Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
Today I want to remind you that part and parcel of your personal mission, as a philanthropy facilitator, is to bring supporters opportunities for meaning and purpose.
Because when you help increase others’ sense of wellbeing, not only is the world a better place but these folks are more likely to demonstrate gratitude by giving of themselves.
Meaning drives us to act with generosity and resolve.
There is no substitute for this, not even happiness – the pursuit of which is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution! But is that really what it’s all about? If so, the U.S. is failing. Did you know two years ago the U.S. dropped out of the top 20 happiest countries for the first time ever, dropping from #15 to #23?
“Point is: the good life isn’t about “happiness.” It’s about meaning. Meaning is more resilient. More significant. More enduring. It emerges when we live out our most noble motivations. It’s a process, not a point in time. It’s a never ending game. All we can do is choose to keep playing.
What would happen if we stopped measuring happiness, and started measuring the amount of meaning we experience? And more importantly, if we reoriented our lives, our work, and our organizations toward cultivating more of it?”
— Hugh MacLeod, Gaping Void. Why We’re Measuring the Wrong Thing
Or consider this:
“For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it.”
–Viktor Frankl
MacLeod argues autonomy, purpose, community, mastery, and connection are far more holistic and effective heuristics than measuring “happiness,” as these have been shown to increase feelings of well-being. I would add these are things philanthropy facilitators should strive for as well, rather than focusing solely on monetary transactions.
If you help people find meaning and purpose, the money will follow.
Okay, let’s get in to today’s content. Hopefully some of the resources I’ve collected over the past two weeks will help you enact your mission. As always, a big thank you to my sponsor, Bloomerang, for making it possible for me to spend the hours of time hunting, gathering and choosing the eclectic resources I believe will best meet the needs of the diverse range of folks who comprise the critically important social benefit sector.
You’ve got this!
Thank you for doing your vital work, with gratitude,
Claire
P.S. Please scroll down to see all my Clairification School sponsors who enable me to offer enrollment in ‘Clairification School at an affordable price Your support, via enrollment, is what keeps all my content flowing. So, if you appreciate it, please become a “student!” [If the enrollment fee is a hardship, please email me and we’ll work it out.]
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
ARTICLES
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: A Monthly Giving Guide: Benefits and Tips to Get Started. You’ll find this useful primer on the Charity Engine website. It unpackd the basics of monthly giving and shares proven tips to get started (or strengthen the program you have).
Boards
Click-it: Nonprofit Leaders Answer: How Does Your Nonprofit Onboard New Board Members Effectively? Blue Avocado recently asked the Blue Avocado community “How does your nonprofit onboard new board members effectively?” This is a summary of the most thoughtful, practical and creative responses.
Click-it: “Help! My Board Thinks Fundraising Means Showing Up to the Gala and Eating the Chicken”. Love this, because it’s funny and oh so true! From Patrick Kirby at DoGoodBetter consulting.
Boards and Staff
Click-it: Burning Questions: When Boards and Leadership Aren’t Aligned. Lisa Greer, Philanthropy 451, weighs in on why well-meaning leadership often goes awry. It’s about both control and confusion.
Culture of Philanthropy
Click-it: This Is Who We Are. I love this Bernadette Jiwa post so much. It’s a reminder of who we can be – when we come from a place of love. Empathy. Caring. It’s also a reminder no culture is built on well-crafted words alone. Culture is what we do when no one’s watching. What will you do today?
Donor Retention
Click-it: Donor Lifetime Value: The Most Accurate Way to Calculate. This post covers what LTV is, how to calculate it accurately, what the 2026 benchmarks show, and four specific steps to grow it. The data in this post comes from the 2026 Virtuous Nonprofit Benchmark Report, built on giving data from 771 mid-sized US nonprofits.
Click-it: Donors don’t leave causes. They leave charities. And sometimes, they come back. Mark Phillips writes about a charity he left, and why he came back. It’s a lesson in how you can lose donors who were once loyal – even extremely so – and what you can do to restore their faith.
Click-it: 5 Major Donor Stewardship Moves That Drive the Second Gift. Here’s an excellent article on the fundamentals of major donor retention from the Gail Perry Group. If you embrace each of these, you’ll stand head and shoulders above the crowd – and keep your donors inspired and connected.
