As all nonprofits know, talent can be the #1 reason why you succeed or fail to achieve your mission. At The Mission Continues, we empower veterans facing the challenge of adjusting to life at home to find new missions. We redeploy veterans in their communities, so that their shared legacy will be one of action and service. This mission requires thousands of talented staff and volunteers to bring it to life.
That’s why when we saw LinkedIn for Good’s Gift of Talent campaign announced in 2014, we immediately threw our hat in the ring. For those who haven’t heard about this global initiative, annually in December, LinkedIn gives all its employee a free job posting and free volunteer posting (valued at ~$450 USD) to *gift* to their favorite nonprofit.
For us, this wasn’t just a $450 gift. This was an opportunity to strategically expand our recruitment efforts.
In the past we had relied on word of mouth, working with veteran organizations, and national news stories to further our recruitment. But because of my recent experience in corporate recruiting and this timely opportunity, we decided to expand our efforts and started searching for the professional volunteer.
It was so simple -- we said ‘yes, we’re interested,’ and then a number of LinkedIn employees selected the Mission Continues; within weeks we received free skilled volunteer posting codes and instructions via email. We were posting and receiving applications by the end of the month.
These postings helped us specifically target candidates in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, two of our focus cities. Because our program engages veterans to become involved in service in their communities, veterans have the opportunity to serve at a variety of places ranging from disaster response organizations to homeless shelters or after school programs. After reviewing inquiries and applications, eight veterans joined our program and moved into successful six month Fellowships at local nonprofits.
The Gift of Talent campaign was a great springboard into our LinkedIn and online recruitment efforts for 2014 and we are anticipating further successes for 2015 and beyond.
For nonprofits interested in receiving the Gift of Talent, register your interest here so LinkedIn employees can find you, or reach out to a LinkedIn employee in your network. If you’re interested in posting additional skilled volunteer, board and staff positions on LinkedIn, visit nonprofit.linkedin.com.
LinkedIn employees, don’t let December pass by without making sure a worthy nonprofit receives your gift! It could make a world of difference.