Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
No one cares. That happens rarely.
Someone cares. That happens all the time, and it’s at the heart of our work.
Everyone cares. Almost never.
Someone is enough. In fact, someone is the entire point
— Seth Godin
As we enter into prime fundraising season, it’s important to ask the question: Who cares? These folks are the “someones” you should be targeting with your marketing communications and fundraising messaging. Are you, perhaps, trying to reach the amorphous “everyone?”
Think about it. In fact, take some time every week to think carefully about what you’re about to do that week. Does it make sense? Will it positively impact your bottom line? Will it grow a solid base of support among people who care?
Here are some free resources, curated from across the web. Click on those that speak to you. Some offer practical tips; others important food for thought. See if there’s a webinar you want to attend.
As always, a big thank you to my Clairity Click-it sponsor, Bloomerang, for making it possible for me to spend the time hunting and gathering.
It is my sincere pleasure and honor to help you find the ideas, strategies, templates and tools you need to make our world a better place.
Thank you for doing your vital work, and helping make our world a better place,
Claire
P.S. Your support via enrollment in ‘Clairification School’ means a lot, and I am deeply appreciative. It is my honor to deliver original articles direct to your in-box every week, give you access to all my webinars, and offer up exclusive monthly tips, bonuses and more!
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
ARTICLES
Content Marketing
Click-it: A Walkthrough of Canva Pro for Nonprofits: Is It Worth It? Whether or not you’re a graphic designer, you can use this tool easily. And it’s one of the best ways to create engaging content to aid in your nonprofit visual storytelling. Plus, it’s free! Maybe check this article from Nonprofit Apps out? You can even watch a free tutorial at Nonprofit Library.
Digital Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: What’s in Your QR Code: 10+ Types of QR Code Content. Here’s a handy QR Code 101 from marketing expert Heidi Cohen. The time to jump on this digital bandwagon is now!
Click-it: Outsourcing Digital Marketing? Here are the 5 Biggest Benefits and 10 Commandments for Your Success. The third most commonly outsourced function for small business is digital marketing, per social media guru Neal Schaffer. So it’s definitely something your nonprofit should consider. You can’t have every needed skill on site, but a digital agency can.
Donor Retention
Click-it: Collecting stories from your donors. There is a new Simone Joyaux Archive on SOFII, and this is one gem. If you want donors to stick with you, get to know them. Really! Here are some questions you’ll want to ask to build a real relationship.
Events
Click-it: Market Your Hybrid Raffle Using These Key Tips. The event experts at Eventgroove unveil the “secret sauce” to a successful raffle, hybrid or virtual.
Giving Tuesday
Click-it: 3 Steps for Launching Successful Giving Tuesday and Year-End Giving Campaigns. It’s just two months away, so if you’re planning to do something the time for planning is now. I like this article by Jackie Conrad on NonProfitPRO because it suggests you also consider other “giving days.” You don’t necessarily have to promote giving the same day as everyone else.
Click-it: Giving Tuesday 2022: Everything You Need to Create a SMASH Campaign. This super-comprehensive post from Personify/Wild Apricot tells you everything you need to know. It includes the history of the “holiday,” plus 16 steps to incorporate it into your fundraising and/or marketing communications plan.
Click-it: How to Plan a Successful Giving Tuesday Campaign. Vanessa Chase Lockshin, The Storytelling Nonprofit, offers this step-by-step planning guide. It includes a link to a YouTube playlist of “how to” videos.
Major and Legacy Giving
Click-it: Don’t Give Up on Your Donors. How do you treat your donors when they’re no longer able to give due to financial setbacks or uncertainties? The Veritus Group shares a story of how one MGO handled it when several major donors could no longer give gifts they’d committed to. As a result of her compassionate approach, when their financial situations improved, those donors gave even more than they’d originally promised.
Click-it: How is Post-COVID Fundraising Different?. The Gail Perry Group has noticed a number of changes, and most of them are positive. Yes, virtual meetings are here to stay – and that’s a good thing.
Click-it: How to Be an Authentic Guiding Sage for Your Donors. Are you, or you outward-facing development staff, guiding sages or a jesters? Learn why this is important in this article from Dr. Russell James on the Market Smart blog. Seriously, read this.
Website
Click-it: Benchmarks and metrics: How effective if your nonprofit website. With year-end approaching, now is a great time to make sure your website is doing its job of attracting and converting donors. You should, at minimum, review your website metrics on a quarterly basis. The folks at 4aGoodCause have identified key areas of website health, and are even providing a downloadable list of Top10 metrics.
