Winter Wonderland Clairity Click-it: Nonprofit Links, Free Resources
June 13th marked the 10th anniversary of the Clairity Click-it Newsletter. That’s 260 issues (whoa!), all chock full of resources I hand select for you from across the web. And nothing I select will cost you a dime! I search assiduously, read every single article before sharing with you, and only select trusted resources for webinars, podcasts, white papers, reports and the like.
How can I afford the time, you wonder? I can’t! Which is why I have some sponsors to help underwrite what is, mostly, a labor of love. Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to see who they are, and maybe click on their links to learn more about them. They’re all terrific resources for you, and definitely worth your attention. I also want to extend a special shout out to my lead sponsor, Bloomerang, for all they do – beyond just their wonderful product — to help nonprofits make lasting change in their communities and the world.
If you’ve been along for the ride for a while, I hope you’ve gleaned some useful nuggets to help you in your work, and maybe even in your personal life. If you’re new, welcome! I love sharing insights, research and practices from other disciplines, including psychology, neuroscience, behavioral economics, mindfulness, for-profit marketing, and more. If you’ve found this newsletter thought-provoking, educational or just plain practical, please forward it to a curious colleague. They can subscribe here for free.
But why stop here?
ENROLL in ‘Clairification School’ (modest annual charge to cover my costs) and receive access to ALL original articles (including 1,000+ article archive) + exclusive members’ only benefits: bonus content with actionable tips and ‘how-to’s,’ specific monthly tips, access to webinars and podcasts, and generous discounts on products and courses. Get your exclusive member benefits here! ANNIVERSARY ENROLLMENT SPECIAL: In honor of this anniversary, anyone who enrolls in the next week will receive an additional bonus e-guide — “Use Gratitude to Build Relationships that Pave the Way for Future Gifts” — jam-packed with actionable tips.
Thank you for doing your vital work, and making our world a better place,
Claire
P.S. Even if you don’t care about all the Clairification School benefits, and are happy just being on the Clairity Click-it newsletter list, if you enjoy reading it and want to send a little love my way I promise to send it back.
Clairity Click-it, Your Nonprofit Ticket to…
SPECIAL FEATURE: Psychology of Giving
I love to borrow concepts from psychology, neuroscience and behavioral economics and apply them to fundraising. That’s exactly what all these resources do too!
ARTICLES
Click-it: Why isn’t it a good idea to let your donor cover the credit card fees?. This article in Philanthropy Daily, drawing on research from NextAfter, may make you rethink asking donors to cover your processing fees. Even if a majority of current donors cover fees when prompted, there may be hundreds of would-be donors who this stops dead in their tracks. Because it shifts them from a generous mindset to a stingier one. Give it a read.
Click-it: Are You Fundraising in the Right “World”? It Makes All the Difference!. This is a terrific explanation from Dr. Russell James about what goes on in a donor’s mind when you confront them with facts vs. stories. Or even facts and stories. Read it on the Moceanic blog.
Click-it: Direct Mail Premiums: Here’s What We Learned [+20 Examples]. Learn why they work, plus the upsides and downsides, in this article from Paul Bobnak, Who’s Mailing What. It’s the best, most comprehensive collection of info on this subject I’ve seen. Know what “lumpy mail” is? This is well worth your time!
Click-it: Arts Fundraising Is DIFFERENT – and You Can Do It!. This excellent piece of writing comes from Jeff Brooks on the Moceanic blog. Don’t miss it if you work in the arts, or arts adjacent fields!
Click-it: When Wellbeing and Fundraising are Aligned. This article by Lisa Greer, Philanthropy 451, explores the confluence between donor happiness and fundraiser happiness, and how that impacts fundraiser retention and fundraising over time. It’s a viewpoint with which I’m in complete agreement.
WEBINARS and PODCASTS
Click-it: The How and Why of Matching Message to Donor Personality [Register for free webinar, 6-21-23]. Join DonorVoice, the behavioral science fundraising agency, for a deep dive into how to match your messaging to your donor’s “Big 5” personalities. There’s even a link for you to take the test yourself. Super fun and interesting!
Click-it: Using Behavioral Science in Marketing. Nancy Harhut, who wrote the book on this, appears on the Brainfluence podcast. She discusses information gap theory, how marketers can use it to pique interest, availability bias, and autonomy bias. She also dives into how giving people choices can increase the likelihood of a buying decision, and how use of the word “because” can increase compliance.
GUIDES
Click-it: 6 Eye-Opening Insights Planned Giving Marketers Must See [Download free paper]. The folks from Stelter have applied psychology, neuroscience and behavioral economics to the practice of planned giving marketing in this helpful guide.
ARTICLES
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: The Magic of an Evergreen Fundraising Offer. Do you think you have a good one? Read this article from The Better Fundraising Co. to find out.
Content Marketing
Click-it: Nonprofit Annual Report Photos — Everything You Need to Know. Discover exactly why annual report photos matter, and what kinds you should use, in this article from Yearly. Plus see some amazing examples of both real and stock imagery in action
Events
Click-it: 4 Profitable School Fundraisers Any Campus Can Host. You’ll find a wealth of event fundraising ideas in this article from Auctria. Use it as a springboard for brainstorming your own ideas.
Major and Legacy Giving
Click-it: Debunked Fundraising Myth: The #1 Reason People Don’t Give is Because They Weren’t Asked. Head on over to the Market Smart blog and read this. It’s packed full of wisdom about asking. And not more, more, more and more but when, why, where and what. Being asked to give can be either a “turn-on” or a “turn-off.” You can tip the scales in the right direction.