Events
Click-it: Sweepstakes vs. Raffle: Which Is Right for Your Nonprofit Fundraiser? In many states, per this useful article from Eventgroove, raffles are considered gambling – and therefor illegal. But there are ways you can get around this. You’ll find a full side-by-side sweepstakes vs. raffle cheat sheet you can download, plus a state by state raffle law guide.
Click-it: Fundraising Event Strategies That Actually Work: How to Raise More Money This Spring (and Beyond). Check out my article for the Bloomerang blog about how the format of your event matters far less than the experience you create — and what you invite people to do as a result. Learn why most fundraising events underperform, and what you can do to make yours a success on multiple levels.
Click-it: How to Find Auction Donations for Your Next Fundraising Event. Joe Garecht explains all the basics. It’s not rocket science. You can do this!
Major, Capital and Legacy Giving
Click-it: What If I Freeze with a Major Donor Ask? Rhea Wong in Nonprofit Quarterly suggests you ditch the fearful “pitch” and instead try a natural, comfortable conversation. Then, once you’ve asked, shut up. Sit in the silence and wait for the donor to speak next. Otherwise, you’ll jump in too soon and end up negotiating against yourself.
Click-it: How to Create a Compelling Major Donor Offer to Drive Bigger Gifts. Jeff Schreifels of the Veritus Group writes in NonProfitPro about the three things that go into a compelling donor offer: a clear need, a believable solution, and a defined role for the donor. These are worth memorizing, because any appeal without them will fall flat.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: If you want to become a master of major gift fundraising I highly recommend this Veritus Group course: Certification Course for Major Gift Fundraisers. You’ll receive a certification, rack up CFRE points, and set yourself up for excellence for the rest of your career. If you’re the executive or manager, there’s also a companion course for you! After completion you’ll become a member of the prestigious Veritus Scholars. This is the best thing you can do to supercharge your fundraising for the coming year – and beyond! And you can grab an exclusive Clairification Community discount – a whopping 35% off – using this code: CLAIRE35. The next cohort begins June 8th – just in time for your year-end fundraising push.
Online Social Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: 10 Instagram Best Practices for Nonprofits. Did you know of the 89% of nonprofits worldwide that use social media in their digital marketing and fundraising strategy, 75% of those use Instagram? Study and test the best practices outlined by Nonprofit Tech for Good to ensure your nonprofit is utilizing Instagram effectively.
Psychology of Giving
Click-it: Wealth is increasing, but participation in generosity continues to decline. 12 years ago, NextAfter was founded to address this paradox. What makes donors give? For years, they conducted hundreds of experiments, largely focused on the head: optimizing experiences, reducing friction, and removing barriers to giving. But the next decade of fundraising will depend on whether we learn to unlock the heart of the donor. Read this thought-provoking article by Jeff Giddens and learn what “acedia” means, and how to counteract its enervating power.
Strategy, Planning, Management and Leadership
Click-it: The Case for More Overhead, Reserves, and Yes, Debt. Did you know that what the rating agencies (e.g. Charity Navigator) reward (their implicit model of clean balance sheets, diversified revenue, low overhead, and operational “efficiency”) may be the reason you’re neither raising as much money or growing programs as fast as you otherwise could? Kevin Shulman of the Agitator-DonorVoice points to research that proves this to be the case. What do you want to optimize for? Optics, or outcomes?
Website
Click-it: How to fix the donation page your supporter can’t use. As this article on SOFII explains, if you make it hard to engage with you, you’re going to turn people off. Here are some useful top tips that will help fundraisers spot accessibility problems and fix them too.
Writing
Click-it: What Should Your P.S. Do? Steven Screen, the Better Fundraising Co., always offers terrific appeal advice, and this post is no exception. Plus, this happens to be exactly how I feel about the P.S.!
YOU
Click-it: AI as an Equalizer: Giving Small Nonprofits a Competitive Edge. Streamline your workflows, analyze data, and regularly connect with more donors – all using AI as an amplifier, not a replacement for your job. Griff Bohm, co-founder of Momentum (aka Virtuous/Momentum), explains how to move tedious, manual tasks off your plate, leverage new insight into your donor relationships, and free yourself up to focus on the projects that move the needle.
