Creating and Editing your Community Profile

Crystal Bruce

Your community profile can be an important tool in getting to know and building connections with peers. It can also help us better customize your community experience.

To edit your community profile, click on your profile picture in the top right-hand corner of the page > Account & Privacy Settings > Edit Profile Fields.

Here are some tips for building a great profile that will help build connections and demonstrate your experience.

How to Build an Awesome Community Profile!

Upload a profile picture

We encourage you to upload a nice selfie, a headshot, or a picture of something that is meaningful to you. People who have a profile picture are more likely to get answers in the community than those who don't. And when responding to questions, a profile picture can help underscore your credibility and increase recognition of you as a sector export. Bottom line: people like to talk to other people.

To upload a profile picture: Click on your profile at the top of the page > account and privacy settings > change my picture > upload new picture > click and drag across the picture to set your thumbnail > save thumbnail!

Bonus: If you've never uploaded a profile photo, you will receive a shiny new "Photogenic" badge on your page.

Writing an Amazing Community Bio!

If your profile picture is your face in the community, then your community bio is your persona. It establishes who you are and represents your passions and your expertise. Community bios are best when short and snappy, so figuring out how to make every word count is important.

There are essentially three parts to a community bio. Let's break them down:

• About me (Who): This is who you are and how you relate to the Community. Share something professional and something personal.
• Why: Once you've established who you are, the next step is to explain why you're in the Community. This helps other community members understand what your goals are for the site and for your own network. My "why" statement is: "I'm here to help create an online space in which community members can Learn, Engage, and Connect." Your "why" statement can be short (like the example) or can be more expansive if you have lots of reasons for being in the community.
• What: The final part of your bio is your "what" statement. This statement establishes what experiences and expertise you can offer your fellow community members. Using my bio as an example once again, you can see my "what" statement is essentially a giant generalization of my resume: "I have a Master's degree in Public Relations from Indiana University and over a decade of experience in community building and management for nonprofits."The "what" statement is what helps people understand what kind of knowledge base you draw from when you respond or post in the community.If you put the who, the why, and the what together, you will have a strong and compelling bio on community.

Show What Products You Use or are Interested In

Your profile is also a great place to quickly tell others what products you use or are interested in. Community members can also use the member search to connect with other product users.

Share What You’d Like

The rest of the profile page is up to you! Share what you feel comfortable sharing with fellow community members, including your organization, title, location and LinkedIn page. The more you share, the more that other members can get to know you, but do remember that this is a public site.

Change organizations and want to keep your old profile?

Please email the community team at community@blackbaud.com to request an account merge.