Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
The recent conflation of Inauguration Day and the Martin Luther King Day holiday in the U.S. has me thinking about freedom. And also the push/pull between freedom and responsibility. Freedom without responsibility (i.e., being held responsible for your actions) doesn’t work well for anyone but one person. Responsibility without freedom is stressful. To work well, they need to play well together. Neither freedom nor responsibility are given; they’re taken.
What will you do to achieve the necessary balance to keep your organization, your community, and our world in check?
Seth Godin suggests it has a lot to do with the culture you/we build.
We spend almost no time teaching toddlers about freedom. Instead, the lessons we teach (and learn) for our entire lives are about responsibility. It’s easy to teach freedom, but important to teach responsibility. Because if you get the responsibility taken care of, often the freedom will follow.
When someone points out a lack of responsibility, it can feel like an affront on freedom, when it’s actually a chance to create more freedom for the rest of the community.
You can drive as fast as you want. But you are also responsible for not running over someone in a school zone…
The speed limit is not taking away our freedom, it’s reminding us of our responsibility.
When we build a culture of people who eagerly seek out and take responsibility, we build a culture that enables a special kind of resilient freedom.
— Seth Godin
I hope you will make this the year you really work on instilling a culture of philanthropy — love of humankind. It will make all the rest of your work easier, more fulfilling and, ultimately, more fruitful. This issue of the ‘Clairity Click-it’ begins with some resources relating to current trends and headwinds, then follows with a mix of topics to help you approach the coming year thoughtfully. I encourage you to dig through this curated content from across the web and pick one or more doable strategies. Approach this with a learning mindset, vowing to find at least one thing you’ll do a bit differently.
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 resources I believe will be most useful to you.
It is my sincere pleasure and honor to help you find the ideas, strategies, templates and tools you need to succeed.
Thank you for doing your vital work, and making our world a better place,
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 [NOTE: If the enrollment fee is a hardship, please email me and we’ll work it out.]
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
SPECIAL FEATURE: Trends & Headwinds
ARTICLES
Click-it: The Great Nonprofit Downsizing. If inflation driving up expenses, the end of pandemic relief and falling donations have hit you hard, you’re not alone. Learn why, and what hard choices others like you are making, in this piece by Sara Herschander in Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Click-it: Philanthropy’s 2025 Buzzwords: Concerns About Power Will Dominate the Nonprofit World. If you’re looking for food for thought, you’ll find it in this article by Lucy Bernholz in Chronicle of Philanthropy. I’d never heard of many of these buzz words, some of which are fascinating while others mildly terrifying. See what you think.
Click-it: Nonprofit and philanthropy and our white moderate tendency to obey tyranny in advance. The inimitable Vu Le, NonprofitAF, issues a call to arms. The full article may or may not resonate with you, but his words are worth heeding as you walk into 2025: “At your nonprofit or foundation, discuss with your team which path your org plans to walk and what that will mean moving forward, what actions you’ll be taking, what risks you’re willing to accept.”
Click-it: The Power of Small Actions in Dark Times. Roger Craver, the Agitator-DonorVoice, issues his own call to action, reminding us of the power of the persistence of hope to enact change. What are your hopes? What are you doing to (1) Build awareness through education and outreach; (2) Provide direct support to affected communities; (3) advance policy changes through persistent advocacy, and (4) create alternative models that demonstrate better ways forward?
Click-it: Nonprofit Legal Compliance in an Unfriendly Political Environment. We’re entering an adversarial period, when even a nonprofit’s tax-exempt status could arbitrarily come under threat. Gene Takagi explains what you can do to protect and defend yourself in this article in Nonprofit Quarterly.
Click-it: 2025 Impending Tax Legislation: What Your Nonprofit Needs to Know. As tax changes loom in 2025, it’s important for nonprofits to stay informed. Stelter’s Senior Gift Planning Consultant Lynn Gaumer, J.D., CAP®, breaks down what could change, how it might impact giving and what you can do to help your donors navigate these shifts.
