LinkedIn Features Girls Write Now’s Innovative Approach to Virtual Community

LinkedIn for Nonprofits Calls Girls Write Now “Not Just a Network…A True Community.”

In an article on their blog, LinkedIn for Nonprofits highlighted how Girls Write Now leverages tech platforms to facilitate conversations across divides and bring together people from unlikely places.

“Girls Write Now has proven that with the right strategy, technology doesn’t replace human relationships—it deepens and expands them,” they wrote.

Girls Write Now’s Founder and Executive Director, Maya Nussbaum, and Marketing and Communications Manager, Vahni Kurra, were interviewed by the company about how they approach networking and capacity-building in novel ways using tools like Sales Navigator and LinkedIn’s newsletter feature. For example, “Life@GWN,” a blog highlighting the mentors, mentees, teaching artists, staff members, board members, and honorees who make Girls Write Now the thriving community that it is, generated 33,000 article views and 1,200 new subscribers in the past 12 months on LinkedIn.

Through LinkedIn and other platforms, Girls Write Now seeks talent at all levels, forming a network that spans a wide variety of disciplines, interests, and cultural backgrounds. Whether you’re a seasoned communicator or someone exploring a newfound interest in writing, there’s a place for you. It is that commitment to elevating a wide range of voices that makes Girls Write Now unique as a non-profit, media incubator, and intergenerational community.

Based on their experience, the Girls Write Now team offered the following takeaways for other teams and nonprofits:

• Don’t underestimate your place on the platform. Small nonprofits often think they don’t belong on LinkedIn. In reality, it helps level the playing field and puts smaller organizations on the same platform with global corporations.
• Distribute access strategically. Rather than siloing Sales Navigator in one department, empower multiple teams to build relationships. A newly discovered contact can develop into a program partner, volunteer, or donor.
• Look for champions at every level. Don’t just target decision-makers. Find employees who are passionate about your cause and give them the tools to become internal advocates.
• Play the long game. “We bring mentees and mentors into the community through LinkedIn,” Maya notes, “and those are the same people who we then hire as interns and teaching artists. We follow the trajectory of each of our contacts.”