Article by Oliver Garside sourced directly from LinkedIn here.

Many of us work for organisations which provide the opportunity and encouragement to pursue charitable endeavors via the donation of time, resources or expertise. Often it’s upon this foundation of support and encouragement that like-minded and talented groups of professionals can make amazing things happen!

I am fortunate to work for one such organisation. The desire to create economic opportunity for its members is deeply woven into LinkedIn's culture. Some people may question the authenticity of LinkedIn's vision statement but I can tell you it's very real and nothing symbolises this quite like the LinkedIn for Good Foundation (LIFG).

LIFG is LinkedIn's charitable foundation which provides opportunity for employees to pursue charitable endeavors. It's a global initiative which supports philanthropic ideas and passions and enables every employee to give time and expertise for causes which are often of deep personal significance.

In 2013 I was made aware of a LIFG program called "Recruiting for Good" which is an idea brought to life by my ex colleague Bob Spoer.

Bob realised 2 things:

1. Not for Profit organisations often do not have the networks, time or financial resources to identify and attract  the best talent
2. LinkedIn is uniquely positioned to put it's technology, member network and internal resources to great use to help connect talent with opportunity in Not for Profit sector

And thus "Recruiting for Good" was born and continues today as one of the ways that LinkedIn is helping to drive social change through volunteerism and philanthropy.

So how does it work?

Recruiting for Good provides a recruiting service on a pro-bono basis for agreed upon positions. LinkedIn employees volunteer their time and use LinkedIn technology to help Not for Profit organisations identify talent for senior or board level positions. Once identified, interested candidates are then introduced to the Not for Profit organisation for a more detailed discussion and evaluation.

LinkedIn has partnered with organisations such as The Ashoka Foundation and Engineers without Borders Australia on Recruiting for Good initiatives.

 

We are currently looking for new partnership opportunities in Australia. If you work for a Not For Profit organisation and have an executive or board level position you are recruiting over the next few months (or you know someone who is) please share this post or contact me via LinkedIn to find out more .