Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
Let’s begin with this week’s bit of wisdom…
When facing a complex problem, it’s easy to become confused.
Lately, it’s become socially acceptable to express your confusion with certainty. Untrained in the field, make a pronouncement that makes it clear that you have not just an understanding of what’s going on, but also that you’ve figured out the causes and the next steps.
The thing is, confusion shared often leads to the learning we need to become productive as we move forward. “I don’t understand this part,” is a great thing to say before someone helps you understand it.
On the other hand, certainty is almost guaranteed to maintain your confusion, particularly when the thing you were sure was going to work, doesn’t.
— Seth Godin
This spoke to me this week, as we are surely living in confusing, uncertain times. Have you succumbed to the temptation to assuredly pontificate, taking a position that’s probably an inch deep? To really be sure, what other information could/should you seek?
This “confusion and certainty” conundrum plays out in both our personal and professional lives. When I was in law school, I learned to “plausibly assert, and forcefully maintain.” This may be good for winning lawsuits, but does it contribute to a just, fair and greater good?
I would say “not so much.” And in your role as a nonprofit professional or volunteer, you want to contribute more than simply confusion painted over with lipstick. You want answers – but, first, you must ask the right questions.
The Clairity Click-it is designed to provide you with content to help you better understand your challenges so you can move forward with the best solutions. Use some of the resources in this week’s issue to help you pick one or more doable strategies. Start digging through the curated content from across the web and, whatever you do, don’t do nothing!
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 [If the enrollment fee is a hardship, please email me and we’ll work it out.]
*If you live where this weekend ends daylight savings time, don’t forget to “fall back” and grab your extra hour this Sunday. 🙂
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
ARTICLES
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: How to Use Inspiring Imagery to Drive Donations. The right photo can make all the difference, as this article by Kerri Lee and Michael McQuaid in NonProfitPRO explains. Making an emotional connection is the first step to a powerful appeal, and the images you choose matter.
Click-it: Peer-to-Peer Fundraising 101: The Ultimate Guide. P2P fundraising is a strategic way to upgrade existing donors and bring in new supporters. The folks at Yearly discuss all the ways to leverage this strategy, complete with examples. And there’s a special section on how to create event recap reports to assure you keep your P2P participants actively engaged.
Click-it: A Guide to Getting Started With Informed Delivery. This is an interesting concept from Summer Gould on NonProfitPRO that could potentially be a game changer. You can learn more about this here, If you’ve tried it, please let us know your experience in the “comments” below.
Click-it: Tapping into Workplace Giving: 4 Tips for Nonprofits. Grab this tips from Adam Wenger on the Care2 blog for several ways to leverage existing donors’ giving – especially important as we enter the most giving time of the year.
Events
Click-it: It doesn’t matter if they made a huge purchase at your auction or simply showed up in support of your cause. Everyone deserves a thank you. Here Auctria lays out several post-event gratitude strategies, including eCards, public recognition to leverage social proof, and social media posts.
Giving Tuesday
Click-it: Giving Tuesday Social Media Tips That’ll Help Get Your Cause Noticed. Per the experts at Eventgroove, Giving Tuesday is a social-media-fueled event. What are you doing to fan the flames? Here are five suggestions, plus links to some free templates.
Click-it: #GivingTuesday Tips for Small Nonprofits. Mightyblog has a roadmap for creating a powerful giving day campaign, no matter your size. You’ll want to begin with establishing your goals; then go from there.
Click-it: Livng Dusday. Love this — Agitator/DonorVoice bringing science to what I’ve always believed! I like Giving(Back)Tuesday — where we give back to our supporters and thank them for all the good they’ve created. Our very own “Thanks(for)Giving.” You might want to consider this approach as a way to “pre- suade” donors to give to your year-end campaign appeals.
Online and Mobile Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: Beyond the Subject Line: More Secrets for Getting Your Fundraising Emails Opened. Grab some tips from the folk at Moceanic.
Marketing Communications and Campaigns
Click-it: 3 Examples Of Successful Nonprofit Marketing Campaigns. See three examples of clever marketing campaigns that didn’t break the budget. Bloomerang shares the results from nonprofit campaigns that not only broadened awareness but also harnessed innovative strategies and emotional connection to a cause to make a profound impact on their communities and beyond.
Mid-Level Donors
Click-it: From the Myth Smashers: Guess what? Mid value donors are not major donors in disguise! Check out this article on SOFII for a fresh perspective on the value of donors in the middle. You’ll learn why you should perhaps rethink your stewardship strategy with this group who give on average 45 times more than other donors.
Psychology of Giving
Click-it: How To and Why You Should Love Your Donors (The Philanthropic Psychology Way). Philanthropic psychology is “The study of how people love humankind/people.” It encourages you to do thoughtful fundraising that connects, comforts and grows love. Learn all about this in this article from Nathan Stelter, inspired by Jen Shang.
Strategy and Management
Click-it: Is it time to ditch the donor cultivation cycle model? This article from the Globetrotting Fundraiser makes the point that fundraising, in today’s technologically revolutionized world, is not a linear process. You need to adapt and offer different ways for donors to remain or increase their engagement. Take a look at the customer engagement map used by IKEA.
