Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
Someone said that to me the other day and it was heartbreaking.
The number of tasks in our culture that require someone who was born with off-the-charts talent is small indeed.
Just about everything else we need people to do is the result of effort, practice and care. It’s true that variations of that work are easier for some folks, but no one finds all of it easy going.
The correct thing to say is, “I don’t care that much.” I don’t care enough to do the reading, to fail along the way, to show up, to make a promise, to learn as I go, to confront failure, to get better at the work.
All of that might be true.
But you’re almost certainly smart enough.
— Seth Godin
If you’re using your own judgement of your level of intelligence as an excuse for not learning a new skill, ask yourself if that’s really the core of the problem. It could simply mean you’re not interested. You don’t have the heart to work hard at what you’re being asked to do. Or what you think you should do. That’s okay. But if it’s the case, perhaps you should find another line of work. An area where you can invest those talents that most align with the core of your being.
It’s a choice; not fate.
If you like the niche you find yourself in, person up. Real excellence and achievement is largely a matter of commitment and practice. This is what Malcolm Gladwell wrote about in Outliers. First learn what needs to be done. Then study how to do it. Then… do it!
It is my hope some of the free resources I’ve collected and curated for you in this newsletter will give you the help you need. 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…
SPECIAL FEATURE: How Major Donors Think
It’s always a good idea to put yourself in your donors’ shoes, trying to understand as much as possible what issues are near and dear to their hearts, what keeps them up at night, and what legacy they want to leave. Here are some articles to help you know more about what floats major donors’ boats and you head into crucial year-end fundraising.
Click-it: Leaving Baby in a Corner. If you want to understand how major donors think, check out this post from major donor herself, Lisa Greer, on Philanthropy 451. You may think donors shouldn’t need special attention or what Lisa deems “good manners.” Do so at your peril.
Click-it: The Biggest Worry of Newly Wealthy Families — and How Major Gift Officers Can Help. Greg Warner, Market Smart, shares that newly wealthy families share one great worry, almost unanimously, and they will listen to anyone who can help them address it. They have different world views, different perspectives about money, work, and philanthropy, and different worries than those who inherited wealth. You don’t have to agree with everything; it’s an interesting read.
Click-it: Wealthy Donors Want Their Giving to Be Different Than Their Parents’, New Study Says. This article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy suggests you not assume your major donors’ children will continue their tradition of giving to you. The data on which they report comes from the 2022 Bank of America Private Bank Study of Wealthy Americans .
Click-it: What Mega Donors are Saying about Giving in Today’s Economy, The Gail Perry Group chats a lot with major donors about their interests. In this article they offer top take-aways from real-time conversations with these mega-supporters.
Click-it: What Makes Wealthy Donors Tick? As nonprofits become more dependent on larger donors, the more fundraisers know about them, the better. Turns out, there’s research on the subject! It’s summarized by Ken Wells for NonProfitPRO.
ARTICLES
Boards
Click-it: 3 Ways to Get Your Board to Help Fundraise!. If you struggle to get your board “on board” with fundraising, grab these nifty ideas from Do Good Better Consulting.
Digital Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: 10 Years of Decoding What Works in Online Fundraising. The only way to truly know what works to increase donation and grow generosity is to test. And that’s what the folks at NextAfter excel at. Here they share 10 stellar examples, so you can benefit from their findings.
Click-it: Turn your likes into dollars: Converting social media fans to donors. Did you know social media is the number one way online donors are most inspired to give—more than email, websites or even print communication? Grab these five tips from 4aGoodCause to create effective social media donor engagement and conversions.
Giving Tuesday
Click-it: How to Create a Great Crowdfunding Page for GivingTuesday. Learn how to create a crowdfunding campaign that inspires people to click donate in this step-by-step article on the Eventgroove blog. The big day this year is November 29th!
Major and Legacy Giving
Click-it: Top 8 Nonprofit Major Gift Asking Blunders. Check out my article for NonProfitPro, and stop making these careless mistakes.
Website
Click-it: How Branded Donations Pages Differentiate Your Nonprofit. A well-crafted donation landing page is key to reinforcing your vision, mission and values and assuring would-be donors they’re exactly where they want to be. Learn what to do, and how to share your landing page link broadly, in this article on the TopNonprofits blog.
