learn about the work of nonprofit organisations and donate to them online via the new nonprofit pages on LinkedIn.
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In addition, registered users can create and add a badge (or widget) to their profile to show their support and raise awareness for the causes they care about.
When another member of LinkedIn views supporters’ profiles and clicks on a badge, they are taken to the nonprofit page where they can donate or add the badge to their profile, “resulting in a virtuous cycle!”, according to LinkedIn.
“By putting the WWF panda logo on your profile you have another way to distinguish yourself on LinkedIn and spread your passion and commitment for global conservation”, said Terry Macko, vice president of membership and partner marketing for the World Wildlife Fund.
In addition, LinkedIn is giving away free job postings to registered nonprofit organisations.
Launch partners for LinkedIn for Good are Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the American Red Cross, the World Wildlife Fund, and microfinance organisations Unitus and Kiva. MSF already have an endorsement on their LindkedIn for Good page from British rockstar James Blunt. In early beta-testing, the organisation has raised over $23,000 from donors via LinkedIn.
Reid Hoffman, chairman and president of products at LinkedIn, said: “By allowing professionals to share the causes they care about with each other, we hope that this program serves as a stimulus for philanthropic giving.”
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.