GUIDES & RESOURCES
Click-it: Blackbaud’s Gen Z at the Table [Download free report]. This shows Gen Z strongly embrace opportunities for giving (89%) and volunteering (92%) in the workplace One of the most generous generations yet, they prioritize causes that align with their values. Learn how they prefer to be thanked, further engaged and more.
ARTICLES
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: Omnichannel is not audience-first. Do you know the difference? I recommend you take some time to think about this article from the RKD Group. You’ll not only come away with a stronger understanding of these marketing principles, you’ll learn how you can go much deeper with the latter than the former. Food for thought if you want to up your engagement game this year.
Click-it: 10 Daily Actions for Nonprofit Fundraisers, 2025 Edition! This comes from Dan Hanly at Inspired Fundraising. Each is something practical you can do on a daily basis. And each will make you feel better about yourself and your work. I like #4, #6 and #7.
Culture
Click-it: 5 Top Inquiries to Improve Philanthropy. Check out my article for NonProfitPRO with five business lessons learned, and ways you might turn these into inquiries to ask yourself on a regular basis. Each will steer you towards better fundraising results. Plus, you’ll feel better about your work. Your donors will too.
Donor Retention and Loyalty
Click-it: How personalizing your digital reports leads to better donor engagement. Besides being storytelling experts, the folks at Storyraise understand the impact of showing donors you know them. Not just their names, but what they care about. Perfecting your personalization can bring you closer to your donors, and it may even encourage them to give a little more. Too few organizations do this. If you do, you’ll stand out – in a good way!
Click-it: 3 Supporter Engagement Opportunities Outside of Donating. Sustainable impact comes from engaged supporters who do more than write checks—they show up, speak out, and lead. Here, from CFRE Central, are three things you should be doing – with tips on how to execute on these strategies.
Events
Click-it:. Plan a Valentine’s Day (or Anti-Valentine’s Day) Event. Your donors love you; you love your donors. What better day to celebrate this love with a fun event? Eventgroove will help you get your groove on with all sorts of ideas for on-site; virtual and hybrid movie nights – even down to suggestions for romantic and anti-romantic films.
Click-it: How Does a Nonprofit Silent Auction Work? 3 Tips for Success. If you’re new to this, this article from Auctria provides a blueprint for success. It begins with the why you should consider this; then, continues with the what. Step by step.
Grants
Click-it: 5 Tips for Finding Grants for Small Nonprofits. Grant research can be time-consuming, but knowing where to look can significantly reduce your search. Finding the appropriate funders for your nonprofit are a large part of grant writing success. Here are tips from Charity Village.
Marketing
Click-it: The Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit Advertising. Learn about the differences between inbound and outbound marketing – especially the key benefits of advertising – in this comprehensive piece on the Wild Apricot blog.
Click-it: Marketing to social media users in 2025: Here’s what the numbers say. Today’s consumers expect to connect with brands on social in the same way they would connect with a friend. They demand fast, personalized customer care. So, per this researched article on MarketingDive, if you’re going to be on social media you can’t half ass it. People want depth, not just surface-level participation. What’s your written digital marketing plan, and who’s in charge?
Strategy and Management
Click-it:. 4 Key Metrics for Donor Relations Success. Have you heard the adage “what gets measured gets done?” The Donor Relations Group shows you what to measure to assure your donor relations strategy is working. It’s essential you know these things if you want to advocate for more resources to get your work done.
Technology as Tool
Click-it: Boost Text Message Subscriptions: Simple, Smart SMS Sign up Forms. It’s vital to grow your list and expand your text message marketing reach. Anything you can do to minimize signup friction (while ensuring consent) will grow your opt-in lists. The folks at Rally Corp offer a smart and simple pop-up form, and you can see it in action!
Click-it: Nonprofit Marketing Automation: A Beginner’s Guide. Explore how your nonprofit can harness the power of automation to reduce your workload, improve your marketing, and amplify impact. Learn from the AI experts at Momentum how to: schedule and send targeted communications; connect with each supporter using messages they’re most likely to resonate with; post consistently on social media; acknowledge donations promptly, and much more.
