LinkedIn content for nonprofit websites

Who a nonprofit's LinkedIn content is for

Your LinkedIn audience isn't your Instagram or newsletter audience. It's where corporate partners, foundation staff, prospective board members, skilled volunteers and job candidates check an organization's credibility. Partnership announcements, grant news, program results and leadership credentials are typical LinkedIn content, and they're what these audiences look for on your website before committing time or money.

Keep personal and political posts off your site

The IRS says 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating or intervening in any political campaign for or against a candidate. Revenue Ruling 2007-41 explains that this doesn't restrict leaders speaking for themselves as individuals, but that statements in an official organization publication can be attributed to the organization, and that an organization is responsible for the links it chooses to put on its website.

A live feed of your executive director's personal LinkedIn profile is the risky setup: it republishes whatever they post on your website, automatically, including any personal comment about a candidate during election season.

• Use the organization's LinkedIn Page as the feed source. Leaders get profile cards, which show their role and experience, not their posts.
• If a leader's posts are your best content, pick specific posts with Selected posts on Pro or Essentials instead of showing their live feed.
• Turn reposts off on the organization's feed, so reshared posts from others don't appear by default.
• Ask before featuring a post that names a donor or shows a gift, and respect requests to stay anonymous.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ for other kinds of exempt organizations; check with your counsel or the IRS's guidance on political campaign intervention.

Make impact posts work on the website

Impact updates on LinkedIn are usually short: a photo, a number and a thank-you. On your website, give them context. Put the feed under a heading that says what visitors are looking at, next to your own program summary and the link to your financial reports, so the posts read as evidence for your claims rather than a stream of news. If posts show program participants, check that your consent covers your website as well as LinkedIn.

Partners often announce a sponsorship or an employee volunteer day on their own LinkedIn Page. A widget only shows posts from the source you connect, so a partner's post won't appear in your feed. To feature one on your partners page, ask the partner, then embed that single post with LinkedIn's own embed code, as described in how to embed a single LinkedIn post.

A setup plan by organization size

1. 1

   Small organization

   Free covers one widget from one source: the organization's posts feed on the home or impact page, with a small “Powered by LinkedInEmbed” link.

2. 2

   Growing organization

   Pro (3 widgets, 2 sources) fits the organization's posts feed and jobs list, both from its Page, plus the executive director's profile card.

3. 3

   Organization with a board page

   Essentials (5 widgets, 5 sources) fits the organization's posts feed and jobs list plus profile cards for three leaders, such as the executive director, board chair and treasurer.