Year-End Giving
Click-it: 13 Lucky Year End Fundraising Tips [Download free e-Guide]. It’s useful, if I do say so myself (I wrote it). Grab it free from Bloomerang.
Other Learning Opportunities
WEBINARS, PODCASTS, COURSES & 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!
Content Marketing
Click-it: Doubling Your Donations with Nonprofit Communications [Watch free 15-minute webinar]. Tom Ahern joins Yearly for a conversation, with visuals, for a crash course on nonprofit marketing best practices. Want to learn the difference between an organization-centered and a donor-focused newsletter? Hint: One will bring in a LOT more donations in the included reply envelopes.
Digital Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: 7 Ways to Drive End-of-Year Giving With Digital Ads {Download free, on-demand webinar]. Aidan Augustin, Feathr, joins Firespring for this session designed to help you get in front of the right audience at the right time. Learn to convert more website visitors to leads, and ultimately boost online giving.
Strategy, Management and Planning
Click-it: Effective Fundraising and Power Principles with Seth Godin [Listen to free, on-demand podcast]. Every time you get a chance to listen to Seth Godin, you should. Especially if it’s about fundraising, like this episode of What the Fundraising from Mallory Erickson.
Year-End Fundraising
Click-it: Five Quick Wins for Year-End Fundraising [Register for free, 25-minute webinar, 10-6-2022]. James Martin of Rally Corp will walk you through five specific actions you can take right now to improve your year-end fundraising results. This will include personal video, recurring giving, making sure you’re mobile friendly, and more.
Click-it: Year-end Fundraising with a Focus on Giving Tuesday [Register for free webinar, 10-11-2022]. Ready to raise a boatload of needed cash during the most generous months of the year? Get a double whammy of expertise in how to up your game this year in this session from Bloomerang and Qgiv. One hour of your time now could save you dozens of hours of (wasted) time later!
Click-it: End of Year Fundraising Made Easy [Register for free webinar, 10-13-2022]. Discover common money-draining mistakes to avoid; a before/after appeal makeover; easy ways to warm up donors to make their best end-of-year gift ever, and a simple 21-point checklist to take your appeal from “meh” to money raising — all in this live session with Rachel Muir, hosted by Qgiv.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, WHITE PAPERS & OTHER RESOURCES
Donor Retention
Click-it: The New Donor Welcome Study [Download free report]. According to a brand-new study by Next After and American Philanthropic, looking at the new donor experience for 130 nonprofits, there is ample opportunity to improve how you make a first impression with donors. It compares the first 90 days experience of both an online donor and postal donor; offers four major findings that could lead to more second gifts and better retention, and suggests tested and proven tactics to improve your communication in the first 90 days.
Mission and Vision
Click-it: Guide to Creating Mission & Vision Statements [Download free worksheets]. Top Nonprofits has recently updated this popular guide, complete with lots of examples and handy worksheets. It’s a great free resource.
Stock Gifts
Click-it: The Ultimate Nonprofit Stock Gifting Guide [Download free guide]. This toolkit from Nonprofit Hub illuminates the benefits of stock gifting, the challenges nonprofits face in implementing stock gifting programs, and introduces proven solutions and best practices for maximizing stock donations.
Did You Miss My Newest Articles?
- Proven Strategies to Climb the Year-End Fundraising Mountain
- The True Meaning of Giving Tuesday
- Scope: The Key to Donor Generosity?
- 8-Step Annual Fundraising Appeal Self-Test – Part 2
- 8-Step Annual Fundraising Appeal Self-Test – Part 1
- Brilliant Writing Tips to Boost Your Nonprofit Fundraising Appeal
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 a new one: What’s Better: Asking For Too Little Or Too Much?
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. OCTOBER tips are now live! If you’re not yet an enrolled student, you can get in on the fun here!
Everybody involved in philanthropy should read these articles slowly and with a very opened mind and a willingness to take from them the necessary components to change the manner and techniques we presently use in order to embrace what philanthropy is all about “Love”. I have no doubt it would be transformational.
— Tom Walsh, Business Development Exec / Active Retirement Ireland
Claire, you consistently remind me of the proven basic facts of fundraising!! Thank you!! I consistently share them with our team and with the newbie fundraisers I am mentoring.
— Margie McCurry, Fund Builders Alliance
Wow! Inspiration out the wazoo! Many thanks — I keep up with trends and lots of blog-posts to stay on top of my game. This goes way beyond technique and reaches deep inside to remind me why I’ve done this work for 40 years!
— Pam Montgomery, Executive Director / Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it.” Don’t miss out.
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