How to use LinkedIn to fundraise

Most people working in charities and social enterprises are perfectly capable once they’re in front of funders.

You can articulate your case for support.
You can build rapport.
You can answer questions thoughtfully and confidently.

The real challenge is getting in front of donors in the first place – let alone getting in front of enough of them to meet your targets.

For years, we’ve relied on offline systems to do that job: emails, introductions, applications, events and cold outreach. And increasingly, those systems are working exactly as they were designed to.

Against us.

Emails are filtered, ignored or deleted because the recipient doesn’t recognise the sender. Event invitations disappear into crowded inboxes. Cold calls are screened by voicemail, unknown numbers or gatekeepers. Even when outreach is well written and well intentioned, it often never lands.

And it’s not personal. We all behave the same way. We ignore cold emails. We avoid unsolicited calls. We scroll past anything that feels like a pitch.

The modern world has quietly built invisible walls between you and the people you need to reach.

This is where LinkedIn – used strategically – offers something genuinely different.

Not as a replacement for traditional fundraising, but as a way to remove friction from the system.

If you look at your LinkedIn feed and it’s full of people who do the same job as you, work in similar organisations, or face the same challenges, that isn’t accidental.

LinkedIn put you there.

The platform is designed to group people with similar roles, sectors and interests. It keeps you comfortable, engaged and surrounded by peers. Over time, this creates an echo chamber – one you didn’t choose, but one that quietly limits who can see you.

And if funders, partners and decision-makers can’t see you, they can’t find you.

Used well, LinkedIn becomes a discovery channel.

When you intentionally step outside that echo chamber and start engaging where funders, media and partners already spend time, your name begins to appear in their feed. Not as a pitch. Not as an interruption. Simply as someone present and relevant in their world.

This doesn’t require constant posting. Visibility is built through participation rather than performance: liking, commenting, responding to ideas and being part of existing conversations. Over time, funders start to recognise your name and associate it with a particular cause or way of thinking.

Sometimes, they come to you first.

Or when you reach out to them, everything changes.

You are no longer a cold call landing in an inbox.
You are a recognised name.
A familiar presence.
Someone who already feels relevant.

That shift – from chasing meetings to being found – is what makes LinkedIn so powerful for fundraising. It removes friction. It shortens the distance between you and decision-makers. And it makes starting conversations significantly easier.

Not to mention the numbers you can reach online versus doing everything one to one offline.

LinkedIn isn’t about doing more. It’s about being in the right place, with thousands of the right people, at the right time.

If getting meetings offline feels harder than it should – and LinkedIn isn’t part of your fundraising strategy – the answer is already in your hands.

You’re just not using it intentionally yet.

Michelle Benson will be presenting, How to Use LinkedIn to Fundraise on 5th Feb at our Fundraising Now online event, find out more about how you can use LinkedIn to secure funding and register here now.

For more information about how Michelle works with charities to help them be found on LinkedIn by high values funders please go to: https://www.cultureofphilanthropy.co

Fundraising Now 2026: Diversifying Income – Online conference on Thursday 5 February

Fundraising Now 2026 is a one-day intensive online conference that will equip you with actionable insights, tools, and strategies to boost your fundraising effectiveness, build stronger donor relationships, and stay abreast of current trends.

Join us for a day of expert-led sessions, practical workshops, and networking opportunities that will inspire and empower you to achieve the impact your charity needs in 2025 and beyond.

Learn more and register here.