Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
June is about to bust out in bloom. How might you bust out and blossom as well?
I’ve got free tips and tools galore, bustin’ out all over!
I begin by thanking my generous sponsor, Bloomerang, for their continued support of my curation of content for you across the web – all with the goal of helping you in your quest to facilitate passionate philanthropy. If you find one or more articles, webinars or free downloadable guides useful I’ll be happy. And if you find Clairification useful …
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My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it.”
Let’s get right to this issue’s links!
Thank you for doing the important work you do,
Claire
P.S.
I try to make my content as close to free as humanly possible (without it costing me money). If you’re on the fence about enrolling, see what others say about why they’ve joined. If you’re not happy, I’ll refund you. How’s that?
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
SPECIAL CATEGORY: Tips for Not-So-Normal Times
ARTICLES
Digital First
Click-it: Keeping Nonprofit Messaging Relevant with Dynamic Creative Optimization and Personalized Video. Last year accelerated the digital revolution, compressing about 10 years of innovation into 10 months. We’re not going backwards, so it behooves you to familiarize yourself with some of the digital tools available to you. Increasingly, donors expect this type of communication. The folks at Merkle are experts in this area, and here they outline new strategies and tools to ensure each engagement you have with donors is hyper-relevant to that constituent’s needs.
Events (Virtual)
Click-it: 5 Easy Virtual Fundraisers that Boost Your Revenue. Robin Cabral, Development Consulting Solutions, shares a guest post from John Killoran diving deep into the reasons virtual events will stick around and how you can best use such events to expand your donor base and boost revenue. You have more options than you may imagine.
Language
Click-it: Let’s Try to Stop Using Jargon So Much. I’ve included this article from Ann Green’s Nonprofit Blog in this “not-so-normal” times category because there’s a lot of new jargon out there that could be confusing to your donors. People need to understand you to connect with you. This is important!
Strategy and Management
Click-it: How to Navigate the Post-COVID Novel Nonprofit Economy. We’re living in a new time of disruption, making old ways of doing things obsolete. The pandemic hastened digital interactions. Social divisiveness and a civil rights movement shaped the discourse. What must your organization do now to position your mission to thrive, not just survive? In this article for Bloomerang I suggest a team brainstorming exercise to develop the raw material you’ll need to create a future-facing strategic plan that speaks to the times in which we’re living.
WEBINARS, ROUNDTABLES & ON-DEMAND AUDIO RESOURCES
If you can’t attend live, note many are available via recording – but ONLY if you REGISTER!
Culture and Change
Click-it: Disruption & Innovation in Organizational Culture & Change Management in Uncertain Times [Register for free webinar and discussion, 6-15-2021]. Technological innovation, social movements, and evolving public sentiments are outpacing the ability of organizations to absorb and understand the scope and meaning of these developments. How does the modern nonprofit prepare itself for the future while remaining focused on its mission and its vision for change? Join this rare free session from Stanford Social Innovation Review, featuring a strong panel of experts – Joan Garry, Onney Crawley, Scott Sampson, and Chris Thomas – to find out.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, WHITE PAPERS & OTHER RESOURCES
Technology
Click-it: Equity Guide for Nonprofit Technology [Download free e-Guide]. NTEN focuses on supporting nonprofit staff in using technology strategically in racially equitable ways to meet their missions and community needs. Towards this end, they developed a resource to guide equitable decision-making and investment at all levels. The guide is intended to be used as an active and regular part of your strategy discussions, policy review processes, and as a resource for evaluation. You can also watch a community call where they discuss how it was created and ways to use it.
Other Articles: The Beat Goes On
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: 8 Tried-and-True (Secret) Individual Donor Fundraising Action Tips. I’ve packed some of my favorite all-time fundraising trade secrets into this article for the Bloomerang blog. Enjoy! And I’d love to know if you try any of them.
Click-it: 5 Unique Ways to Thank Recurring Donors. Did you know the lifetime value of recurring donors is 440% greater than one-time donors? This value won’t just happen automatically, however. You have to help it along. Classy shares five examples from nonprofits rocking their monthly giving programs. Why not borrow?
Click-it: Easier is Better. Read the Agitator-DonorVoice take on the K.I.S.S. philosophy. It’s filled with useful tips, plus links to resources providing a foundation for why these things work. Use this to persuade your boss and board of the fundamentals of fundraising and donor care.
Culture of Philanthropy
Click-it: Who’s Responsible for A Nonprofit’s Culture of Philanthropy? If you’re a fundraiser bemoaning the lack of your nonprofit’s culture of philanthropy, you don’t get off that easily. You’re part of the problem. Read my take on this, and learn what you can do, on the Bloomerang blog.
Psychology of Giving
Click-it: One Simple Thing That Will Boost Your Credibility. I follow Roger Dooley because he knows a lot about neuroscience and it’s applicability to the world of marketing. In this article for Forbes, he describes how to apply a couple of Robert Cialdini’s principles of influence to boost your credibility – before an audience of one or many.
