How to Use LinkedIn’s New “Open to Volunteering” Feature

If you log into LinkedIn, you’ll probably see profiles with an “Open to Work” badge, denoting users who are actively looking for recruitment. However, this “Open to” feature has other options as well, including “Open to Volunteering.”

This feature could be a game changer for volunteers and non-profits alike: If you’re looking for new opportunities to donate your time and experience, adding this badge to your profile gets your name out there for interested organizations. On the flip side, non-profits can easily identify users looking for volunteering opportunities via LinkedIn, and reach out accordingly.

If you’ve never used LinkedIn’s “Open to” feature, you might not know where to start. Luckily, it’s relatively straightforward. To use it, log into your LinkedIn account, then head to your profile. Near your profile picture, you should see the “Open to” button. Click this, then choose “Finding volunteering opportunities.” From here, you’ll be able to tell LinkedIn what causes interest you (e.g. animal welfare, civil rights and social action, veteran support), enter any relevant skills that could aid this volunteer work, choose where you’re based, and what your preferred volunteering is (on-site, hybrid, or remote).

Once set up, you’ll start noticing volunteering opportunities in your LinkedIn feed that match the data points you entered above. In addition, you can set alerts and notifications from LinkedIn whenever a new volunteering opportunity pops up. That way, you don’t need to frequently check your feeds to make sure you’re up to date.