As we enter the season of light, and you move into full-steam-ahead year-end fundraising mode, there’s something I want to remind you about your messaging.
“Oh, by the way, it’s not about you.
The biggest mistake you can make is thinking your organization is the story. People aren’t buying your organization. When someone asks: “What do you do?” they’re not interested in your organization so much as what your organization accomplishes.
Imagine you’re at a dinner party and someone asks “What do you do?” Are you going to tell them your entire life story? Every aspect, from job to education to family to hobbies? No, of course not! You’ll tell them one thing about yourself. Why? Because they don’t know you. They’re not yet that interested in you. First, you have to intrigue them.
The same holds true with your nonprofit. Whenever someone asks the “What do you do?” question, whether explicitly or implicitly, your job is simply this: tell them about ONE thing you accomplish.
“If you write what you yourself sincerely think and feel and are interested in,” Rachel Carson wrote as she contemplated the loneliness of creative work after her unexampled books about the sea made her one of the most beloved writers of her time, “you will interest other people.”
– Maria Popova, The Marginalian
Now is a good time to personally re-connect with your organization’s mission. What really jazzes you about the work your efforts make possible? If you’re not excited, don’t expect others to get excited. Philanthropy is a passion business!
Okay! It’s biweekly newsletter time again, and my hope is some of the free resources I’ve collected and curated for you will help you share your passions and guide others on the pathway to passionate philanthropy. 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.
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 to Protect Your Social Benefit Mission, Constituents, Donors and Civil Society
A bill in Congress, H.R. 9495, could be detrimental to the nonprofit community. In part, it terminates the tax-exempt status of terrorist supporting organizations. H.R. 9495 recently passed the House and heads to the Senate. Even if the Senate does not pass it, the bill is likely to return in 2025, when the makeup of Congress shifts. Whether it is passed or not, nonprofits will need to make new alliances and be prepared to stand up on behalf of those they serve. On top of that, we’re seeing a rapidly shifting landscape fueled by political pressures, climate change and huge societal shifts and threats that will have an impact on civil society writ large. These articles will help you prepare.
Click-it: A HUGE Risk to Progressive Nonprofits: H.R. 9495 Explained. Here’s a general piece from Nonprofit News Feed explaining that, while the intent appears focused on combating terrorism, the language and implementation of the bill before Congress could lead to unintended consequences, particularly for nonprofits engaging in politically sensitive or controversial activities.
Click-it: The Hard Problems: A Resilient Civil Society To Face What’s Next. This article by Marnie Web, CEO of Tech Soup, appears in the current issue of The Nonprofit Times. It’s about what lies ahead, not just for U.S. nonprofits but for NGOs globally. Mounting pressures across the world create uncertainty. Funding sources are changing and are unpredictable. Rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies pose ethical concerns and increase the digital divide within the nonprofit sector. Simultaneously, new tools will facilitate new types of collaboration.
Click-it: The Next Four Years: A Nonprofit Survival Guide. This comes from nonprofit technology expert Rev. Tracy Kronzak, and covers what she would I tell an Executive Director, especially those of organizations serving constituents targeted by the incoming Trump administration. The tips here are aggressively defensive. Among them, the author suggests rethinking giving programs, giving methods and records, giving attribution and communication modalities. Ask yourself if you may need to assume this stance. If so, this will help you prepare.
Click-it: Urgent actions to take this week to stop a bill giving Trump unchecked power to destroy nonprofits. Vu Le, Nonprofit AF, expounds on how shutting down nonprofits that protest against injustice (by marking them as supporting terrorism) is a violation of the First Amendment.
ARTICLES
Content Marketing
Click-it: 4 Steps to Get Your Nonprofit’s Story in the News. Do you have a story editors and reporters will deem newsworthy – an interesting story people will want to read or watch on the news? Get some ideas for headline-grabbing pitches from Sandy Rees at Get Fully Funded. Plus grab six specific tips to effectively connect with journalists so they’ll want to feature your stories.
