How to Use LinkedIn to Captivate Corporate Sponsorships

Overlooking LinkedIn in fundraising means slipping up on a huge opportunity. No doubt, LinkedIn is the largest digital network filled with worldwide professionals. It’s an ideal platform to gain attention for corporate sponsorships.

Looking for jobs and getting recruited isn’t the only functionality of LinkedIn; there is much more to unveil. Over 900 million members and 58 million corporate companies are registered on LinkedIn. 

Moreover, four out of five members of these companies are corporate sponsorship decision-makers.

Think about this: are you missing out on the best way of engaging to get larger donations?

Additionally, corporate contributors mostly donate recurringly. Hence, the best way to have these opportunities on the table is to get a corporate sponsor.

So, let’s dive into the world of professionals and get some ideas on how to use LinkedIn to attract corporate sponsorships for your nonprofit.

Set up your organization’s page

To attract corporate sponsorships using LinkedIn, first of all, you need to create your organization page. This is the very first step of many.

Use your company logo as the profile picture, and use a cover picture that gives an idea of the fundamentals of your organization. Add the slogan of your organization at the top of the profile to catch visitors’ eye.

Write a detailed overview of your organization to keep visitors informed of what your company is about. Include your website link along with the contact information that will make your page transparent and trustworthy.

An optimized LinkedIn profile is the most important part of strong branding.

Make connections to your company page

After setting up a complete LinkedIn profile, now it’s time to make connections or followers. First of all, ask your organization’s board members, executives, and staff to follow the page.

Somewhere, this makes your page visible to others. People who work for your organization as volunteers or in any other department can add themselves as “employees” as well. 

This will list your organization on their page and their profile on your company’s page.

Use your own social networks to make more connections. Invite them to follow the page and make them a part of your journey.

Make sure you place the LinkedIn icon permanently on your website and in the email newsletter, along with other social networks.

Establish a Strategic Network

The connections you’ve made until now are not the ones you’re actually looking for. Your main target is to attract corporate sponsorships or donors. Now you need to target business professionals who can help you on your mission.

To do so, search out the local businesses using the “company” search feature on LinkedIn. Filter it by your preferred location, industry, or size, if needed.

Try to reach out to the right people in authoritative positions in companies you might benefit from. 

Positions like CEO, CMO, CTO, etc. are the choices you need to make connections.

Most nonprofit or socially good-oriented employees are active on LinkedIn. Identify those whose mission aligns with yours or who could potentially support your cause through sponsorship.

In most cases, you can’t get access directly to any company owners. To overcome this problem, visit their company page and check out the followers section. Usually, you’ll find a lot of followers who work for that company.

Make them your connections and engage with them on LinkedIn. If you can make a good relationship with someone who works for the company you’re targeting, it’ll become easier to reach out to the man at the top of the pyramid.

Then, find the perfect time and approach them for a referral to the person who can provide a corporate donation.

It’s not guaranteed that you’ll get sponsorships by following the process. But maybe somewhere, you get a few new donors on the board instead of corporate sponsorships.

Make a solid posting strategy

You’ve got a complete LinkedIn profile with some followers. Now, what is the point of having so many connections or followers if there is no posting strategy at all?

You’ve got to have a solid content strategy to keep your audience engaged. Share interesting and relevant facts as well as ask for donations from your networks.

To attract corporate sponsorships using LinkedIn, create a consistent schedule for pushing your information. You can post monthly, weekly, or even daily, unless the content is irrelevant. Just be sure to be consistent.

Posting too much irrelevant content will make your supporters annoyed and end up losing them. The best content to post on LinkedIn is to show how donations can benefit the community.

Try to share valuable content related to your organization and your campaign, and talk about the well-being of the community and society.

If possible, consider sharing the statistics of your campaign. For example, how much money has been raised and how it’s being used for welfare.

This will surely make your organization more transparent, which apparently helps in captivating corporate sponsorships.

Participate in groups

There are many groups available on LinkedIn that talk about fundraising and nonprofits. Join them and participate regularly. Get the feel of the discussion and try to ask questions and answer according to the rules.

Then, start your own group and invite the other group members to join. Invite your followers to join the group as well, and ask them to invite their connections too.

Encourage the group members to engage by posting and commenting regularly. A well-defined community brings huge opportunities to attract corporate sponsorships.

Groups are a great option for connecting with your network and making them the warriors of the mission.

Create a great pitch that stands out

When it comes to securing corporate sponsorships for fundraising, it’s essential to have a great pitch ready. Let’s take a look at some key elements of a good pitch:

• A clear and concise description of your event.
• Explain what the campaign is about, when, and where it’ll be held.
• Be specific and realistic about what you expect from them.
• A detailed explanation of how their contribution will benefit the community.
• Explain why they should contribute and what benefit they’ll receive.
• Don’t approach everyone with the same pitch; customize it according to the sponsor’s interests and objectives.
• Ensure the pitch is well-designed, visually appealing, and professionally presented.

A million-dollar question is what they’d ask in return for corporate sponsorships. It depends on the sponsor’s mentality. Let them choose what they want and then discuss it.

It may surprise you to know that most corporate partnerships often prioritize logo placement.

Wrapping up

Leveraging LinkedIn as a tool to capture corporate sponsorships for your nonprofit organization can open doors to a world of opportunities.

There’s immense potential to connect with decision-makers and secure valuable partnerships.

LinkedIn puts a vast network of professionals and companies at your fingertips. So, utilize it properly to forge partnerships and drive positive change in the community.