Mobile Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: How to Write Texts: Start with Pre-Written Templates. The Rally Corp experts break down texts into four different types, depending on your goals and target markets. They also offer plenty of examples!
Online Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: A Quick Guide to Social Media Analytics for Nonprofits. It’s been said “that which gets measured gets done.” One might also say “that which gets measured gets better.” If you want to drive more people to your website, convert followers to supporters and generate revenue through your social media strategy, check out this article on the Firespring blog.
Click-it: A/B Testing Guide for Non-Profits. I often tell you the best way to improve on your results, and know what works best for your organization, is to test, test, test! But, for this to be helpful, you need to do it the right way. The folks at NextAfter are the gurus of A/B testing; this article demystifies the process and is filled to the brim with actionable tips.
Technology
Click-it: Building Your Tech Stack: 8 Essential Nonprofit Technology Tools. Technology used to just mean a website and database. Now, it’s more. Neon One breaks down the various types of technology available, why you might need them, and how to decide which to include in your nonprofit’s tech stack.
Click-it: 9 AI Video Editors to Scale Your Video Marketing. I’m again bringing advice from the for-profit world of marketing, and one of my “go-to” experts, for you to apply to your own video projects. A lot of what used to be prohibitively expensive for you to achieve, is now doable – with the help of new AI-enabled tools. If you want to save time and money, Neal Schaffer will help you find the right solution.
Click-it: AI and Productivity. Hugh MacLeod, Gaping Void, weighs in on how organizations should question best approaches to the AI-powered productivity boom. Check out the cartoon! There will be a difference between organizations with a growth mindset versus those with a cost-cutting mindset.
Writing
Click-it: ChatGPT Prompt Ideas Your Nonprofit Can Try. The folks at Eventgroove devised prompts to get some help from AI for social media posts, emails, captions and fundraising copy. This will blow you away!
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!
Annual (Year-Round) Fundraising
Click-it: What Softball Can Teach Us About Fundraising. Sometimes how you approach things can make all the difference. Are you making the most of your “outs?” Do you celebrate wins and losses to develop team spirit? I encourage you to think about the wisdom in this post on the Veritus Group blog.
Click-it: 5 Reasons Segmentation Doubles Campaign Revenue. Learn not only about segmentation, but also how to calculate your donor lifetime value. Useful stuff about how to use your database to get the best results from Virtuous.
Click-it: Getting to Know Crypto Donors, The Next Generation of Philanthropists [Register for free webinar, 6-21-2023]. Want to tap into this growing revenue stream? GivingBlock and GivingDNA join together to reveal the traits, values, and motivations driving crypto donors. Learn why crypto users invest in cryptocurrency, and how understanding these donors can maximize your fundraising strategy.
Boards
Click-it: Boards on Fire: Igniting Passion for Joyful Fundraising [Register for free webinr, 6-22-23]. Qgiv will be hosting Crystal Cherry for this deep dive into how you can develop a culture of excitement about board fundraising. Fundraisers will address their board’s deep resistance to asking for money and learn how to fire them up to experience joy and satisfaction in securing philanthropic support!
Business Support
Click-it: Empowering Donors with Corporate Matching Gifts & Using Technology to Help [Register for free webinar, 6-20-2023]. Join Donor Search and The Allegiance Group to review the matching gifts universe and learn new tools to resolve matching gift roadblocks.
Culture of Philanthropy
Click-it: The Power of a Philanthropy Facilitator [Listen immediately to on-demand video]. I was delighted to be a guest on The Nonprofit Show to talk about possibly my favorite subject! I invite you to listen, and promise to explain this concept.
Donor Retention
Click-it: Why Do New Donors Not Renew? From a donor perspective, I couldn’t agree more with Lisa Z. Greer, Philanthropy 451. Think about what this means for you as a fundraiser. What could you do differently?
Online Fundraising and Marketing
Click-it: Create an Email Welcome Journey…Right Now! [Register for free webinar, 6-22-2023]. Don’t follow donations with silence! Donors want to be reassured they made a good decision when they gave to you. There’s no more golden opportunity for sending a series of messages to supporters than immediately after they take an action with you. They’ll be receptive, feel taken care of and begin to feel like members of your family. Learn the why, what, how and when in this Bloomerang-sponsored webinar with Patty Breech.
DOWNLOADABLE GUIDES, PAPERS, TEMPLATES & OTHER RESOURCES
Annual (Year-Round) Giving
Click-it: 14 Types of Matching Gift Letters Every Nonprofit Should Send [Free guide]. Everything you’ll ever need to make sure you don’t leave matching gifts – free money! – on the table. From the matching gift experts at Double the Donation. This includes sample appeals, thank you’s, newsletter copy and info about how a matching gift database can help.
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.
- Surprisingly Simple Strategy to Magically Transform How You Work
- 7 Top Insights Nonprofits Can Borrow from Management Guru Peter Drucker
- Why are Good Nonprofit Fundraisers Hard to Keep? RESPECT
- Why are Good Nonprofit Fundraisers Hard to Keep? MONEY
- 7 Top Strategies to Move from Random to Purposeful Donor Cultivation
- 10 Common Nonprofit Major Gift Asking Mistakes to Avoid
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 You’re Notified About A Legacy Gift.
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. JUNE tips are live! If you’re not yet an enrolled student, and don’t have access to ALL my blog articles, monthly tips, webinars, podcasts and much more, you can get in on the fun here — and grab your time-limited special ANNIVERSARY BONUS!
And now, just for fun, a photo of one of the “Bouquets to Art” displays at the De Young Museum, San Francisco, California, June 2023. I love it — the painting and the flowers are so exuberant!
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