Donation Landing Pages
Click-it: How defaulting to recurring gift on an acquisition donation page, Reconnected, impacts recurring donor conversion. NextAfter shares an experiment testing the hypothesis that defaulting to a recurring gift, and emphasizing its broader impact, would increase the number of recurring donations because it presents a manageable commitment, highlights the significance of ongoing support, and encourages more donors to commit to long-term giving. What they found was a 348% increase in conversion rate and a 267% increase in revenue
Events
Click-it: How to Host a Reading Challenge Fundraiser. Here’s a fun idea from Eventgroove, particularly if you’re a school, library, community center or educational organization. It can be done completely online, and is a natural way to encourage a sense of community and leverage an activity many are already engaged in. Here you’ll learn how to motivate participation through friendly competition, keep things fresh using themes (they offer a bunch of ideas!), use email and social media before, during and after, and much more.
Giving Tuesday Analysis
Click-it: Email Fundraising and Marketing Lessons from Giving Tuesday 2024 Emails Part One. Ephraim Gopen, 1832 Communications, reviewed all 627 GT emails that came to his inbox, looking at 23 elements of each. Overall, the results were less than stellar – at least in terms of motivating him to give. See what he found. His advice is stellar! Did you commit any of these faux pas? NOTE: “The largest NPOs in the U.S. have the budgets to hire the best people in their fundraising and marketing departments. But that doesn’t mean copy everything they do!”
Major and Mid-Level Gifts
Click-it: You Can Have More Major Donors in 2025. This is an important message from the experts at the Veritus Group, demonstrating why it’s critical to focus on your current donor base and start cultivating those everyday donors who are giving mid-level gifts. It’s time to expand your idea of who your future major donors are. Many organizations have the idea major donors only give 6, 7, or 8 figure and above gifts. Not true! In a typical portfolio of 150 donors, there are only about 5-10 donors that have that capacity.
Online Digital Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: Unlock the Power of Facebook for Your Nonprofit. By understanding and leveraging Facebook’s ever-evolving algorithm, you can significantly increase your visibility and attract potential donors. The team at Auctria suggest six concrete strategies to increase awareness, generate excitement, and drive donations. The key? Consistency.
Click-it: How To Troubleshoot Your Fundraising Email. Vanessa Chase Lokshin writes on the Bloomerang blog about how to follow the email engagement funnel to find your trouble spots and improve your next fundraising email. This is a great post Giving Tuesday exercise, and may even help you fix a few problem areas prior to sending your last year-end appeals. Check it out!
Strategy and Management
Click-it: 4 Strategies to Boost Your Nonprofit’s Financial Stability. Your mission is not a short-term thing, right? Check out this article on the Care2 blog to ensure your nonprofit’s long-term financial viability. These are all foundational concepts.
Technology as Tool
Click-it:. The Power Of New Donation Methods In Connecting With The Next Generation. This infographic from Bloomerang tells you what you need to know to plan to incorporate strategies like QR codes, Tap to Pay and digital wallets into your future marketing. Don’t wait on this!
Click-it: Nonprofit Marketing Automation: A Beginner’s Guide. Momentum tells you what you need to know to work smarter, not harder, to connect with the right people to support your mission. The most efficient and effective way to do this is to automate your marketing efforts. Schedule and target messages. Post consistently on social media. Promote matching gifts. Acknowledge donations promptly. There’s so much you can do to conserve staff time, while also increasing engagement. Check it out!
Click-it: 10 LinkedIn Best Practices for Nonprofits. Nonprofit Tech for Good recommends nonprofits prioritize their LinkedIn Page and commit to posting roughly 2 – 4 times a week. Learn all about why, and how to best execute (did you know there are three types of content that do best on LI?), in this article by Heather Mansfield.
Trends
Click-it: Discover the Top 35 Best Practices and New Trends Smart Fundraising Leaders Need to Know in 2025. True Sense Marketing has a lot of tips for you – and they’re all good. Did you know layering on additional targeting can improve your direct mail acquisition campaign results by as much as 50%? What about the fact mobile donation forms that include Google Wallet and Apple Pay are seeing a double-digit increase in conversion rates? Plus, you really need to ramp up monthly giving, use text messaging more, and embrace the power of storytelling.
Click-it: 2025 Trends Nonprofits Should Watch. Here’s some food for thought to tuck away and consider once the year-end fundraising frenzy is past. It’s an excellent piece from Viva, with nine trends to guide you in your strategic planning, and budgeting, for the year ahead.