Writing
Click-it: End-of-Year Fundraising & Matching Gifts: It’s Not Too Late!. This important article from Adam Wenger, Double the Donation, is a must-read. Most nonprofits leave a lot of “free” money lying on the table. Here’s a simple strategy to assure this isn’t you.
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!
Donor Retention
Click-it: How to Cultivate First-Time Year-End Givers to be Repeat Givers [Register for free webinar, 11-1-2022]. Join the experts at Bloomerang and Qgiv for this session sharing tips and tactics to steward, appreciate, and ultimately upgrade your first-time donors.
Identity
Click-it: Donor Identity & the Tool Shed [Read article and listen to on-demand podcast]. Lisa Greer, Philanthropy 451, shares an interesting perspective relating to the evolution of fundraising post digital revolution. It’s good food for thought. If you like it, click on the link to the podcast with Jason Lewis, Responsive Fundraising.
Online Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: Mobile Marketing Tips for Every Generation [Register for free webinar, 11-10-2022]. Mobile marketing is a key component of any comprehensive marketing strategy. And optimizing your website for all devices and screens is crucial for staying relevant with today’s audiences. Grab some tips from the experts at Firespring.
Social Media
Click-it: Nonprofit Social Media Summit 2022 [Register for free 2-day virtual conference, 11-2 – 3, 2022]. Julia Campbell is bringing together social media experts and nonprofit leaders in marketing and community building to help drill into the actionable ways social media can lead to explosive growth. Get immediately useful tips and tricks from an amazing line-up of speakers to take your digital game to the next level.
Technology and Tools
Click-it: How to Use Zoom Annotation Tools. This is a helpful, and thorough, step-by-step article so you can jazz up your meetings, brainstorms and presentations on Zoom. If you do this once in a blue moon, you can skip it. But if you’re on Zoom frequently, and can get in a lot of practice, this should be super useful. And fun! Thanks to the folks at Jumpshare.
Click-it: View From the Field – Bonus Session: How to select a responsible Ai Vendor for your fundraising program! [Register for free webinar, 11-1-2022] If you’ve been hearing a lot about nonprofits adopting Artificial Intelligence, this webinar sponsored by Donor Search is for you. They’ll explain the do’s and don’ts and provide the essential questions to ask when researching and vetting a responsible Ai vendor.
Year-End Fundraising
Click-it: Three Year End Email Templates – Includes what to say {Watch free, on-demand “how to” video]. This 7-minute video from Steven Screen, The Better Fundraising Co., is well worth your time.
Click-it: 5 Texts You Can Use to Ask for Year-End Donations [Register for free, quick webinar, 11-3-2022]. Join James Martin, texting expert at Rally Corp, for this 25-minute session that will walk you through five text message templates you can use right away!
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, WHITE PAPERS & OTHER RESOURCES
Major Gifts
Click-it: Creating Strategic Plans and Goals for Every Major Donor [Download free White Paper]. The Veritus Group generously shares their step-by-step formula for developing individual cultivation plans for major gift prospects. Once MGOs start working on this process, they realize that not only is it possible, but it’s necessary for them to stay on task and become successful.
Strategic Planning
Click-it: Ready to get your fundraising on, but need a little extra visual to pop near your desk, computer or folded up neat in your pocket? Then this calendar is for you! 5 weeks of daily steps you can take to put fundraising top of mind. From Planning reminders to heads up on Appreciation notes to your donors – this simple calendar takes elements of the book Fundraise Awesomer! and puts them into a written plan, just for you!
Did You Miss My Newest Articles?
- A Fundraiser Walked into a Room…
- How to Make Donors Happy to Say YES to Your Fundraising Appeal
- 11 Phrases to Retire
- How Jargon Destroys Nonprofit Fundraising & Marketing
- How to Use Influencer Marketing to Drive Nonprofit Awareness and Engagement
- Proven Strategies to Climb the Year-End Fundraising Mountain
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: If You’re New To Fundraising, Where’s The Best Place To Start?
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 will be live next week! If you’re not yet an enrolled student, you can get in on the fun here — just in time for the upcoming tips!
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
I hope to be able to focus on applying your amazing teachings this year. Your work has made a difference to me. Claire, you really do bring clarity.
— Rezwan Razani, Footprint to Wings
Thank you Claire for being a general genius in areas of nonprofit development. Highly recommend Clairification for her blogs, free webinars, and more.
–Stefanie Millette, MBA, Program Manager, STRIVE
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it.” Don’t miss out.
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