Website and Landing Pages
Click-it: How adding a testimonial on a landing page impacted sign ups. I love sharing A/B tests from NextAfter, and here’s one for you to try. Gather up some testimonials from clients, donors and whatnot, and sprinkle a few onto your email capture landing page. Their experiment found doing so increased sign ups to their email list by almost 15%. Bottom line: Social proof increases conversions!
WEBINARS, PODCASTS, CONFERENCES & 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!
WEBINARS
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: How to Craft the Perfect “Pitch” for Your Nonprofit [Register for free mini-webinar]. In just 20 minutes, this Nonprofit Tech for Good webinar will help you identify the key elements of a repeatable and compelling “pitch” or “case for support;” find a few powerful stories, results, or goals that light a fire in others, and understand what to do instead of listing stats and programs.
Donor Retention
Click-it: Use Donor Stewardship to Maintain Your Audience and Grow Their Support [Register for free webinar, 1-28-2025]. It costs much less to retain than acquire a donor. Join expert Firespring presenter Kiersten Hill to learn how to build a stellar retention program. She’ll cover new donor welcome email series; how to say thank you so donors fall in love; 5 tips to boost donor retention; 7 ways you may be unknowingly driving donors away, and more. Lots of practical stuff you can put to use right now!
Major and Legacy Giving
Click-it: Legacy Challenges: Success Stories and Lessons Learned [Download free, on-demand webinar]. Join Stelter and four experienced planned giving professionals as they provide insights into what made their recent Legacy Challenges successful and what they would do differently next time. Strategies, marketing materials and results from recent Challenges are shared.
Strategy and Management
Click-it: Top Nonprofit Tools for Success [Register for free webinar, 1-29-2025]. Wonder what tools are essential to staying ahead of the curve right now? Mighty Cause shares the latest platforms for donor management, recurring giving, and peer-to-peer campaigns. You’ll also discover tools that provide helpful insights for your fundraising efforts. And you’ll get project management tools that simplify tasks and save you time!
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, PAPERS, TEMPLATES & OTHER RESOURCES
Donor Retention
Click-it: Win Them Back: The Fundraiser’s Guide to Re-Engaging Lapsed Donors [Download free guide]. When donors stop giving, it doesn’t mean your connection is lost. You can rekindle their interest and turn them into lifelong supporters with the right approach. Here’s a step-by-step guide from Bloomerang.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: Removing Obstacles to Major Gift Fundraising [Download free paper]. Learn from the Veritus Group about the five avoidable issues harming your major gifts program. Also see what you can do to overcome these challenges and raise more money!
NOTE: If you want to really become a master of major gift fundraising – a highly valued skill – this might be a great time to consider exploring certification. I highly recommend this fully revamped course from the Veritus Group: Certification Course for Major Gift Fundraisers. If you’re the executive or manager, there’s a companion course for you! The next cohort begins February 10th, and runs through May 9th, and after completion you’ll become a member of the prestigious Veritus Scholars. If you have any questions, just reply to this email and I’ll be happy to discuss whether this course may be right for you. I promise to be honest. USE MY CODE, CA5, FOR A DISCOUNT.
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.
How to Build a Major Donor Program from the Ground Up
The Huge Mid-Level Fundraising Opportunity You’re Missing
How Humanity and Trust Supercharge Nonprofit Fundraising
Time to Catch Up on Last Year’s TOP 10 Hottest Topics
Don’t Blow Your Post-Holiday Opportunity to Thank Your Nonprofit Supporters
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: What Are The Pros And Cons Of Public Donor Listings?
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. JANUARY TIPS are live, and February’s will be here soon. If you’re not yet an enrolled student, and don’t have direct, immediate access to ALL my blog articles, monthly tips, webinars, podcasts and much more, you can get in on the fun here! Your support helps me to support you.
And now, some street art and a found heart in nature that made me happy last week!
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