Year-End Fundraising – and Beyond!
Click-it: 15 Text Message Tips for Year-End Campaigns. Rally Corp offers key tips, and many of them you still have time to execute. Check out #2 (always important), #4 (tweak whatever you have planned), and #15 (we all like a little fun).
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!
Grants
Click-it: 2024 Grant Trends and What to Expect for 2025 [Register for free webinar, 12-16-2024]. Join the Nonprofit Learning Lab to explore the latest trends in grant funding and provide you with the knowledge and tools you need to secure the resources that will propel your nonprofit forward. Understanding grant trends is crucial for maximizing your nonprofit’s capacity and ensuring the best return on investment. Learn how to avoid the pitfalls of cold applications and instead, through diligent research and strategic relationships, send tailored proposals to the right funders.
Trends
Click-it: 2025 Philanthropy & Civil Society Trends and Predictions [Tune in to free podcast]. This episode of Why Philanthropy Matters delves into key trends in philanthropy and civil society to watch out for in 2025. It covers a broad range of topics, including the platformisation of giving, tax relief debates, the final death of X, the resurgence of crypto, DAFs, all sorts of AI ramifications and more.
Website
Click-it: An Inside Look at Firespring’s Nonprofit Websites [Register for free webinar, 12-17-2024]. Want to stop juggling multiple platforms and making yourself crazy? Join excellent presenter, Kiersten Hill of Firespring, to learn The ABCs of creating a killer nonprofit website; grab an n inside look at how content management system and tools work, and get answers to your questions during live Q&A.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, WHITE PAPERS & OTHER RESOURCES
Storytelling
Click-it: 6 Steps for Impact Report Success [Download free e-guide]. You know how important it is to let supporters know the impact of their philanthropy, right? Here’s a handy book from the experts at Storyraise outlining everything your messaging must include to inspire future actions.
Writing
Click-it: How to Structure Fund Appeals Using the Rubric of Storytelling [Immediately download free guide]. Here you’ll find exhibits from fundraising campaigns compiled as an instructional document for The Narrative Fundraising Seminar, a nonprofit writing workshop offered by High Touch Communication. This is filled with examples showing how nonprofit leaders have added drama to their fund appeals in connecting narrative moments. Most were written in the limited space of a 6.33” x 9.5” note card. Each paints a brief scene that sparks emotion.
Did You Miss My Newest Articles?
Here are links to the most recent articles on the Clairification blog. You can see I really don’t want you to squander the good feelings you’re triggering during this season of giving! The 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.
Psychology of Securing Lasting Nonprofit Donor Commitments
Will Your Nonprofit’s Donors Decide to Leave You? Emphatically yes,
Top Strategy to Get 100% of Nonprofit Board to Give Passionately
Last Minute Strategic Year-End Email Appeal Tips
Strategically Share Top Year-End Giving Options Nonprofit Donors May Not Be Aware Of
12 Quick Strategies to Boost Year-End Fundraising
Plus… get tons of great information all year long in the Feedspot Top 100 Nonprofit Blogs. Bookmark this page, and subscribe to your favorites! [If you’re familiar with the Steely Dan song “Hey Nineteen,” that’s where you’ll find me.]
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’s The Best Way To Revive A Moribund Legacy Society?
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. DECEMBER tips are live! If you’re not yet an enrolled student, you can get in on the fun here!
You are having a ripple effect in the many nonprofits you inspire through folks like me – and I hope you experience the joy in that every day. Thank you for sending out such great resources. I look forward to your regular emails and the helpful content you deliver.
– Jennifer M. Standen, Development Manager, Bethany Christian Services
Claire’s approach is a rare blend of experience-based common sense gleaned from 30 years of senior management in the trenches.
– Chris Baylis, The Sponsorship Collective
Claire is a superb professional, deep thinker and creative spirit in the service of philanthropy. I have worked with her in a variety of roles for nearly two decades, and have admired and supported her work. She is a person of utmost integrity, and a brilliant mind.
– Kay Grace, Principal, Transforming Philanthropy
My motto is: “If I know it, I want you to know it.” Don’t miss out.
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