Click-it: The Power of Testimonials: Inspiring Action for Your Nonprofit. Here’s a piece from Flipcause explaining how to leverage one of Robert Cialdini’s principles: social proof. Learn how to gather testimonials and how to make them come to life when you share them.
Storytelling
Click-it: Understanding How Stories Fit into Story Arcs. Kivi LeRoux Miller, Nonprofit Marketing Guide, discusses how all your individual stories add up to a larger narrative that communicates something important to your participants, supporters, and influencers. It’s a perspective worth your consideration.
Strategy and Management
Click-it: 13 Fundraising Mistakes to Avoid. This article from Sumac is filled with good advice. They’re all good; I particularly like ## 6, 7 and 11. Choose your own favorite(s), and get started making some changes to avoid unforced errors!
Writing
Click-it: Talk and Write Like a Human: Donor Communication Principles for Fundraisers. Rules to live, and write, by. From Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels at Veritus Group. This is good stuff!
Other Learning Opportunities
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!
Content Marketing
Click-it: Building Brand Champions in Your Nonprofit Community [Register for free Virtual Roundtable 6-24-2021]. Learn ways to empower your board, staff and community as effective ambassadors of your work through facilitated group reflection, alignment and action. Plus build ownership of brand messaging. Note this is not a webinar, but a space of meaningful connection and belonging co-facilitated by Dr. Renee Rubin Ross, The Ross Collective, and by Rootid.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: Stop Losing 50% of Your Donors [Register for free webinar, 6-17-2021]. Knowing how to dig into the data and understand your non-profit’s economy is a critical part of any non-profit leader’s role. This webinar will help you identify potential problems in your major gift pipeline, learn how to approach diversifying your revenue sources, and rethink your hiring approach to create a balanced and productive pipeline. All from the experts at Veritus Group.
Click-it: Earn Their Hearts and Their Support: A Donor-Centric Approach to Legacy Marketing [Download on-demand webinar]. Count on the experts at Stelter to help you build your legacy communications toolkit. Also learn which prospects to put on your legacy mailing list, diagnose where your donors are in their legacy journey, review research driving results and see specific marketing examples. Good stuff!
Online Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: 5 Things to Consider Before Texting Donors [Download on-demand webinar]. Did you know 98% of text messages get opened, most within a few minutes? It’s a worthwhile alternative to email for you to consider. Rally Corp are the specialists, and here they share five things you should consider before texting donors – especially for the first time.
Click-it: 6 Types of Stories You Should be Telling on Social Media [Register for free webinar, 6-3-2021]. Storytelling is the fuel in the communication engine of the modern nonprofit. Join Julia Campbell and Qgiv to learn how to find and tell stories that inspire people to take action, especially on social media.
Click-it: Social Media 101 for Nonprofits [Register for free webinar, 6-3-2021]. This practical session from Firespring will give you handy tips for the “big 3:” Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You may be surprised to learn Facebook is less important than you’ve been told and LinkedIn may be more important. Plus get powerful no-cost or low-cost tools to manage your social media presence.
Strategy and Management
Click-it: Post-COVID Strategic Planning: How to Future-Proof Your Nonprofit by Adopting a Strategic Framework Description [Register for free webinar, 6-24-2021]. Top Nonprofits hosts Sarah Olivieri for this session diving into the Impact Method™, a strategic framework designed for nonprofits as a way to break down big audacious goals into clear, easy-to-understand components.
Zee Fabulous Free Conference!
Click-it: Collaborative Virtual Conference: Together We Will [Register for free event, 6-8 to 11, 2021]. This looks awesome beyond belief! Classy is gathering over 5,000 peers virtually for 50 interactive sessions and workshops, lively panel discussions, fireside chats, TED-style talks, intentional networking, and more. Don’t miss it.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, WHITE PAPERS & OTHER RESOURCES
Online Social Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: 30 great fundraising email subject lines for nonprofits [Download free e-Guide]. You know your email subject line is like the envelope for your fundraising email, right? Here Ronald Pruitt of 4aGoodCause suggests strategies to assure your email appeals get opened; then gives you a fee guide to download filled with concrete examples.
Did You Miss My Newest Articles?
- These Fundraising Appeal Fallacies Will Cost You Money
- Donors Screening Calls? 12 Strategies to Stop Being Defeatist.
- Digital Fundraising Revolution: Annual Benchmarks Study; Trending Behaviors
- Fundamental Fundraising Truths: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
- Stop Writing Unconscious: Secrets to Inspire Action on Your Nonprofit Appeal
- Transactional Nonprofit Work vs. Transformational Philanthropic Progress
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! Check out (1) How to organize tasks to stay on top of things, and (2) How Should Donor-Advised Fund Gifts Be Recognized?
Please support my extraordinary sponsors (see below). Clairification School is affordable because of their generosity.
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. JUNE’s tips will be posted shortly; May’s tips are still live now! If you’re not yet an enrolled student, you can get in on the fun here!
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it.” Don’t miss out.