Other Learning Opportunities
WEBINARS, PODCASTS, & ON-DEMAND AUDIO RESOURCES
If you can’t attend live, or are interested in sessions happening at overlapping times, note many are available via recording – but ONLY if you REGISTER!
Boards
Click-it: Turn Your Board into Powerful Donor Connectors: How board members can influence supporters from awareness to action [Register for free webinar, 5-6-2026]. Maryanne Dersch shares how board members can play meaningful roles within the Donor Flow Framework. Each stage of the journey creates opportunities for board members to contribute in ways that feel natural and effective – as Ambassadors, Connectors, Relationship builders and Advocates.
Events
Click-it: From Guest List to Gift Match [Read webinar recap or listen on-demand]]. Auctria and Double the Donation join for a 30-minute session on how nonprofits can leverage support from ticket buyers to capture more corporate matching gifts and sponsorships. It means you must stop treating matching gifts as a post-event “afterthought” and start treating them as a primary ROI-driver integrated into the very fabric of the event experience.
Major, Mid-Level, Capital and Legacy Giving
Click-it: Stop Nagging Your Campaign Committee and Start Getting Results [Listen to on-demand podcast]. Andrea Kihlstedt and Amy Eisenstein, Capital Campaign Pro, tackle a common frustration in capital campaigns: committee members who accept prospect portfolios and then stall. There’s a difference between nagging and helping.
Click-it: Major Gifts Fundraising Made Simple for Small Teams [Listen to on-demand webinar]. Brain Saber on Charity How-To outlines how to be realistic about your capacity, prioritize the right donors, and commit to personalized, consistent engagement.
Technology as Tool
Click-it: Strategic AI for Nonprofit Leaders [Register for free webinar, 5-4-2026]. This Tech Soup session isn’t about tools. It’s about fixing the decision layer that comes first.
Most nonprofits are repeating the same pattern we saw with digital: buying the tech, underestimating human needs, burning out the team, and then blaming the tech. Learn what what to do in the next 90 days to move forward with clarity.
Website
Click-it: How to Build a Donation Form that Grows Your Monthly Giving [Watch on-demand webinar or read summary take-aways]. Ronald Pruitt, 4aGoodCause, teams up with Erin Straza, donor engagement strategist, for this dive into how to drive more supporters to become (and remain) monthly supporters.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, PAPERS, TEMPLATES & OTHER RESOURCES
Strategy, Planning, Management and Leadership
Click-it: Fundraising in Tough Times [Download free guide]. This guide from Moceanic turns “we should cut fundraising” into a conversation you’re ready for. History shows us the harm doesn’t come from the crisis; it comes from the fear of it.
Did You Miss My Newest Articles?
Here are links to the most recent articles on the Clairification blog. Remember, your goal is not simply to squeeze money out of people. It’s to give donors a squeeze and a hug for being caring and generous. This will make them feel good, which will move them to continue sticking with you.
💡 5 Strategies to Improve Nonprofit Use of Donor Data
❤️ Fixing a Wobbly World: What You Can Do to Restore Balance
💌 Top Strategies to Leverage Your Small to Mid-Sized Nonprofit’s Secret Advantages
🌟 3 Secret Advantage Ingredients Small to Medium Nonprofits Have
🎯 Want to Win at Major Gift Fundraising? Top 7 Proven Strategies to Success.
💸 Are the Rich Motivated to Give Differently?
🔍 4 Strategies to Listen so Others Will Talk
Finally… if you have a question, any question…
Check out my free fundraising advice column on the Bloomerang blog! Ask your question here. And bookmark the Ask an Expert page for any time you have a question! Here’s one:
How to Plan a Fundraising Event That Actually Raises Money
REMINDER for Clairification School students: Don’t forget to log in to your “My Clairification/Subscriber Dashboard/Monthly Tips” to grab your exclusive, timely tips for each month. APRIL TIPS are live. Your support is much appreciated, and helps me to support you. Thank you!
I am re-sharing some beautiful art from the Ruth Asawa restrospective at theSan Francisco Museum of Modern Art last year.Check out her inspiring quotes at the bottom!
“Art is doing. Art deals directly with life.” — Ruth Asawa
“I am interested in finding solutions to problems.” — Ruth Asawa
Please support my extraordinary sponsors (see below). The Clairity Click-it content is free, and Clairification School is affordable, because of their generosity.
