Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
It will take all of us together to keep all of us safe.
Intolerance is a tough nut to crack.
It turns out tolerance is too.
Tolerance is not enough.
Tolerance just looks at what’s broken and steps around it.
Nothing gets fixed.
Tolerating evil beliefs allows evil beliefs to spread.
Sitting back is akin to stepping away. Without thought.
Thought matters.
Beliefs matter.
Give people something to think about and consider.
Action matters.
Inaction matters.
Galvanizing moments create leaders. And followers.
If you sit by passively, don’t think about it, and do nothing, who are you?
Hillel wrote: If I am not for myself, who will be for me. And if I am only for myself, who am I? And if not now, when?
Indeed.
James Baldwin wrote: Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
Indeed.
We struggle every day to do the hard work. Perhaps today seems a little harder than yesterday. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
It’s difficult to find the right words. And easy to find the wrong ones.
We have a lot to learn. And a lot of work to do.
I hope you find some of these resources I’ve collected for you will be helpful.
Thank you for making the world a better, more caring, more just, more hopeful, more inspiring place.
Yours with gratitude,
P.S. Many thanks to Bloomerang for sponsoring the Clairity Click-it. Please remember to bookmark the Ask an Expert page — my fundraising advice column on their website! Ask your question here!
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
SPECIAL CATEGORY: Tips for Not-So-Normal Times
ARTICLES
Asking
Click-it: Coronavirus fatigue: new reality, or just another myth? Jeff Brooks notes “Donor responsiveness to anything can grow or shrink. But “fatigue” is a made-up story you don’t need to believe.” You should still be asking, and he explains why in this important article.
Click-it: Donor generosity is astounding. If you don’t believe Jeff, believe Marc Pitman, The Fundraising Coach. Please, please… don’t stop asking. Respect your donors enough to allow them to make their own decisions. Don’t say no on their behalf. This denies them the opportunity to feel the joy that comes from giving.
Click-it: Summer Fundraising During a Pandemic. Even though you don’t meet in person, there are still many ways to ask folks to support your cause. This article from MightyCause suggests a virtual event, monthly giving campaign, pet photo contest, read-a-thon, and much more. You can also download their free Event Fundraising Handbook.
Communications
Click-it: Messaging Advice During the Pandemic. Kivi LeRoux Miller of The Nonprofit Marketing Guide encourages you to get more specific about how you can address the current realities for the people in your communities. Look to the facts folks are home more, they’re adopting new technologies, and they want to find a sense of control.
Click-it: What Do You Want to Say? In response to a crisis, or for any other purpose, you want to take care to craft your message wisely and deliver it effectively. In this article for the Bloomerang blog I offer you 4 tips for meaningful content and 4 tips for effective writing.
Donor Retention
Click-it: 5 Donor Love Must-Do’s for the COVID-19 Crisis. How can fundraisers give donors what they need most in these confusing and difficult times? This is the question Fiona McPhee answers in her post on the Moceanic blog. Simple, exceptionally powerful tactics.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: Legacy Challenges in the Time of Covid-19: What Should You Do? Legacy gift promotion may not be top of mind for you right now. The folks at Stelter have an innovative reason to put this front and center! This will help remind folks of the importance of leaving a legacy to see their values live on, while simultaneously bringing you some much-needed cash right now. Check out the idea of ‘legacy challenges.’
Strategy, Management and Leadership
Click-it: 5 Things That Nonprofits Wish They Knew Three Months Ago. There are so many good take-aways in this article on the Nonprofit Tech for Good blog. A lot of the suggestions come from research conducted by Donor Perfect about what nonprofits today are encountering. Plenty of action items too.
Click-it: What will be different this time? The folks at Compass Point have been sharing a host of useful resources. This article is no exception. “Committing to shifting these institutions means being in it for the long haul. Anti-racism is a lifelong commitment. Beyond learning and awareness, what action will you take? What will you do? What will be different this time?” Want inspiration? Read more.
YOU
Click-it: Four Ways to Feel Good on a Hard Day in Lockdown. I always enjoy sharing a little something from the Greater Good Institute. Self care today is more important than ever, especially if you’re a helper. Which you are.
NOTE: You’ll find more of my own ‘what to do in this crisis’ articles on Clairification (just scroll to the bottom of the Click-it).
WEBINARS & ONLINE CONVERSATIONS
Online Fundraising
Click-it: Online Fundraising During a Crisis: What to do Now (and in the Future) [Download free on-demand webinar]. Join Ronald Pruitt of 4aGoodCause for crisis fundraising ideas, examples and ‘how to’s.You’ll get advice for what to do now, and in the future.
Major Gifts
Click-it: Now is the Time to Invest in Major Gifts [Listen to on-demand podcast]. The Veritus Group insists now is the time to invest more heavily in a major gift program. Sure, things are uncertain. And this is precisely why major gift programs are important – because they can serve as a hedge against uncertainly. Listen to Joyce MacDonald from Greater Public Media tell her inspiring story of how public media stations are now embracing major gifts.