Click-it: Halloween Edition: Fear and Fundraising. Is your fundraising strategy – and culture — one of creating relationships with people who want to help? Or is it simply focused on bringing home the check? Lisa Greer, Philanthropy 451, discusses the benefits of giving and how fundraisers have the privilege of helping donors reap these benefits.
Volunteer Engagement
Click-it: How to Activate Volunteers as First-Time Donors Through Micro-Donations. This article on the Tech Soup blog suggests strategies for getting volunteers to give both time and money. Research shows they are twice as likely to donate as other prospects, but it won’t happen unless you proactively encourage them to take this step. It’s worth it, because once they give their lifetime value is 10X that of other donors!
Website
Click-it: The Secret to Nonprofit Landing Pages That Convert (Plus How to Create Your Own). Home, Lead Generation, Donation, Volunteer, Thank You – you’ll learn about all these pages and more in this article from Beeline. Plus, you’ll get best practice and there are examples from which you can borrow.
WEBINARS, PODCASTS, ROUNDTABLES & 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!
Donor Retention
Click-it: How to Defeat Fundraising’s Silent Enemy: Donor Attrition [Register for free webinar, 11-15-2023]. Join the always dynamic presenter, Jay Wilkinson of Firespring, for this session on why donors leave and what you can do about it.
Major and Legacy Gifts
Click-it: All the Things You Don’t Know That Are Happening with Planned Gifts [Register for free Q&A, 11-7 or 11-8, 2023]. Join Veritus Group experts for a 30-minute Q&A where you can get your questions answered about recent and upcoming changes that will impact your planned giving efforts. They’ll also share a quick overview of some of the changes coming up that may not even be on your radar!
Click-it: How to Ask for Major Gifts in Three Easy Steps [Register for free webinar, 11-8-2023]. Want to better understand the Major Gift fundraising process from beginning to end? Join Asking Matters for this session with Peter Heller and take back specific tools and you can start using the next day.
Click-it: Navigating the “Big Ask” in Challenging Times [Register for free webinar/panel discussion, 11-9-2023]. Join Gail Perry, Beth Ann Locke, Eli Jordfald MPA CFRE, and Kathryn Gamble PhD for an open discussion about what’s changed and what’s still working with major donors today.
Storytelling
Click-it: An Agile Storyteller: A Case Study Webinar With HEADstrong Foundation [Register for free webinar, 11-9-2023]. This webinar from Rally Corps explores how one nonprofit is able to react and respond quickly, and how they use storytelling in a mobile format to further their cause. If you’re looking for tips to use text messaging, this is the place!
Year End
Click-it: 7 ways to optimize your email marketing’s results during the last 45 days of the year [Register for free webinar, 11-8-2023]. Join Nhu Te and Feathr to learn seven powerful strategies to optimize email marketing during the last month six weeks of the year. You’ll also get examples to inspire you.
Click-it: How to CRUSH Giving Season [Register for free webinar, 11-9-2023]. Get tips, tools and technology from the Wild Apricot team to help you maximize fundraising success this Giving Tuesday and end of year.
Click-it: Clairification Presents: Year-End Giving Campaign Secret Weapon: Matching Gifts [Register for free 30-minute webinar + Q&A, 11-14-2023]. Join me, NXUnite and the experts at Double the Donation for this practical session to help you leverage individual donor gifts with the matches offered by their employers. If you want to stop leaving money on the table, this is for you! Do not miss it.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, PAPERS, TEMPLATES & OTHER RESOURCES
Giving Tuesday
Click-it: The Nonprofit Email Report: Data-Backed Insights for Giving Tuesday and Year-End [Download free report]. How many emails should you send on Giving Tuesday? Do donors really read your year-end fundraising emails, or do they tune them out? Which day is the best for sending annual appeals? Find out In this invaluable guide from NeonOne.
Psychology of Giving
Click-it: The Behavioral Economics Nonprofit Playbook. I absolutely love applying psychology, neuroscience and behavioral economics to the practice of fundraising and nonprofit marketing. Here you’ll get to see some real-world experiments that show the potential of many of the principles unveiled here. You will learn so much in this free guide from NextAfter – don’t miss 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.
- How to Get Mobile Opt-ins: 5 Ways to Grow Your Text Messaging List
- 8 BOO BOO’s! Are You SCARING Nonprofit Donors Away?
- Stop Leading with “Grab Year-End Tax Deduction.” Do This Instead.
- Top 10 Fundraising Appeal Writing Tips
- Top Strategies to Use Donor Data to Appeal to Donor Identity
- Top Strategies to Leverage Your Nonprofit’s Secret Advantage -2
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 To Do When A Donor Says “No”.
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. NOVEMBEr tips are live! 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 — and grab your 10th ANNIVERSARY BONUS! There’s never been a better time to enroll.
And now, one cute painted garage and one lovely painted wall, spotted on this week’s walks.
Please support my extraordinary sponsors (see below). The Clairity Click-it content is free, and Clairification School is affordable, because of their generosity.