Trends
Click-it: The Next 90 Days: How nonprofit fundraisers are evolving in the face of COVID-19 [View on-demand webinar]. If you haven’t yet had the chance to hear what three experienced charities are doing to meet today’s challenges, you’ll find their experience interesting. And, hopefully, adaptable. Join Merkle and their guests from World Vision, National MS Society and Northwell Health Foundation as they discuss how they are adjusting to shifting consumer and donor behaviors, and are giving back to the community.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES & ON-DEMAND AUDIO RESOURCES
Communications
Click-it: A Guide to Fundraising in the New Normal [Download free e-Guide]. DonorPerfect has prepared a ‘survival guide’ for the times we’re in, including communication templates, donor check-in ideas and tips for moving in-person events online.
Other Articles: The Beat Goes On
Asking
Click-it: Why You Shouldn’t Use the Word “Vulnerable” in Your Appeals. I love just about any article from Steven Screen, The Better Fundraising Co., and this one is no exception. It will make you think. I might add you should probably stay away from ‘at-risk’ and ‘underserved’ while you’re at it.
Click-it: 10 places to put a link to your online donation page. This evergreen piece from 4aGoodCause is super useful. If you’re not linking to your donation page from at least most of these places (how about #7), what are you waiting for?
Donor Retention
Click-it: Monthly Giving: It’s Not Rocket Science. Erica Waasdorp, A Direct Solution, shares a real life example of a development director who refused to give up on about-to-lapse monthly donors. Her results should inspire you!
List Building
Click-it: How to Grow Your Non-Profit’s E-Mail List. Do you feel you have enough donor prospects on your email list? Joe Garecht wants to help you grow the size of your list with good names, not bad. You can have the best email appeal in the world; it won’t matter if you send it to the wrong people. Or not enough of the right ones.
Other Learning Opportunities
WEBINARS AND PODCASTS
Asking
Click-it: Start a Monthly Donor Program NOW. 7 Reasons why you can’t afford to wait! [Register for free webinar, 6-22-2020]. If you don’t have a robust monthly giving program, please take it off your back burner now! It’s a way to generate new contributions, upgrade existing donors and increase donor retention by leaps and bounds. Do it! CharityHowTo is offering this info for free.
Events
Click-it: Event Experience Innovation [Download free on-demand webinar]. We live in an experience economy, and our participants want event experiences that are memorable, personal, and even instagrammable. In this webinar, folks at Blackbaud host Event 360 members for a discussion of the innovation hacks you can use to take your peer-to-peer event experience to the next level in 2020.
Grants
Click-it: Storytelling in Grant Writing [Free on-demand podcast]. Join Diane Leonard with host Ephraim Gopin to learn essential secrets to build relationships with grant makers (so they will advocate on your behalf), create a budget that tells a story and more. Just 20 minutes to listen, or you can read the transcript.
Website
Click-it: How to Get the Most Out of Your Nonprofit Website [Register for free webinar, 6-24-2020]. Your website should be a powerhouse, helping you acquire more donor prospects and close more gifts. But it may be working the other way around, damaging all the hard work you put in elsewhere. Let the experts at Firespring show you how to avoid rookie mistakes and make the most of your valuable tool.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES
Capital Campaigns
Click-it: Capital Campaigns: The Ultimate Guide for Growing Nonprofits. This. Is. Incredible. Andrea Kihlstedt, Capital Campaign Toolkit, has put together this amazingly comprehensive resource. It’s got everything. And it’s free!
Online Marketing and Fundraising
Click-it: 4 Crowdfunding Tips For Nonprofits Funding Projects. Crowd fundraising is something made popular by the success of tools like Kickstarter, first used to generate venture capital for small businesses, art projects and the like. This article on the Qgiv blog explains all the best strategies incorporated into successful Kickstarter campaigns, noting how you can adapt them to generate project-specific funds for you nonprofit.
Trends
Click-it: 2020 Nonprofit Leadership Impact Study [Download free research report]. Grab this third annual study from Nonprofit Pro, filled with tips to combat challenges from lack of resources, unengaged boards, misplaced fundraising strategy priorities, the importance of investing in the right digital tools, and more.
Did You Miss My Recent Articles?
Here are links to the most recent articles on the Clairification blog. I think you’ll find these fairly practical. Hope so!
- Are You Unclear on the Concept of Why to Send a Nonprofit Fundraising Appeal?
- How Yucky Email Addresses – and Inhumanity — Hurt Your Nonprofit
- This isn’t a blog about current events, yet…
- REVEALED: Best Strategic Advice to Raise Money for Your Nonprofit, Crisis or Not
- Monthly Giving! Not-so-Secret Strategy to Keep Your Nonprofit Afloat Today
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